Alex Scott is likely one of the favourites to interchange Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman because the host of Strictly Come Dancing, however the former Lionesses star has a historical past with one among her BBC colleagues.

Strictly Come Dancing devotees have been left gobsmacked earlier this week when it was introduced that hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman shall be saying their goodbyes to the BBC present on the conclusion of the present sequence.

Daly has been a fixture of the programme since its launch in 2004, with Winkleman becoming a member of her as a full-time presenter in 2014. Nonetheless, for the primary time in over twenty years, the present is ready to usher in recent faces on the helm, with a slew of high-profile names already being prompt as potential successors for the much-loved pair.

High contenders for the open spots embody former Strictly Come Dancing : It Takes Two hosts Zoe Ball and Rylan Clark, in addition to standard presenters Bradley Walsh, Holly Willoughby, Alison Hammond and Roman Kemp.

But, a former sportsperson can be rumoured to be in rivalry for one of many roles, with ex-Lionesses star Alex Scott given 4/1 odds of entering into both Daly or Winkleman’s footwear by bookmakers.

The 41 12 months outdated – who racked up a powerful 140 caps for England throughout her soccer profession – took to the Strictly dance flooring herself in 2019, turning into the primary feminine footballer to take part within the present. Teamed with skilled dancer Neil Jones, she made it to the quarter-finals however in the end completed fifth, with Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher clinching the glitterball trophy, stories the Mirror.

Throughout her illustrious enjoying days, Scott racked up 150 appearances for Arsenal while additionally turning out for Birmingham Metropolis and the Boston Breakers, plus representing Nice Britain on the 2012 Olympics. However since hanging up her boots in 2018, she’s carved out an much more worthwhile media profession, along with her star persevering with to rise every year.

After blazing a path because the BBC’s first feminine World Cup pundit in 2018, she’s gone on to entrance beloved exhibits akin to Soccer Focus, Match of the Day and The One Present, alongside internet hosting the BBC Sports activities Character of the Yr Awards.

But her position on Soccer Focus has sparked friction with one other former BBC darling, as she allegedly discovered herself embroiled in a ‘heated’ row along with her predecessor Dan Walker in 2023.

After stories emerged that the beloved Saturday lunchtime present had witnessed a big decline in viewing figures underneath Scott‘s stewardship, Walker – who helmed the programme from 2009 to 2021 – took to social media, writing: “It is exhausting to see Soccer Focus struggling. I cherished it rising up and it was an honour to current it and I nonetheless miss it. We poured every part into that present every week and labored exhausting to maintain it related. I hope it stays a part of the TV panorama.”

Scott then fired again on the put up with a GIF studying ‘attention-grabbing’, which prompted Walker to retort: “I am not saying you have not Alex. It is a saturated market and it is exhausting work each week. I hope you’ve got a superb present at the moment.”

Nonetheless, Scott then hit again by posting an image of the Tv Present of the Yr award from the earlier 12 months’s Sports activities Journalism Awards. She wrote: “We’ve huge interviews with Ange Postecoglou and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard arising on the ‘Award’ profitable Soccer Focus tomorrow. Make {that a} headline.”

The duo allegedly carried on their on-line row at a charity perform weeks afterwards, as they have been reported to have engaged in a “heated” alternate on the Legends of Soccer dinner in 2023. However, they supposedly resolved their disagreement amicably, even hugging it out.

Scott’s connections to the Strictly position emerge as she has allegedly agreed to affix one other main programme, with the previous defender understood to have been in discussions about showing on I am A Superstar… Get Me Out of Right here!

Sources point out she is going to mirror her former England colleague and previous Queen of the Jungle Jill Scott by becoming a member of this 12 months’s contestants, who’re purported to function mannequin and actress Kelly Brook alongside rapper Aitch.