TV presenter, former professional footballer and Olympian Alex Scott MBE stars on the front cover of Women’s Health’s as she speaks about how trolling affected her
Alex Scott has spoken candidly about how online trolls affected her mental health and that she was left in a “really dark place” by the comments made about her.
The 36-year-old television presenter, pundit, and former professional footballer, who is now hosting BBC’s Football Focus, has detailed how therapy helped her come back from a difficult time.
Alex is the new front cover star of Women’s Health magazine and she told them: “I was in a really dark place…I was lonely. I’d go home and it felt like I was all on my own.
“[I’d think], I’ve got no one to talk to, no one knows what I’m experiencing or going through.
“Until, eventually, the only thing I could do was tell everyone. That was my, ‘I can’t take it any more, I need to tell you all what I’m going through’ moment.”
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Speaking about the difference between criticism and trolling, Alex said: “Being an athlete, you’re used to criticism, and I could always take that as a footballer in terms of: ‘I don’t think you had a good game.’
“But trolling – it’s not related to what I can improve. I went from being on screen doing a job I love to thinking: ‘I know what’s going to happen as soon as I step off this chair.’”
Alex found a way through with the help of therapy, which said has been “enlightening”.
She said: “Going to therapy was absolutely the most enlightening thing I’ve ever done in my life. I love it. I will never stop.”
This has led to her thinking about freezing her eggs, with Alex admitting: “It’s still something I go back and forth with.
“Sometimes, my friends put pressure on me: ‘Alex, you’re not getting any younger, you need to do this.’ But right now, I’m loving life – so why add pressure on myself because other people are saying it’s time now to freeze your eggs?”
Alex continued: “Therapy’s helping me, so why am I not going to talk about it [freezing her eggs]?
“With a woman’s decision to get her eggs frozen – you do it for you, forward- planning, why be ashamed of that?
“It’s [about] taking away those stigmas that other people put on you. I get that all the time: ‘Why are you single?’ Like, sorry, do I have to be with someone?! [laughs].
“On my days off, all I want to do is hang out with my girlfriends, go out to a theatre show, listen to music, or have a couple of wines. I’m not going to apologise for being single.”
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Alex also spoke about her inspirations in the media as she made the transition from professional sport to a television personality.
She said: “I’d been frustrated. In sport, you have so many amazing stories and I don’t think they get told.
“I used to see my teammates – full of personality – give interviews and they would be a totally different person: they’d be scared, their guard was up.
“We weren’t shining a light on sportswomen. It was all, ‘look how muscly she is’, always in this negative way.
“It felt like there was a new thing I needed to do to help my sport move forwards, and that was transitioning to [a job in the] media.”
*Read the full Alex Scott interview in the October issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now.
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