‘We need a summer of sport’

Alex Scott, 36, reckons we will all feel lifted by the Olympics this year

How are you feeling about presenting the evening round-up?

I am so excited. It was such a special part of my footballing career, walking out on to the pitch at the London 2012 games as part of Team GB. To now be on the other side and have the opportunity to present feels surreal and amazing. It’s hard to get my head around it!

And there is a strong female presenting line-up, too…

I was one of the first female pundits on the BBC, and I clearly remember being determined to transcend from being labelled a “female pundit” to just a “pundit”. Besides the statements surrounding my gender or my race, being part of the BBC family, I want people to see me on TV and think, “She’s great at what she does.” I absolutely love live TV, as there’s a real buzz about it. You make mistakes, but that’s life. No one is perfect.

Do you think the Olympic Games are especially important to viewers this year?

The magic of sport, and of the Olympics, is that it unites people, so it was tough to have that taken away because of COVID-19. I was fortunate to still be working across a number of TV shows during the lockdowns, but it felt like everyone was on a journey of constantly trying to search for an end point, which was possibly the hardest thing. That’s why it will be so brilliant to have a summer of sport, to get that feel-good factor back.