BBC presenter and former football star Alex Scott is preparing to face one of her biggest challenges yet as she enters the I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! jungle this Sunday. The Arsenal legend has promised to share intimate details of her personal life with viewers, including past heartbreaks that have shaped her.
A Secret Football Romance
One of the most pivotal chapters in Scott's life occurred during her illustrious football career. The former England right-back, who earned an impressive 140 caps for her country, enjoyed three separate spells with Arsenal, making 313 appearances for the club in total.
It was during her second stint with the Gunners that she formed a close bond with teammate Kelly Smith. After both joined Arsenal in 2005, their professional relationship quickly blossomed into a romantic one.
Scott has spoken candidly about falling "madly and deeply in love" with the fellow England international. The pair maintained a secret eight-year relationship that eventually came to an end in 2013, a period Scott described as both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Opening Up About Heartbreak
The Football Focus host first revealed details of this significant relationship in her 2022 autobiography, 'How (Not) To Be Strong'. At the book's launch three years ago, she explained her decision to include such personal details.
"I'm writing this book and I want to tell everything. I thought I'd be cheating you all if I didn't put that in there," Scott told Mirror Football. "For me, it's like that first love story. I fell madly and deeply in love. Yes, there's that heartbreak and those things, but it's a huge part of my life and I wouldn't go back and change that."
Despite the pain of the relationship ending, the 41-year-old reflects on it as a crucial part of her personal growth and development.
Finding Love Again With Pop Star Partner
More than a decade after her relationship with Smith ended, Scott appears to have found happiness again with pop sensation Jess Glynne. Although the BBC presenter has remained relatively private about their romance, the couple have been spotted together at numerous red carpet events over the past two years.
They've also begun featuring each other more prominently on their social media accounts, indicating their relationship is going from strength to strength.
However, Scott has revealed that her upbringing made expressing affection challenging initially. She described her father Tony as "stupidly cruel" in an interview with The Times last year, explaining that emotions weren't permitted in their household.
"We weren't allowed to express emotion," Scott recalled. "Dad didn't allow us to hug each other or say 'I love you'. It had a huge impact on us all."
She shared a touching anecdote about one of the first times Glynne hugged her: "I remember one of the first times Jess hugged me. I was like... [makes a rigid expression]. She was like, 'Are you not going to put your arms around me?' But I didn't know how to do that. We laugh about it to this day."
Scott's father has consistently denied allegations of providing a poor upbringing, suggesting his daughter might be "judging me by today's standards" and emphasising that parents were "a lot tougher back then."
The couple were initially hesitant about making their relationship public because they considered it "so special," but Scott's upcoming jungle stint means there will be no hiding over the coming fortnight as she joins the impressive lineup in the Australian wilderness.
