Alex Scott at centre of major safety concern after horror acid attack threat

Former footballer and now TV presenter, Alex Scott, has revealed that she has been threatened with an acid attack when linked with becoming the new host of a TV show

Alex Scott has spoken about the downside of being famous and that she has been threatened with acid being thrown at her when being linked to a significant TV role.

The 40-year-old former footballer, who is now an established TV presenter and is linked to taking over from Gary Lineker in presenting Match of the Day, has written in The Times about the nastiness she lives with while being in the public eye. Alex, who lives with pop singer Jess Glynne, said: "There are negatives to fame. I’ve had plenty of racism, abuse and even death threats."

Alex was in the firing line of vicious trolls when she was linked to taking over from Sue Barker as host of A Question of Sport. Writing about that time, Alex said: "People were saying, 'She’s only on TV because she’s black, female and younger. She’s just ticking boxes'.”

Alex added that threats became very real to her during that time and she was worried about being attacked. She wrote: "I was scared to go out of the house because these trolls were saying they were going to throw acid in my face."

Fortunately, Alex found others who were fully supportive of her and she countered the trolling, writing: "Luckily there are other people who keep me smiling. They’ll come up to me in my local shop and say, 'Keep going,' and that’s what I do."

Alex has a healthy working relationship with Gary Lineker and she previously refused to work in a show of support to the veteran presenter. In March last year, she confirmed she wouldn't host the midday football programme in a show of solidarity to the Match of the Day presenter, leading to the show being pulled from the schedule.

At the time, the BBC said that Gary would be "stepping back" from his role as host of Match of the Day following comments he made on social media in which he criticised the government's Migration Bill. He likened the bill to 1930s Germany and the organisation took the decision to stand him down from his role.

However, it wasn't a decision that was met well by his colleagues and sparked a major backlash. A number of them, including Alex, opted to boycott the weekend's broadcast, before Gary was reinstated. Alan Shearer and Ian Wright were also among those making a stand at the time.

Alex tweeted her stance: "I made a decision last night that even though I love doing football focus and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA award that it just doesn’t feel right going ahead with the show today. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week…"

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