Alex Scott reveals she was ‘too scared to go out’ after racist trolls threatened to throw acid in her face and recalls the abuse she received after being tapped to replace a national treasure

Alex Scott has revealed she was too scared to go outside after racist trolls threatened to throw acid in her face.

The 40-year-old presenter opened up about the downsides of fame, including the abuse she received when she was wrongly asked to replace national treasure Sue Barker as presenter of BBC’s A Question of Sport in 2021.

She wrote inside The times: ‘People said, ‘She’s only on TV because she’s black, female and younger. She’s just ticking boxes”.

Paddy McGuinness was in fact the new presenter, and after 50 years on air it only lasted two series under his leadership before he was axed.

She continued, “I was scared to leave the house because these trolls said they were going to throw acid in my face, but luckily there are other people who keep me laughing.”

The presenter, 40, opened up about the downsides of fame, including the abuse she received when she was wrongly tapped to replace national treasure Sue Barker as presenter of BBC’s A Question of Sport in 2021.

“They come up to me at my local store and say, ‘Go ahead,’ and that’s what I do.”

Alex previously revealed that the abuse had reached such an extent that she turned to alcohol, but later found that therapy was an effective way to come to terms with the more extreme reactions she was receiving via social media.

Earlier this year she admitted she had turned the hate into motivation to keep working and said her confidence had been boosted by her relationship with pop singer Jess Glynne.

The ex-footballer enjoyed a celebrated 13-year international career and dated her Arsenal teammate Kelly Smith for eight years before meeting 34-year-old Jess last year.

Alex said: “I’m in this bubble at the moment… I’m more open to acceptance and more vulnerable. I enjoy saying, ‘Okay, I’m just going to get on with this.'”

In an interview with Women’s health magazine, Alex described it as ‘a bit of ammunition to keep going and celebrate because you’re targeting people the wrong way.’

The former lioness said: “I will continue to thrive, I will continue to kill you with my kindness and do my work at a level that you cannot tolerate.”

Alex was also targeted during coverage of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, with crossbench colleague Lord Digby Jones suggesting she would benefit from lessons in elocution due to her East End accent.

She said: ‘People said: ‘She’s only on TV because she’s black, female and younger. She’s just ticking boxes” (Sue Barker pictured on A Question Of Sport)

Paddy McGuinness was in fact the new presenter, and after 50 years on air it only lasted two series under his leadership before he was axed.

“I was afraid to leave the house because these trolls said they were going to throw acid in my face, but luckily there are other people who keep me laughing.”

The former minister wrote on Twitter: ‘Enough! I can’t take it anymore! Alex Scott spoils a good presentation to the BBC Olympics Team with her very noticeable inability to pronounce her ‘g’ at the end of a word. Competitors do NOT participate, Alex, in fencin, rowing, boxing, kayaking, weightlifting, and swimming.”

Alex explained that while she can often process opponents’ comments online, she found herself in a particularly vulnerable state after the Olympics.

“I can slip into dark places. And once I get to dark places, I don’t stop. I loved being at the Olympics, but afterwards I realized the insane pressure I had put on myself to accept everything – the trolling, the racism, Lord Digby Jones.”

Last month Alex said she is now ‘in the best place’ at 40, but admitted it wasn’t always easy as she described her struggles with rejection.

Speaking to Hunger magazine, she explained: ‘Sometimes people only see the end process, but not what it took.

‘The rejection, the people who didn’t think I was good enough because of my accent and so on.

“That constant urge to prove people wrong has always been there with that young girl in Poplar.”

Looking back on her younger self, she added, “that young Alex in the cage, she had dreams. She wanted to see the world. She saw there was a bigger picture and she didn’t want to be stuck in that football cage and think this was her life.”

Alex signed for Arsenal when she was just eight years old and later became their captain.

After making 140 appearances in the Women’s Super League, the star retired from football in September 2017 and began putting her expertise to good use from the presenting chair at BBC Sport runways during the Women’s World Cup.