The Sunday Post (Newcastle)

Presenter: I can be scared for my life

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Alex Scott says she can “slip into dark places” when facing torrents of racist abuse and trolling, which sometimes leaves her “scared for her life”.

The former footballer, 37, has become a regular fixture on sports commentary panels and made history in 2018 as the first female Sky pundit on a Sky Sports Super Sunday.

She joined the BBC World Cup commentary line-up the same year.

Scott opened up about the online attacks she faces due to her role and how she found herself in a bad place after presenting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

She said: “I can slip into dark places. And once I slip into dark places, I don’t stop.

“I loved being out at the Olympics, but afterwards I realised the mad pressure that I’d put on myself to take everything – the trolling, the racism, Lord Digby Jones.”

Last year, former Labour minister and ex-House of Lords member Digby Jones made headlines when he criticised Scott’s pronunciat­ion and asked if someone could give her elocution lessons.

 ?? ?? Alex Scott, right, joins Clare Balding to present the BBC’s Olympic coverage of the Tokyo Games in 2020
Alex Scott, right, joins Clare Balding to present the BBC’s Olympic coverage of the Tokyo Games in 2020

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