Former Lioness Eni Aluko has opened up about her fallout with Arsenal legend Ian Wright, her legal win over Joey Barton and her quest for love in a revealing interview
Former Lioness Eniola Aluko has spoken on her legal win over Joey Barton, her clash with Ian Wright and a lot more.
The 38-year-old ex-England ace has said she’s tried to apologise to Wright privately following her comments about him. She also discussed her search for love, speaking to police over her social media security concerns and her shock at finding dating app users fear she is catfishing them.
Aluko won the first round of her defamation fight against Barton in April that following his offensive posts on X. A judge at the High Court ruled his posts had a defamatory meaning. The former Chelsea and England international won support for her determination to stand up to trolls that had intimidated others into silence.
She has now returned as a pundit as the Lionesses tackle the final stages of the Euros. She is also launching her Hyphenated People podcast – a series of interviews around heritage, travel, storytelling and culture – this week. She has addressed her comments about her fellow ITV pundit Wright which led to a fallout between them in April.
Aluko seemed to question the Arsenal icon and his place in women’s football during an interview about the defamation win and opportunities for women in football broadcasting. Wrighty received widespread support from fans, pundits and players past and present for the work he has done in the space and Aluko admits she was wrong in the way she spoke about him.
In her first interview since her ITV return, she told The Mirror: “I think I could have done better in responding to the question I was asked, and just keeping it as a general issue.
“I’ve always been the person, to be honest, to hold my hands up and say: ‘Listen, I got that one wrong. That was, that was a mistake.’ If I had been on the other end, I would probably have felt the same Apologies are acts of respect.
“Apologies are a show of humility. I did a lot to try to apologise to Ian privately. So when you’re seeing a public apology, it’s actually the last resort. But it was a public forum that I spoke about him on, and I felt a public apology was important.”
Wright didn’t accept Aluko’s apology on social media but Aluko is still determined to right her wrongs and speak to him when he’s ready. “I respect that. I respect how he feels,” she added. “It’s really about my apology. That’s all I can do. Then, whenever the person’s ready to have a conversation, I’m ready to have a conversation. But I respect if it’s not the right time, I totally respect that.”
It is 11 years since Aluko became the first woman to appear on Match of the Day as a pundit. While things are improving, female broadcasters are still subject to abuse on social media, relating to their TV and radio performances. Aluko hit back in April with the first stage of a High Court libel claim win against Barton, who was this week ordered to pay Jeremy Vine legal costs of £200,000 following their libel battle.
She said: “The way to change some of these things in society where women are made to feel they don’t belong in certain spaces is always to speak up about it. That’s the only way you change it. If you bury your head in the sand and pretend like it’s not happening, nothing really changes.”
Aluko has also revealed she is single and trying to find someone but struggles in the dating world due to her public profile. She said: “I always wonder whether I’m going to meet someone because I find it hard. I find it hard dating as a high profile woman in the UK.
“I really do find it hard just because a lot of guys come with preconceptions or, if they’re an Arsenal fan, it becomes a whole conversation about Arsenal v Chelsea. And I’m like: ‘I don’t want to talk about football on this date!”
“The amount of dates I’ve been on, and it becomes an interview!” She laughed. “So I actually consciously try and date people who don’t like football and like something else.”
She also revealed she was suspected of being catfish – someone who pretends to be another person on a dating app or website.
“I’ve had some good experiences and I’ve had some tragic, terrible experiences,” she said. “I’ve tried online dating apps. They don’t work for me. A lot of people think I’m a catfish, a fake account! Which is odd, because you’ve got to verify yourself!
“But yes, I have found it challenging. People are like, ‘Are you real? Are you?’ Breeze (dating app) is pretty good because there’s no chatting. They just set you up on a date. That’s good because I hate the small talk bit. I don’t want a pen pal! So maybe the old school way of meeting someone is my way – at an event, or, as I said, travelling. Keep your fingers crossed for me!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
