Alex Scott had an emotional moment after she reflected on living with an abusive father.

The former England footballer, 38, made her Loose Women debut and promoted her latest How (Not) To Be Strong, in which she discusses her incredible journey, from her tumultuous childhood to her impressive football career.

The former Strictly Come Dancing competitor said that her relationship with her father and seeing her parents’ interactions is one of the reasons she struggled to find love as an adult. 

When asked by host Ruth Langsford how difficult is was for her and her brother to witness their mum’s abuse at the hands of their dad, Alex tearfully said: ‘It’s hard, because we felt like we couldn’t do anything and you want to save your mum and she’s also doing the same for us.’

She added: ‘I actually thought because the paperback comes out tomorrow “I’m in a better place, I can talk about it,” but then straight away you have the visuals and it takes you back to those moments that are hard.

‘You’re just laying in bed hearing everything hoping and praying your mum is going to be alive in the morning.

Alex spoke about her turbulent childhood(Picture: ITV)

Alex has detailed the events in her new book, How (Not) To Be Strong where she shares her struggles with depression(Picture: Kate Green/Getty Images)

‘And that’s why my mum is my everything, I want to give her the world and people that are survivors of domestic abuse have their lives stripped from them. They think they’re cowards and I want to show my mum, and I can’t stop telling her how incredible and amazing she is and she isn’t a coward and she actually saved me and my brother.’

Alex previously opened up about her childhood while appearing on an episode of Steven Bartlett’s podcast, The Diary of a CEO.

In the emotional conversation, Alex told the Dragon’s Den star about the ‘hardest night’ of her life, where she overheard her father with her mother after a birthday party.

She said: ‘I’m in a room listening to everything go on, and just hoping she’s alive.’

The volatile and scary environment led Alex to look for her own form of comfort and distraction, which she found in sport.

Loose Women airs weekdays at 12: 30pm on ITV.

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‘Straight away you have the visuals and it takes you back to those moments that are hard.