When she helped England win the Euros, Jill Scott never imagined it would lead to wrestling Jamie Redknapp in Mexico. Or eating goat testicles for that matter.
But having been part of the only team that’s brought football home since 1966, Jill’s happy to throw herself into anything. Even if - as viewers will have seen on Sky's A League Of Their Own: Mexican Road Trip this week - that leads to her being dressed to the nines and showing off a very different kind of fancy footwork.
Because whether it’s people bleeting on about ITV’s I’m A Celeb or giggling at her antics on Sky’s A League Of Their Own (ALOTO), Jill’s all for it. Why? Well, if her being in the limelight encourages just one young girl to strap on their football boots, she’s achieved her goal.
Jill Scott and Jamie Redknapp both tried their hands at some traditional dancing during Sky Max's A League Of Their Own: Mexican Road Trip (2024 A League Of Their Own: Road Trip © CPL Productions/Sky UK)Plus, of course, she’s also having a lot of fun.
“I have to pinch myself that this is even work sometimes,” says Jill, 37, who joined Sky’s ALOTO as a team captain last series.
Premier League odds and betting tips
“Some people will go: ‘I recognise you!’ I say ‘It might be because the women won the Euros’,” she chuckles.
“And they say: ‘No, no, it’s definitely the jungle when you were eating goat testicles’! I love people, I love conversation, so I don’t mind.”
It’s the young fans Jill loves most.
“Hopefully if they can see me, see that I’ve achieved my dream of playing football,” she says. “[They’ll] think: ‘If she can do it, I can’.”
You've got to be kid-ding! Jill Scott with a goat's testicle on 2022's I'm A Celebrity....Get Me Out Of HereViewers saw Jill on her first ALOTO Road Trip special this week - as she sampled the best of Mexico with fellow team captain Jamie Redknapp.
“He’s great fun,” laughs Jill. “Some of the stuff we got ourselves into...wrestling in front of thousands of people.... playing baseball in front of a thousand people....
“Then we broke down when we headed out to sea to scuba dive. The rescue boat that came to get us also broke down! So we spent this full day in the middle of the sea looking for sea lions....”
Jill also works on the award-winning The Overlap podcast and became a bonafide Queen of the Jungle after winning 2022’s I’m A Celeb, just months after retiring from football after more than 150 caps for England.
Her biggest achievement is arguably managing to put up with jungle campmate Matt Hancock for three weeks - but fortunately most people in her post-pitch career have been a much better match.
She says: “Some of the people I’ve worked with - Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Jamie Redknapp, Micah Richards - I have to pinch myself because they were my heroes growing up.
World Cup hero wants Man Utd move as doubts over Harry Maguire's future grow
“If it all ends tomorrow I’d just be so grateful at what I’ve gotten to do so far. Hopefully it won’t!”
Jill Scott on Sky Max's A League of Their Own, having joined as a team captain late last year
Happy couple: Jill Scott and fiancee Shelly Unitt (@shellyunitt/Instagram)She’s been tackling her fame with the same ease with which she tackled an opponent on the pitch.
But she’s still the same Jill. The star lives in Manchester with her fiancee-of-four-years Shelly Unitt, who runs a local coffee shop Boxx2Boxx and the football champ can regularly be spotted helping out - as many wannabe Lions and Lionesses come in after their training.
We get a lot of the football players in on a weekend after their matches,” says Jill. “[So] I try to be there as much as I can.
“The boys and girls usually get a little cake and a hot chocolate, that’s their treat.
“They’ll probably be a bit shocked that I’m there but I still see myself like them, just a bit older.”
Interest in women’s football has boomed in the UK since Jill and the Lionesses won the UEFA Euros at Wembley two years ago.
Recent ‘wins’ for the game have included the news that Arsenal Women will make the Emirates Stadium their main home and, in response to an open letter from the Lionesses, the Government’s pledge last year to provide equal access to football for girls in PE.
Jill Scott after leading England to win the women's UEFA Euros at Wembley in 2022 (Getty Images,)“Complete change isn’t going to happen overnight,” says Jill. “I like how we’ve focussed on schools and grass roots football because it’s ok getting 90,000 at Wembley to watch England but we need the grass roots, we need the foundation to be strong.
“We’re definitely moving in the right direction.”
Talking of grass roots, Jill is also supporting the Mirror’s campaign to save FA Cup replays in order to provide vital cash to hard-up lower league clubs and their communities.
“I see it from both points of view,” admits Jill. “The lower league clubs getting the chance to play at a Premier League ground and the money that generates, I totally get it.
“Then the teams who have players going on international duty, it’s another fixture to add to their already-probably-congested schedule.
“[But] My overall view would be: ‘Would one extra game make that much of a difference?’, and if it can generate more money for the lower league clubs, that’s a positive.”
Jill grew up in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and was a keen long distance runner as a youngster as well as developing a love of football. Her belief in grass roots sport is also the reason she’s supporting a new BBC Children In Need campaign to fund youth work projects.
Jill Scott shows off her table football talents while visiting a Manchester youth club, which has been helped by BBC Children In Need (PA)The Lioness recently visited a project in her adopted home city of Manchester as part of the drive, Community on Solid Ground, and even put them through their paces on the pitch.
“It was amazing, it had table tennis, football, basketball, trampolining,” says Jill. “It had a gym I wanted a membership for myself.
“You can see how for children having that place to go, making friends, it’s so important. There were youth workers who had attended the club as youngsters and now they’re working there and giving back.
“They said the club stopped them from getting into trouble and they really looked forward to going there.”
Jill adds: “I put my trainers on and played a bit of football with them. I got quite competitive to be honest ‘cause the lads were good footballers!”
The star knows firsthand the power of a project for young people - she thanks the youth club she had growing up for helping her career.
She knows how important it can be to have that escape sometimes, just to have that safe place where you can go and speak to people,” she says. “I think we had to pay a pound to go. It kept me physically active but then without knowing it it really helped my mental health as well.”
Jill Scott as a footballing teen - at a time when she love her local youth clubBBC Children in Need has teamed up with Omaze to give away a house in Dorset worth £2.5 million (plus £100,000 in cash) as part of its campaign. The company has guaranteed a minimum £1 million donation.
“The money Children in Need raise to buy this equipment can change people’s lives,” says Jill. “I’m such a big believer in getting kids off their mobile phones and their iPads. Children and young people deserve the best start in life and they don’t always get that.”
“There’s a big chance to win a lovely house as well,” added the footballer. “Spacious, sun terrace, three levels... I’d move into it tomorrow.”
Jill and fiancee Shelly have enough on their plate without househunting.
Jill Scott earning her keep by helping out at her fiancee's Manchester cafe Boxx 2 Boxx (Instagram/boxx2boxxcoffee)They’ve been putting off the wedding planning while they extended the coffee shop. “We need to get some time together before discussing the next plans,” says Jill, of her big day preparations. “But everything is going well.”
In the meantime Jill’s having to lay off some sport of late, but is still keeping fit.
“I was so lucky that I didn’t get any injuries when I played football but I’m paying for that a little bit now,” admits Jill.
“I’ve put a lot through my knee over the years so I struggle to do as much sport as I would like. [But] I do like going for long walks though so that’s what I do on a day off - a lot of walking and coffee.”.......And wrestling with Jamie, of course.
- Omaze is giving away a house worth £2.5m to raise money for BBC Children in Need. Enter here at omaze.co.uk/pages/dorset before it closes on Monday May 27. For more information projects supported by BBC Children in Need here, visit the website here.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
