Alex Scott's acid attack threat, Jess Glynne relationship, 'quit UK for US' plan

Daily Mirror

15-06-2025

Alex Scott will be fronting Soccer Aid this Sunday alongside Dermot O'Leary, but from her love-life to a potential career in the USA, how much do you really know about the footballer-turned-BBC star?
Alex Scott is one of the UK's most recognisable presenters. The former Arsenal Women's footballer has made a seamless shift from playing on the pitch to being in the media glare.
Scott will be the face of Soccer Aid this Sunday alongside Dermot O'Leary, and her hosting portfolio is something to envy. She has fronted shows including Final Score, Match of the Day, Football Focus and The One Show.
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The 40-year-old made her name after playing for the Gunners, Birmingham City and NWSL side Boston Breakers, while she also represented England on 140 occasions.
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However, her transition from defender to TV star has not been without some issues. Here we take a closer look at Scott's love-life, her troubles with the BBC and a terrifying ordeal that involved a kidnapping in Russia.
Jess Glynne relationship and love-life
Scott and ' Rather Be ' singer Glynne have been an item since the summer of 2023. While they kept a low-profile initially, Scott eventually took to social media to share photos of the two, confirming them as a couple.
She has also spoken about wanting children with the songstress. However, love didn't come easy for Scott.
She has claimed that Glynne, 35, has helped her overcome her fear of forging a connection – something she insists developed in her childhood due to her relationship with her father, Tony, who has denied the claims about his parenting.
"We weren't allowed to express emotion," Scott told The Times in June 2024. "Dad didn't allow us to hug each other or say, 'I love you.' It had a huge impact on us all."
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She continued: "I remember one of the first times Jess hugged me. I was like… {rigid]. She was like, 'Are you not going to put your arms around me?' But I didn't know how to do that."
Scott was previously in a relationship with former England and Arsenal team-mate Kelly Smith. The two were together for eight years prior to their split in 2013 and in her memoir, How (Not) To Be Strong, Scott claimed she was "madly and deeply in love' with the star.
Acid attack warning and death threats
Scott has candidly spoken about the rough side of being a famous figure. She once opened up on how she has been threatened with an acid attack, and that she was scared to even step outside after she was wrongly named as Sue Barker's replacement on A Question of Sport.
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"There are negatives to fame. I've had plenty of racism, abuse and even death threats," she said to The Times. "People were saying, 'She's only on TV because she's black, female and younger. She's just ticking boxes.' I was scared to go out of the house because these trolls were saying they were going to throw acid in my face."
However, a deeply unsettling ordeal came as Scott was working for the BBC at the World Cup in Moscow in 2018. Kidnapped by a rogue Uber driver, Scott regaled a tale in her memoir of how a routine 15-minute drive to her hotel unfolded into a nightmare.
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After the driver menacingly told her, 'Girls like you, I kill", quick-thinking saw her claim to the driver that she was a friend of Vladimir Putin, after meeting the Russian president earlier in her trip.
She told the driver: "If I don't see Putin tomorrow, he will find you," – and it's a sentence that looks to have saved her, as the driver then dropped her off at her destination.
Missing out on Match of the Day and USA plans
A painful chapter in Scott's life in the media appeared last year prior to being overlooked for the Match of the Day job. Gary Lineker has stepped down from the iconic show after 25 years in the hot seat, and it was a position that Scott was at one stage reportedly the frontrunner for, with BBC bosses wanting to move in a different direction.
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However, the gig ultimately went for the experienced trio in Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates, who will all share presenting duties.
Rumours also surfaced she had intentions to move across the pond with Glynne to explore other opportunities in her field, following a troubled episode with the BBC that emerged last October.
The Sun reported Scott had been left 'hurt' after Football Focus – the show fronted by her – suffered from failing ratings and she wasn't backed by bosses at the Beeb.
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She had previously defended herself against talk of dwindling viewers In September 2023 on X, after she claimed figures were in pristine health.
But fast forward a year, and a source in October 2024 said: "Alex is now seriously contemplating moving on from the show. Last year she was hugely hurt by unfair criticism about falling viewing figures – and felt she was thrown under a bus.
"The viewing figures were not as reported and she feels no-one backed her up and issued the correct viewing figures."
On her and Gylnne's move across the pond, the source added that the pair are "contemplating a move to America." As things stand, though, Scott remains in the UK, and will be a focal part of Soccer Aid on Sunday evening on ITV1.