Alex Scott’s heartbreaking confession about girlfriend after falling in love with team-mate

Ahead of her entry into the I’m A Celebrity, viewers are reminded of Alex Scott’s football past and a heart-breaking romance with a former Arsenal team-mate

Tom Sunderland Sports Writer

16:30, 16 Nov 2025

Alex Scott will enter I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! on Sunday(Image: PA)

Football star turned broadcasting staple Alex Scott takes on a different kind of challenge as she joins the cast of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! on Sunday. And the BBC mainstay will show fans a more insightful glimpse into her personality, as well as some of those events that have shaped her into the woman she is today.

One transformative chapter in Scott’s life pertains to her time at Arsenal, for whom she made 313 appearances across three separate stints. However, not every aspect of the retired right-back’s time in north London holds happy memories.

It was during her second spell with the Gunners that the academy graduate became team-mates with Kelly Smith. And after both signing for Arsenal in 2005, their relationship soon blossomed into a romance that wasn’t built to last.

Scott, who made 140 appearances for England during her glittering career, previously opened up about falling “madly and deeply in love” with former Arsenal and England team-mate Kelly Smith. The star duo had a secret eight-year relationship that ultimately ended in heartbreak, which Scott previously addressed in her 2022 memoir, ‘How (Not) To Be Strong’.

“I’m writing this book and I want to tell everything. I thought I’d be cheating you all if I didn’t put that in there,” she told The Mirror in regards to that chapter at the launch of her book three years ago. “For me, it’s like that first love story.

“I fell madly and deeply in love. Yes, there’s that heartbreak and those things, but it’s a huge part of my life and I wouldn’t go back and change that. Because that feeling of love and that excitement and what it gives you, it needed to be in there.”

Scott and Kelly Smith (R) were in a secret relationship between 2005 and 2013(Image: David Price)

Scott, 41, will perhaps find it easier to discuss those painful memories today. More than a decade after her relationship with England great Smith came to an end, she appears to have found new love with pop sensation Jess Glynne.

Although Football Focus presenter Scott remains reluctant to go into details about their union, the pair appear to be very much in love. As well as appearing on red carpets and other events together over the past two years, they’ve also become more candid including one another on their social media.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, however, after Scott confessed how her upbringing impacted certain aspects of their relationship. To be more specific, she told The Times last year how her “stupidly cruel” father, Tony, repressed her emotions and inhibited her in opening up to others.

Scott and current partner Jess Glynne appear head over heels in love(Image: Getty)

“We weren’t allowed to express emotion,” said Scott. “Dad didn’t allow us to hug each other or say ‘I love you’. It had a huge impact on us all. To this day, if I want to show people love, I’ll do it by taking them out to dinner and paying.

“I remember one of the first times Jess hugged me. I was like… [makes a rigid expression]. She was like, ‘Are you not going to put your arms around me?’ But I didn’t know how to do that. We laugh about it to this day.”

Scott’s dad has always denied any allegations of a poor upbringing. Tony said: “Perhaps she is judging me by today’s standards, I don’t know. Parents were a lot tougher back then. But I was never violent, that’s just not me. I never beat Alex or anyone else in the family or did anything like that.”

Scott has also said she and Glynne were apprehensive going public with their situation because their relationship “is so special.” But there won’t be any hiding for the next couple of weeks as she joins a stellar cast in the Australian bush.

Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

£49

£35

Sky

Get Sky Sports here

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.

Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.