Alex Scott ‘fell madly in love’ with ex-partner and Lioness teammate: ‘My first love’

Former footballer turned sports presenter Alex Scott recently opened up about her past relationship with Lioness teammate and partner Kelly Smith.

Alex Scott met ex-partner Kelly Smith when they both signed for Arsenal in 2005. The pair lived together, and even moved to play in Boston together in 2009, but didn’t label their relationship publicly until Scott wrote about it in her memoir, which was published in October.

Promoting the book, Scott said Smith was her “first love”.

“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,” Scott said, as reported by the Mirror. 

“For me, it’s like that first love story, I fell madly and deeply in love. And 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.”

Alex Scott’s ex-partner had problem with alcohol

Alex Scott also touched on how Kelly Smith helped her recover from her traumatic childhood, and how Smith battled alcoholism.

She recalled on their second date Smith drank her way through a Mary Poppins musical in the West End.

“Here I was, madly in love for the first time in my life, with an alcoholic. It didn’t bode well,” she said.

At the time of meeting her “first love” Scott was only 19, while Smith was six years older.

Alcoholism is something she was become accustomed to. Her father also battled with booze and would often become violent when drunk.

Scott said her former partner’s struggle with addiction played a big role in their break-up following their eight-year relationship.

Smith has been open about her addiction and admitted she would drink until she passed out. 

“I’m not embarrassed to talk about it. If I can help other female athletes, that’s good,” Smith previously told the Mirror.

Following their breakup, Smith found love with wife DeAnna Dobosz, with whom she has two children.

‘I’m ready to be loved’

It took Alex Scott almost a decade after she split with Smith to be open to finding a new partner. She hasn’t labelled her sexuality publicly.

She told the Mirror in October: “For the first time since Kelly I can feel myself ready to love again.”

In a September interview with The Times, Scott revealed she was single and enjoying getting to know herself.

“I’ve been single for a while now, and I think that’s because I needed to be.

“There were patterns in my relationships that I knew were not healthy.”

Scott admitted she had walls up to try and protect herself and those close to her.

“Now I’m ready to let them all down. I’m ready to be loved,” she shared.

Scott has recently been praised for wearing the pro-LGBTQ+ OneLove armband in Qatar. 

Her thoughtful action followed England and Wales announcing they would no longer be wearing it because they were afraid of being given a yellow card.