The racist and misogynistic abuse she suffered from online trolls left her too scared to leave the house.
But three years on, Alex Scott says she has turned the hate into motivation to keep working.
And the 39-year-old’s confidence has been boosted by her relationship with pop singer Jess Glynne.
The ex-footballer enjoyed a celebrated 13-year international career and dated her Arsenal teammate Kelly Smith for eight years, before meeting Jess, 34, last year.
Alex said: ‘I’m in this bubble at the moment… I am more open to accepting and being more vulnerable. I’m enjoying being like, “Okay, I’m just gonna roll with this.”‘
The racist and misogynistic abuse Alex Scott suffered from online trolls left her too scared to leave the house
But three years on, she says she has turned the hate into motivation to keep working
The sports presenter admits she used alcohol to try to forget the abuse she received in 2021 when she was incorrectly named as Sue Barker’s replacement to host BBC’s A Question Of Sport.
It was actually Paddy McGuinness but the mistake prompted a barrage of abuse.
‘I was scared to leave my house to even go to the shops,’ she said.
‘That’s the stage we’d got to – that the idea someone black might be replacing a national treasure could cause such hatred.’
But in an interview with Women’s Health magazine, Alex described it as ‘a bit of ammunition to keep going and celebrate because you’re rubbing people up the wrong way’.
The former Lioness, who is preparing to host the Euros 2024 in June, said: ‘I’m gonna keep thriving, I’m gonna keep killing you with my kindness and doing my job to a level that you cannot stand.’
It comes after Alex’s girlfriend Jess gushed that their high-profile relationship has only attracted ‘super-positive’ attention.
The singer, 34, who went Instagram official with the football presenter at Christmas last year, said she ‘didn’t know what to expect’ when they got together.
And the 39-year-old’s confidence has been boosted by her relationship with pop singer Jess Glynne (Alex, left, and Jess, right, pictured in November last year)
The sports presenter used alcohol to try to forget the abuse she received in 2021 when she was incorrectly named as Sue Barker’s replacement to host BBC’s A Question Of Sport
In an interview with Women’s Health magazine, Alex described it as ‘a bit of ammunition to keep going and celebrate because you’re rubbing people up the wrong way’
The former Lioness, who is preparing to host the Euros 2024, said: ‘I’m gonna keep thriving, I’m gonna keep killing you with my kindness and doing my job to a level that you cannot stand’
Having always kept previous relationships ‘very private’ – she happily revealed that the couple ‘haven’t received any negativity at all’.
She told The Times: ‘It is a different kind of attention for me, but so far all of that attention has been super-positive.
‘I have never put my personal life in the public eye before, so I had no idea what to expect. Probably due to me not being in relationships with anyone famous, I had always managed to keep that side of me very private.
‘The interest was inevitable with us, but you know there isn’t a negative, because we haven’t had any negativity at all.
‘We both give so much in what we do that coming home to your friends, to your family, to your partner, that’s the ‘you’ time. I never want to sell that short.’
It comes after last month Jess opened up about her relationship with girlfriend Alex, saying sweetly that she is in a ‘happy relationship’.
It comes after Alex’s girlfriend Jess (right) gushed that their high-profile relationship has only attracted ‘super-positive’ attention (pictured last month)
The Take Me Home artist said their romance is going ‘really good’ and she is ‘feeling very comfortable’ with the ex Arsenal player.
Speaking to Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast, Jess said: ‘The work that I’ve done on myself has actually settled me inside and it’s allowed me to enter a relationship where I feel very comfortable and I’m just me. I’m unapologetically me.
‘It has allowed me to be really happy in a new relationship. I think love is a really scary subject and it’s normally something I keep quite distant.
‘But it’s a nice thing to be able to embrace someone and a relationship that feels really genuinely good’.
The full interview with Alex Scott can be read in the May issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now
However, Jess said that having a relationship in the public eye is still hard and she likes to try and keep her ‘personal life to herself’.
She continued: ‘It’s something that I’m getting used to. I do love to somehow keep my personal life to myself. It’s so important.
‘Even though we’re both in this public space, what we have, that’s ours. I feel like that’s something I will always do.
‘People want so much from you and what is so beautiful is that we both feel like that way and it’s something we will stick to and keep to ourselves.’
Alex and Jess were first pictured sharing a passionate kiss together in November last year.
But it was first reported Alex and Jess were in a secret relationship in the summer of 2023.
Of their relationship, a friend told The Sun at the time: ‘Alex and Jess have been a slow burn and they didn’t want to rush things or go public too soon.
‘But they’re officially an item now and seem really happy.
‘They are both strong, independent women with a shared passion and respect of their respective careers, supporting one another from the sidelines.
The full interview with Alex Scott can be read in the May issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now.
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