Alex Scott speaks out on why she won't let abusive trolls win amid BBC punditry backlash

Alex Scott, 35, won’t let the haters get her down as she addressed the daily negative messages she receives from online trolls. The abhorrent abuse stemmed from news reports suggesting the former Strictly star would be taking over from Sue Barker as presenter on A Question of Sport, after 24-years at the helm.

The show recently announced a major shakeup of its panellists, which will also see team captains Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell step down.

While many rushed to congratulate her on her new role, others took the opportunity to send derogatory comments to the ex-pro footballer, who is of Irish and Jamaican descent, which included remarks about her skin colour.

At the time, Scott responded with an an anti-racism poem she wrote in 2018, sharing it to her Instagram story, with the line: “Some want to say I’m ticking a box, but that’s not me.”

And now, the ex-Arsenal right-back explained that it’s OK for a sports player to move on to other ventures.

Since hanging up her own football boots in 2017, she revealed in a recent interview that the transition from the pitch to punditry wasn’t easy.

READ MORE: Alex Scott’s comeback to ‘won’t make it’ claim amid BBC takeover row

“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 percent 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.”

She took the time to study a broadcasting degree to be on the top of her game, adding: “I prepare extensively for every show and love what I do.

“I can put on a dress but also the next day put on my football boots and that should be celebrated,” Scott told Hello! magazine.

But last week, Scott thanked all those who supported her rumoured appearance on the BBC sports program.

Taking to Twitter, she said: “The love and support shown to me yesterday has me smiling through the weekend #thankyou. I am going to #KeepOnKeepingOn like always!”

She added: “The only thing that is signed sealed delivered that I am buzzing about right now though is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal,” referring to the team’s captain signing a new deal.

The former England player previously told of how she hit a “dark place” after being horrifically trolled when she retired from football.

She said: “I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t tell my mum because I didn’t want her to worry or put that stress on her. I was just that person (who thought) ‘I can look after myself, I can deal with stuff’ but obviously sometimes that’s the wrong way,” she said as part of a recent Heads Up campaign to raise awareness and crush the stigma of mental health in football.

“I got to a dark place and it was over Christmas, that’s when I was like ‘I can’t carry on like this, it’s not me, I need to seek help’ and that led me into therapy.”

source: express.co.uk