Alex Scott reveals she became dangerously close to becoming an alcoholic after traumatic childhood with domestic abuse

Alex Scott has revealed she came dangerously close to becoming an alcoholic before seeking therapy to deal with her childhood trauma.

The football pundit, 39, claims her father Tony was a ‘controlling, violent drunk’ who was ‘stupidly cruel’ and abuse, both physical and mental, she, her older brother, Ronnie, and mother, Carol.

Tony previously vehemently denied the allegations when she made the claims in her memoir How (Not) To Be Strong, released in 2022.

When Alex was eight years old, her mother left her father, but the athlete was left with deep psychological wounds that she only addressed in 2018 when she decided to seek therapy.

Speaking candidly in an interview with The timesAlex admitted that, like her father, she almost turned to alcohol to hide her problems.

‘Whenever I had problems I would think, ‘A drink will take care of it,’ before adding, ‘I will always be in therapy. It has done so much for me.’

Even with therapy, Alex still experiences the effect her father has had on her life and finds it difficult to show physical affection.

‘We were not allowed to express emotions. Dad wouldn’t let us hug each other or say, “I love you.” It had a huge impact on all of us. To this day, when I want to show people love, I do it by taking them out to dinner and paying them.”

However, Alex has recently found love again with singer Jess Glynne after the pair ‘hard launched’ their relationship with the Brits in February.

Last July, Alex was announced as an ambassador for domestic violence charity Refuge after speaking out about the abuse she experienced at the hands of her father.

The star said it was ‘an incredible honour’ to join the charity, with whom she has worked closely since the launch of her candid memoir.

She added that she wants to use her voice and platform to raise awareness about domestic violence and “ensure women know what support is available.”

Refuge said they are extremely “proud” and “grateful” to Alex for her past and ongoing support.

Alex previously revealed that she didn’t communicate with her mother about her troubled childhood until her book came out.

Appearing on Loose Women last year, she said: ‘I think in the world I grew up in, everyone had this perception that you have to be strong and I had to pull that back and show my emotions and vulnerability.’

Bursting into tears, she continued, “We felt like there was nothing we could do, and you wanted to save your mother. I thought I was better now and that things would be okay, but the images come back.

“You just lie in bed and hear everything and pray that your mother is still alive in the morning.

‘My mother is my everything and I want to give her everything. Victims think they are cowards, but my mother is not a coward and she saved me and my brother.

‘Until the book we didn’t know how to communicate about it. I’ve done a lot of therapy to break generational cycles. I was willing to talk and my mother wasn’t. And she loved it and learned so much about me and the implications for me and my brother.”

Tony previously denied Alex’s allegations in a statement to MailOnline, saying he couldn’t understand why she portrayed him this way.

He shouted, “I have no idea why she’s saying all these things. I grew up in a strict but loving Jamaican family and Alex should know what they are like. I taught her discipline, I did a lot to help her.

“Maybe she judges me by today’s standards, I don’t know. Parents were much stricter then. But I’ve never been violent, I’m just not. I never beat Alex or anyone else in the family or did anything like that.”

Alex then fired back after the interview when she told the BBC: “I’m almost getting mad at myself for allowing him to hurt me again with those claims.”

About her coping mechanisms as a child, Alex previously said: ‘The football cage was a safe space. I felt nice, I felt free and at home I was locked up, it was a very controlled environment.

‘I wanted to love my dad so much, I was daddy’s little girl, but he had a dark side and that’s a side we saw a lot growing up.

‘The drink made it look much better, you could see him change, he took it out on all of us, especially my mother.

‘From a baby I could feel it, the environment we are in. If you get out of line, you know what’s going to happen and you don’t want that to happen…

“What my mother would experience, the fear, the helplessness that you can’t do anything, you just live in fear.”

• Help and support is available at www.womensaid.org.uk or contact Refuge free of charge on 0808 2000 247.