TW: mention of domestic abuse
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Alex Scott is known for being the second most drafted player in the English team. Throughout her career as a professional football player, Alex Scott appeared 140 times in her national team. Her career also took her to play for a club in Boston as well as playing at the renowned club Arsenal.
Even though Alex Scott retired in 2017, the former football star has taken on other business ventures. In 2022, she released an autobiography called How to (not) be strong in which she opens up about her career and personal life. In it, she talks about the domestic abuse she suffered from her father and also shares details about her relationship with former Arsenal teammate Kelly Smith.
Writing is not the only career change that occurred in Alex Scott’s life since her retirement from football. Indeed, as today marks the beginning of the 2023 FIFA’s Women’s World Cup, she will be one of the BBC’s pundits.
But how did Alex Scott manage to become a trusted voice in football and how much is she making from this?
How did she become BBC’s first woman pundit for The World Cup?
As we explained above, Alex Scott’s football career was very successful both nationally and internationally. Her career started when she was really young.
While it is common for former players to become commentators once they retire, Thierry Henry and Gary Lineker are prime examples, in an interview with GQ she reveals that becoming a pundit is not something that just happened to her.
She says:
I couldn’t understand why there weren’t any more females doing it or wanting to get into that space
Noticing that gap Scott decided to do fill it, and she did it her way; she prepared. While she was still playing at Arsenal, she started going to Staffordshire University to study sports writing and broadcasting. Scott was clearly aware that as a woman, people were going to have a lot to say about her decision. She explains:
I said to myself, If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it the right way, so no one can ever say anything.
In 2018, she became the first ever woman at the BBC to be a pundit for the World Cup. Now she has a thriving pundit career, working for the BBC and Sky as well as having a strong media presence with over 1 million followers on Instagram.
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How much does she make working as a TV host?
One thing we know for sure is that Alex Scott has managed to now have not one but two successful careers.
In an interview done in 2020, Scott reveals that when she first started at the club in 1999, she was paid only £100 per match while male players were bought for millions. The football business is no stranger to the gender pay gap and even now, more than 10 years later, women players are still less paid than the men.
While British women players of a high level such as Leah Williamson, can now be paid around £200,000 per year, a study by the BBC reveals that women players are usually paid ‘£47,000 a year.’
The same study reveals that men are earning ‘100 times what the women do.’
Now as a TV host, we know how much the BBC paid Alex Scott as the channel reveals the salaries of its presenters every year. For the 2022-2023 season, she was paid between ‘£185,000 - £189,999.’ That covers her work for the three programs she presented.
On top of her work at the BBCshe also has sponsorships with major brands like Garnier. In 2023, she also hosted an event for Nike.
While we don’t know how much she is paid for those activities it has been estimated that her net worth is around £2 million.
Read more:
⋙ Lorraine Kelly misses her own ITV show leaving fans angry
⋙ Dermot O’Leary's salary: New This Morning host is one of ITV's highest-paid celebrities
Sources:
GQ: Alex Scott is fearless with her voice
BBC News: BBC pay 2022-2023: The full list of star salaries
Daily Mail: Former Arsenal Women's captain Alex Scott used to wear hand-me-down kit from the men's side and earned just £100 per match - while top male players were signed for £11 MILLION
BBC News: How much do women footballers get paid?
