Monday 10 October 2022 02:07 PM Alex Scott reveals she 'couldn't speak' for years due to childhood speech ... trends now
Alex Scott has revealed she 'couldn't speak' for years during her childhood years because of a speech impediment, which she claims to still suffer from.
The presenter, 37, went on to explain she sometimes finds it difficult to say certain words, which she will 'change' for synonyms, and has been supported by her on-air colleagues including Dan Walker and Clare Balding.
In her memoir, How (Not) To Be Strong, she detailed the 'lengths' she went to in order to 'hide' her impediment and memorise scripts.
'All my thoughts want to come out but they get stuck!' Alex Scott has revealed she 'couldn't speak' for years due to a childhood speech impediment which she still suffers from
Before opening up with those around her, Alex 'found herself doing everything she could to keep it a secret', she admitted, due to not wanting people to pity her.
She wrote: 'What you might spot is that my brain works faster than my mouth; I have all these thoughts that want to come spilling out but they get stuck, literally stuck.
'If you're watching TV closely when this happens, you might see my eyes widen - that's the point when the words are jammed. It takes me right back to those early years of having to learn where sounds come from again,' the former footballer added of her childhood speech therapy.
The pundit concluded: 'However, on TV I don't have time to repeat words out loud to myself, so I pivot to either rewording what I'm saying or simplifying my thoughts.'
Throwback: The presenter, 37, went on to explain she sometimes finds it difficult to say certain words, which she will 'change' for synonyms (pictured as a child)
Alex said she underwent surgery as a child after doctors noticed she had trouble with her ears and adenoids, which are small lumps of tissue at the back of the nose.
The broadcaster, who also suffers from dyslexia, confessed others often weren't able to understand her when she spoke as a child, despite her sentences making perfect sense in her own head.
It comes after Alex fired back at her father Tony for disputing her claims about how he abused her as a child - which she has revealed in her new memoir.
In a recent interview, Tony dismissed her claims that he bullied and abused her during a traumatic childhood, insisting that he was strict - but not violent.
Pals: Alex revealed she has been supported by her on-air colleagues including Dan Walker (pictured) and Clare Balding
Following her father's comments, Alex told the BBC: 'I almost feel angry at myself that I'm allowing him to hurt me again by those claims.'
The ex-England footballer said she hoped to 'free her mother' by writing about her father's abusive behaviour during her turbulent childhood.
Addressing his denial, Alex said she refuses to let her dad win anymore after witnessing how his rebuttal affected her mother, Carol McKee.
Speaking to Radio 4's Emma Barnett, she said: 'That story from him coming out yesterday takes her back to a place...
'Hearing the pain and the terror again in her voice last night - that's why I don't know what I can do. But I'm not going to allow him to win no more.
Hitting back: It comes after Alex fired back at her father Tony for disputing her claims about how he abused her as a child - which she has revealed in her new memoir
'This book, the reason was to get some peace. And I suppose when you are in peace it gives you a new position of power and that's maybe why he's trying to (respond) right now.'
Tony rebuffed claims he was 'violent' towards his family during the interview and insisted he 'didn't know why Alex was saying these things.'
He 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.'
Alex hit back: 'I actually don't care what happened to me. If you are saying being beaten with a belt is just being strict - I can take that, I really don't care about me.'
'What I do care is about my mum and the fear and terror that she had to live in and the fact I was never able to help her in that, but what I can do is help her now by speaking the truth. And everything I wrote in that book, I stand by it. It is the truth.'
Denial: In a recent interview, Tony dismissed her claims that he bullied and abused her during a traumatic childhood, insisting that he was strict - but not violent
Alex has claimed that Tony's words 'lit a new fire in her' and she wants to fight to do all she can to help women in similar positions and those who have similar feelings to herself or her mother.
In her new memoir, the BBC football pundit described her father as a 'controlling violent drunk' who was 'stupidly cruel' and that she and her brother would frequently hear him beating their mother - with one incident so violent that she believed that she had died.
On one occasion she recalled how he beat them and made them throw their toys away insisting that life under him has left her so traumatised that to this day she is unable to hug her mother or brother Ronnie.
Alex was comforted by Holly Willoughby after breaking down in tears on ITV's This Morning as she spoke about life under her father prior to him walking out on her mother and leaving the family home in east London when she was seven.
But speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Tony, 63, vehemently denied the allegations and said he could not understand why Alex is portraying him in this way.
He cried: 'I have no idea why she's saying all this stuff. I was raised in a strict but loving Jamaican family and Alex should know what they are like. I taught her discipline, I did a lot to help her.
'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.'
Horrifying: Alex recalled an occasion when he beat them and made them throw their toys away. She said life under him has traumatised her so much that to this day she is unable to hug her mum Carol or brother Ronnie (pictured with them in an old photo)
Appearing on This Morning, the former Lioness who played for Arsenal, admitted that discussing her traumatic past in interviews to promote her memoir 'How (Not) to Be Strong' was the 'hardest part.'
She revealed that, despite writing about her distressing formative years in the book, she claimed to not have spoken it out loud - and began crying when Phillip Schofield read a segment promoting his co-host Holly to rush over and give her a big cuddle.
Alex wrote: 'When my dad was sober he was a charming guy, but the moment drink was involved that would change. Me, my mum and brother have never spoken about it.'
When Schofield asked Alex whether it was 'difficult to write', she took a moment to regain her composure while filling up with tears.
She said while bawling: 'The hardest part is, I didn't write that chapter to shame my dad. I wanted my mum to be free.'
Mr Scott, who as one of six siblings raised in east London insisted that he only attempted to instil a sense of discipline in Alex, which he maintained has helped her in her career.
He protested: 'I'm old school Jamaican, that's all. Alex's portrayal of me is completely wrong. But it's just one of those things.'
He revealed that Alex messaged him two weeks ago to tell him that she was about to embark on a round of media interviews to accompany the launch of her new memoir.
He added: 'When Alex messaged me, she said that stuff was going to come out but wrote that: 'I will always love you, that's just how you are, I accept that.'
Alex previously recalled: 'What my mum would go through, the terror, the helplessness that you can't do anything, you're just living in fear' (pictured in 2013)
'She said that she wanted to meet me, but I couldn't because I was out of the country. I've seen the media coverage and don't understand why Alex has said all these things about me.'
Mr Scott insisted that he wanted to 'prove his case' that he is not the violent, drunken man he is being portrayed as.
He added: 'A lot of things went on between me and Alex's mum, it's a long story. I'm collating a lot of stuff that will prove my case.'
Alex's brother Ronnie Scott today insisted that their father was violent towards their mother, Carol McKee.
Speaking at Alex's family home in east London, Ronnie, 39, said: 'Alex is telling the truth.'
During an interview last week with Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO podcast Alex said she has not spoken to her father in person for five years after they attend her grandmother's funeral.
She revealed that her last contact with Mr Scott came two years later when she was competing on Strictly Come Dancing and had made it through to Blackpool week and he asked her for some tickets.
But Mr Scott insisted: 'I've not seen her for several years, but I have had messages from her over that time. It's not true that there's been no contact between us since I contacted her about Strictly Come Dancing.
'As I've told you, she messaged me two weeks ago and wanted to see me.'
In another interview, Alex said she and Ronnie were forced to throw their toys away by Mr Scott who then beat them after she left a green space beside a tower block where they lived.
Mr Scott admitted: 'Yes, I did make them throw their toys away, but I didn't beat them. I bought those toys with my money. The kids were behaving badly and that was their punishment. What's wrong with that?'
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