Alex Scott: I don’t want to let negative comments online get me down

Alex Scott has said she does not want the small minority of people who send her negative messages online to get her “down”.

The former footballer and presenter, 35, told Hello! magazine she has had “incredible experiences” since quitting professional sport.

Scott, who has previously starred on Strictly Come Dancing, has moved into punditry with the BBC and Sky after hanging up her boots.

Strictly Come Dancing 2019
(Mike Egerton/PA)

She told the magazine the transition has not been easy.

“At first, I thought no one liked me on TV as there was a whole lot of negativity online, but I’ve got to a place now where those sorts of comments are only like 10 to 20% and I have a whole audience that does love me and is behind me,” she said.

“I don’t want to let that small percentage stop me or get me down when I’ve worked so hard to be where I am.”

Scott said she used to go to recording studios after training to get experience, and did a degree in sports writing and broadcasting.

“I prepare extensively for every show and love what I do,” she added.

She said it is “OK to be more than one thing”, adding: “I can put on a dress but also the next day put on my football boots, and that should be celebrated.

(Hello!/PA)
(Hello!/PA)

“I’m so proud of my career but, as Strictly showed, there can be so many parts to a person, and I’m no different.

“I love fashion and music and I love going to my mum’s in east London for a roast dinner.”

On Friday, Scott thanked fans for their “support” after she had received online abuse when she was linked to A Question Of Sport.

The BBC has denied that any decision has been made over the new presenting team, saying “no conversations have been had about the future line-up”.

The full interview is in Hello! magazine, out now.