Alex Scott MBE talked about her difficult experience with online trolls as part of the HELLO! Kindness Summit on Friday.
The footballer-turned-presenter shared that she had initially enjoyed using social media, but the abuse she received following her career change put her in "a dark place" mentally.
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Speaking to Denise Lewis and Natalie Pinkham, the 2019 Strictly contestant said: "For me on the online world, I would say that I’ve had a different kind of experience with it.
"I’ve had the good, I’ve had the bad of it. I think when I played over in America when I was 23, it was a way of connecting with fans, showing them my personality."
Rosie Nixon alongside Alex Scott, Denise Lewis and Natalie Pinkham
But Alex went on: "What I’ve experienced the last two years from when I transitioned from sport into broadcasting was the really dark, negative side.
"People constantly trolling, the abuse that I was getting and realising how much that got to me.
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"I got into a dark place myself and learning how to cope with that and overcome that."
The Goals on Sunday co-host revealed that she had turned to therapy in order to cope, saying: "It pushed me into a place in terms of pushing me to therapy which has now made me grow as a human being and become a better person."
Alex opened up about her experience with therapy
The 36-year-old continued: "So out of such a negative situation I’m still looking at the positives that it’s actually given me and my life."
Asked how therapy helped her, Alex explained: "I think it’s about realising that it’s a small percentage of people going out of their way to do that and realising that there are so many people rooting for me and backing me as well."
The star went on: "I hold my hands up as an athlete, I’m sure Denise you’ll say as well, as soon as I would analyse myself it would always be 'What are the negatives', it’s reminding yourself actually 'I did that right in the game' or patting yourself on the back."
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