Jill Scott

Presenter0:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne, and this is the Desert Island Discs Podcast. Every week, I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book, and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is the former England international footballer Jill Scott. She's known for her immense energy and drive on the pitch, and her indefatigable team spirit off it. In her 16 years as a lioness, she played in 10 major international tournaments, earning 161 England caps, becoming the second most capped player in British history. She discovered football early, playing non-stop in the back lanes of her home city of Sunderland, where she was the only girl on her local boys' team. By the time she was 18, she was playing for Everton, then Manchester City.

Presenter1:20

During her career, she's won every major domestic trophy, but success came at a price, often literally. She had to balance playing with paying the bills, working part-time jobs, and spending hours driving herself to and from commitments. Luckily, it all paid off. Last year, as part of the England women's team, she brought football home with their historic Euros win. After the celebrations, she announced her retirement and received a handwritten letter from the Prince of Wales congratulating her on her extraordinary career. This was particularly touching given that she once wiped him out with an uncompromising slide tackle during a charity match. She says, When you love football, it's not rational. You pour everything you have into it, and it's like you don't even notice that you're doing it. Jill Scott, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Jill Scott2:09

Thank you. It's such an honour to be on this, actually. I've got goosebumps when I heard the intro. Well, we're

Presenter2:14

Thrilled to have you, Jill. So, Jill, I want to take you back to a day that I know will be etched in your mind forever, last July.

Presenter2:22

That T V audience of seventeen point four million people watching the Lionesses beat Germany and win the twenty twenty two Euro Championships. You played in that final. What did it mean to you to finally win that medal?

Jill Scott2:35

Oh, it meant absolutely everything. I still can't put it into words now. I feel like I had that full England experience. Obviously, 16 years I was in the team for. I was a massive fan of England before that, the men's team, the women's team. And then I actually got to pull on that shirt and played the last 35 minutes of that final. I think I might have done the last header of the game as well. And then that final whistle went. I just went around just thanking the team, thanking the staff, because I was like, you've really made my dreams come true. And I know a whole nation's dreams come true of bringing that trophy home. And if I'm ever having a day when I think, oh, I'm not in a great mood, I just think back and think, we won the Euros, and it just makes us.

Presenter3:18

Uh Uh Uh

Jill Scott3:18

Hi.

Presenter3:18

I hope that. And it's such an exciting time to be speaking to you because the Women's World Cup is about to start in Australia and New Zealand. You're going to be there commentating as a a football pundit. Will that be weird, not being part of

Jill Scott3:30

The squad? It's hard, isn't it, when you've been part of such an incredible moment. So I'm so excited that I'm going to be going out to Australia. And yeah, I think they'll be getting security to remove us from the hotel if I stay around too long.

Presenter3:43

Jill, it's time to get started on your music. What's your first track today?

Jill Scott3:47

Something inside so strong reminds us of England under 19s when we used to go on the coach and the bus journeys and we'd be playing this song full blast and I remember more Marley our manager saying some people might not want to listen to music on the way to games so I had to quickly purchase some headphones and I used to just play this song over and over again. I think the words of it, the higher you build your barriers, the taller I'd become and I'd be thinking of the things that I was going to face in a football match and think there's a line in there where it's like if someone runs fast I'll run faster than you and I would really kind of motivate myself with this song.

Speaker 44:25

Something inside's so strong

Speaker 44:30

I know that I can make it

Jill Scott4:30

So that I

Speaker 44:34

Oh you're doing me wrong, so wrong You thought that my pride was gone

Speaker 44:40

Bodoo

Speaker 44:43

Something inside so strong

Speaker 44:47

Oh

Speaker 44:49

Something inside, so strong.

Presenter4:52

Labby Sifery and something inside so strong. Let's go back to the beginning then, Jill Scott. You were born in Fulwold, Sunderland, nineteen eighty seven, to Doreen and Brian. Now, apparently your nana suggested you might be a footballer.

Jill Scott5:06

When you were a baby, she said on my christening day, I was all dressed up in this dress, and she said I was just lying there, my feet were just kicking a hundred mile an hour. And she said to my mum, she's gonna be a footballer that once. It's interesting that her mind went there. I mean, were you a sporty family? Yeah, we were. So my dad played football. My mum did a lot of running cross country when she was younger. So I think when you go on to achieve something, I think the two families compete against each other and go, Well, you know what, your grandma on this side used to play netball, and then your grandma on this side used to run, and it's kind of a bit of a tug and war over whose genetics you got.

Presenter5:42

And you kind of got both'cause you were running and playing football as a little kid.

Jill Scott5:42

A new curve.

Jill Scott5:45

Yeah, I was doing both. So I just I know from a very early age I just couldn't sit still. So you know when you're like five, six, seven, my cousins would be watching movies and stuff like that and I'd just want to be outside no matter what the weather was. I'd just want to be at the park climbing trees, outside kicking a ball. If it was the Wimbledon season I'd want a tennis racket. If the cricket was on I'd want a cricket bat. I just absolutely loved being outside. You've got an older brother and

Presenter6:06

If the cricket

Presenter6:12

But

Jill Scott6:12

Uh Yeah.

Presenter6:12

Uh

Jill Scott6:12

Sister, and you've got a younger half-sister too. Were you competitive as siblings? Me and my brother were really competitive. I remember him, I must have been so annoying as a young child when he got 13, 14, he's hanging around with his mates in the back lanes, and then he'd have to drag along his younger sister, who he'd always make going goal, to be honest. He'd be in the back lane and he'd be like, I can keep the football up. I still remember it was 64 times. And I stayed in that back lane all day, so I could run into his bedroom and say, I kept it up for 65. The culture in the northeast.

Presenter6:42

was different in those days. So I'm wondering about this young football obsessed little girl. Were you encouraged towards what would have been considered girls' hobbies and activities back then?

Jill Scott6:54

I think my mum tried to a little bit. I remember she put us in this tap dancing class and I had to wear a sealer dress and did you feel it.

Presenter7:00

How did you feel about that?

Jill Scott7:01

The look on your face is not good. I hated it. I hated wearing dresses. I remember going on a butland's holiday and the dressed is up as Livin' Doll and I had to have this pink dress on with bright red rosy cheeks. I wasn't like 14, I was about five. And I had to sing this song and yeah, my mum said that my face, all the other girls in the line when we did the sailor dress dance, they were all in time and I just had a face like thunder.

Presenter7:01

The look on your face is not good.

Presenter7:05

But

Presenter7:27

It's time to go to your second disc today, another track from you, what it gonna be?

Jill Scott7:31

So I've gone for So Good by Boys On because this was the first cassette that I ever bought and it reminds us of my holidays, going on holiday with my mum, my stepdad and I would just have this song on repeat really. I was a really big fan of Boys On. I remember paying a pound to go to the Metro Centre. I actually bunked off school and you could pay a pound to get a kiss off each member on the cheek.

Presenter7:54

So this is a a big local shopping centre.

Jill Scott7:56

A big local shopping centre, you'll know it very well. And I never got to get to the front of the queue to get my kiss on the cheek off Ronan Keaton. So, yeah, I was gutted about that. So, he either gives you a pound or a kiss. Yeah, exactly. Next time I sing him, I love this song so good. Bye, Boys One.

Presenter7:59

Okay.

Presenter8:04

Yeah.

Presenter8:06

So we either lose your

Presenter8:08

Le Mek

Speaker 48:17

Don't live with cover

Speaker 48:20

Come on, hit me now. Gonna miss all your hood, cause it's understood.

Speaker 48:26

Like a new week

Presenter8:41

So good by Boys On. Jill Scott, it wasn't long before your footballing talent was spotted and your first junior league team was Fulwood Boys' Club. You were there until you were nine and you were the only girl on the team. You've said that your fellow teammates were supportive of you. What about the rival teams who were coming to play you?

Jill Scott8:58

Parents made a tough for us sometimes, especially of the rival teams, if I kind of beat their precious son. I remember people shouting things at us at the age of nine, like break that girl's legs and kick her and I remember playing the game and I couldn't see because my eyes had just welled up with tears and the manager, Paul Lundy, at the time, oh he was so lovely, and he'd take us off the pitch to protect us.

Presenter9:20

So they were yelling stuff like that.

Jill Scott9:22

Yeah, and he would protect me by taking us off the pitch, but he said that I always wanted to come back on a Tuesday. It sounds like you were getting a harder time than your male counterparts. Yeah, it was definitely because I was female. I think because the perception back in the day was that boys should be stronger than girls, so it was kind of an embarrassment for the son if a girl had kind of megged them or done a trick and got past them. So, yeah, it was really difficult. And people have said throughout my career that I'm resilient and I'm determined. And I think from a young age, without even realizing what resilience even was, I had to build it up inside of me, else I wouldn't have gone on to play football at any level, never mind professional.

Presenter9:45

And got

Presenter9:47

So yeah.

Presenter10:03

Can you remember your first proper game when when you really knew I've got something here?

Jill Scott10:07

I remember at the end of my first game, I was seven, and there must have been about it was probably 18 boys, nine aside or something. And someone came up to us at the end, and they were like, You've won the man of the match trophy. And I remember getting this trophy, still remember it now. It had this male footballer on that said man of the match. And I was so proud that I'd been the best player that day. And this guy comes running up to us and frantically like, Can we change the description of it? We'll get the trophy sent back. We'll get a change to player of the match. And I said, No, no, I don't want that because then people will think, I think they were going to put girl of the match on it. And I said, They'll only think I've won it because I'm a girl. I wanted to say man of the match. And the article the next day, my mum still got the article. It said, Jill is proud to be a man. And there I was, seven years old. And I was really embarrassed by this article.

Presenter10:45

I won't

Presenter10:55

I was going to say that you must have got teased at school.

Jill Scott10:58

Yeah, I did. So I got teased saying, Oh, you wanna be a boy and all of this. And when I got a nine years old, I got told I couldn't play with the boys anymore. I just remember lying on my bed going, I need to play football, like, you can't take football away from me. Your mum did find you

Presenter11:12

Bolden Community Girls Team, a twenty five minute drive away.

Jill Scott11:16

And my mum didn't drive at the time. And I remember my stepdad taking this for my first session and I just loved it. I was like, oh my God, people like me do exist. They've got this great team. There was girls' leagues, everything.

Presenter11:28

You found your tribe and found your team. I want to hear more about that, but first it's time for your next disc, Jill. What have you got for us?

Jill Scott11:34

Hello you go

Presenter11:35

Yeah.

Jill Scott11:35

So, this song actually is a tattoo on my wrist. So, I was going to a tournament, and Whitney Houston Step by Step is the song. I got the tattoo on my wrist because I was heading to this major tournament, and I felt like I just needed some words of motivation. But this song actually ended up being the whole kind of motto of how I live my life. So, step by step, day by day, mile by mile. And obviously, I've ran a lot of miles. If I was a car, I would have a very high mileage on my clock.

Speaker 412:05

Cause I'm checking it step by step

Speaker 412:12

It's the first time.

Speaker 412:16

Stone by stone, yeah.

Speaker 412:23

I am

Speaker 412:24

Step by step

Speaker 412:29

Day by day

Speaker 412:33

Bye-bye, ma.

Presenter12:35

Whitney Houston and Step by Step. Jill, as well as being an outstanding footballer, you were, as a kid, a talented runner. You won the London mini marathon when you were fourteen. That kind of ability also requires a lot of effort. Are you someone who's disciplined about training?

Jill Scott12:51

Yeah, I was, but the running came about because I went into senior school year seven, and you know, when you do one sport and you've okayed it, then you end up doing every single sport. So I had badminton club on a Monday, I had hockey club on a Tuesday, and then suddenly they wanted people to do cross-country running. And I wasn't really, I was like, do I want to do that? And basically, I got this pair of old spikes out of the school cupboard, and they were like, you can go and run a race for us on this Monday night. And it was a cross-country race. And basically, I won by about 31 seconds, which is like quite a big gap. And there was somebody from Sunderland Harriers, Davey, was called watching the race, and he quickly signed me up after. He was like, oh, you've got a natural talent. And I went on to kind of win quite a lot of titles, like Northeastern Champion, Northern Champion. I did 800 meters, 1500 meters, but I think I didn't really have that deep, passionate love for running. Why not? What was different? The team element. So I loved going training, would all be running together as part of our team. But when it came to racing, you just ran off on your own. And then when I won at the end, I didn't really have that feeling of, oh my God, I've won the race. I'm so happy. It just didn't have that same feeling as when you win as part of a team. And what about the rest?

Presenter13:49

What else?

Presenter13:58

Then

Jill Scott14:09

Most of your school life? What were you disciplined?

Presenter14:10

BIN Uh

Jill Scott14:11

In the classroom.

Presenter14:11

Yeah.

Jill Scott14:11

My mum said on parents' evening it was like Jill likes to distract others. I just had a really short concentration span, so I used to do okay at school. I remember in my last few years at senior school I was kind of down as an underachiever because they said I had so much more to give.

Presenter14:19

And so

Jill Scott14:28

But I just couldn't sit still and and revise. I just wanted to be outside. I'd be gazing out of the window at the fields and just thinking, I just want to be out there playing football. I don't want to be sitting in here learning about Macbeth.

Presenter14:41

But you do like your poetry, Jill, don't you?

Jill Scott14:43

Yeah, I love my poems. I do love my poems. You know what? On Valentine's Day, that takes us back to when I first went to Aston Villa and my initiation, I had to kind of stand up and do something. And I ended up writing the girls a lot of poems for their partners. And I remember them coming back to us and saying, oh, you know what? The thought that I wrote the poem and all this. But I love poetry. I love it. Love it. Do you? Just writing, reading? I write it now because it kind of clears my head. And I love the play on words. You know how words can have two, three different meanings. I love language.

Presenter15:07

Do you just

Jill Scott15:19

Uh

Presenter15:19

Jill, it's time for your fourth disc today. What are we going to hear and why are you taking this to the island?

Jill Scott15:23

Oh Maroon 5 Sunday morning. So this reminds us of when I first passed my driving test I had a little red Peugeot 106. My grandma bought us at £300. It had four gears and it had a cassette player and you could put the cassette in and it had a wire that joined to your iPod and didn't have a lot of storage my iPod so I only had Maroon 5's album and I think Sunday morning was always my favourite day of the week because I either had football or I had a race and it kind of always represents say going to football and then looking forward to heating my Sunday dinner up in the microwave when I got home.

Speaker 416:05

Sunday morning rain is falling

Speaker 416:10

Still some kind of share, some skin

Speaker 416:16

Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable You twist to feel the mode that I am in

Speaker 416:25

But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do And I would gladly hear

Presenter16:33

Maroon Five and Sunday Morning. Jill, when you were seventeen in two thousand four, you started your senior career at Sunderland, but you had to be pretty resourceful to get your hands on a usable football kit back then. How did you manage to do it?

Jill Scott16:48

We used to get the men's handy down, so in pre-season this big black bag would arrive and it would have all the men's kit off the year before. So you'd kind of be scummaging through this bag just trying to find someone who had your same initials. There was this physio, I think he must have been about 60 at the time, and he was called Jockey Scott. So it was a J and an S. So I would find her, but I remember there were these red, Reg Vardi jumpers that had gone pink because they'd been through the wash that many times. And we had these shorts, and obviously I was quite a tall, skinny thing, and these shorts were like basketball shorts on us. But we were so happy to just take that kit home and feel like you were part of something.

Presenter17:30

So you've been at Sunderland for a year and it was then that you joined the Everton ladies' team. Now that is a three-hour drive each way from Sunderland to get over to Liverpool.

Jill Scott17:36

Yes, rule.

Jill Scott17:40

How on earth did you keep that up? I don't know, to be honest. I remember setting off for the first day, and I was quite an independent child. I remember being 17, and I had one of them AA road maps. I said to my mum, I was like, I think I'm going to go and sign for Everton. And I set off in my little red Peugeot car going down the motorway, and it was so loud because it only had four gears. And I just literally followed this map. I still remember the roads: A19, A1, M62. When you get to the M62, you'll see the rocket pub on the left, and that's where you'll meet the manager. I signed that day, and it was difficult in terms of there was a lot of sofa surfing, so I had to say to the girls, Is it okay if I stay over tonight if we had a game the next day? But you know what? I formed the best friendships. We've still got a group now. I was up and down the motorway probably three times a week, just trying to find somewhere to sleep. So it's a six-hour journey. How did you manage that? You know, having to work, having to make money as well? Yeah, I was working at Gateside College. I'd finished coaching, I'd get in the car, and I was just so excited to be going to football, to be seeing my friends. And yeah, the journeys back were hard. If we finished at 10 o'clock, I'd get back to Sunderland. And is this because you know you didn't get access?

Presenter18:50

As to the pitch until later on.

Jill Scott18:51

Until later on. Yeah, so we got the last slot, so it was April 10th. So when all of the.

Jill Scott18:57

Men had finished, all the boys academy had finished, everybody, and we got that last final slot. And I remember being there on a Friday looking at the time, and it's half ten at night and thinking I've got to get back to Sunderland. So I used to have coffee like late at night, and it used to wake us up. I don't want to look back on that time and think it was a slog because it was, but honestly, I had the biggest smile on my face. I was playing for Everton women's team with the likes of Rachel Una, Farrell Williams, these England professionals, and I was just about to start my England journey as well. So it's a very happy time for me.

Presenter19:30

Well, I'm glad that you look back with such happiness, but you know, I must ask you about that disparity between the experiences, like you say, having to dig in and get through the tough bits and paying for your own petrol money and keeping yourself awake on a motorway and the car that you know your grandma got you for three hundred quid, I think you said. Were you ever annoyed about how much more male players at the same level were earning compared to the kinds of sacrifices that you and your teammates were having to make? I think at that time most male Premier League players would have been earning at least a million pounds a year.

Jill Scott20:01

Yeah, that's mad. You know what though? I've never thought about the money side, and I know it sounds cheesy. I am quite a cheesy person, really, but I don't think money makes you happy. Like when I think back and I think my latter years at Manchester City was the best wages I'd ever been on, but I probably wasn't enjoying my football. And then when I think back to them days at Everton and I remember me and Fern Wheeler putting five pound petrol in the car so that we could drive to the cinema or something like that, them times I was just so happy back in them days where I probably had six pound coins in my pocket.

Presenter20:37

I think we'd better have some more music. This is your fifth choice. What are we going to hear?

Jill Scott20:41

So, I'm going for Miley Cyrus the climb. So, this takes us back to 2009 when we made the final of the Euros. We got beat off Germany actually 6-2. So, to fast forward then 13 years when we beat Germany in the Euros final. But I just remember making that final and me and one of the girls just singing this song out at the top of our voices. And I think the words to this song, when you kind of associate it to sport, yeah, you can always want that final thing in life, that gold medal. But I think if you enjoy the climb, then that's the best part of everything.

Speaker 421:15

There's always gonna be another mountain. I'm always gonna wanna make it move. Always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side.

Speaker 421:38

It's the clock

Presenter21:45

Miley Cyrus and the climb. Jill Scott, you are the second most capped England footballer across the men's and women's game and by quite some margin. Peter Shilton, the most capped men's player, has 125 caps. Wayne Rooney, 120. David Beckham, 115. Your tally is 161. Early on in your career, you were told if you want to play for England, you have to be obsessed. How obsessed were you?

Jill Scott22:11

It just doesn't seem real even when I sit here now and hear them kind of figures being read out. But yeah, I was definitely obsessed. I used to be in bed at ten o'clock every night, no matter what was happening. I would always make sure that I would do every single training session.

Presenter22:26

Do you think you missed out on a lot of stuff? I mean, in your personal life, you must have had to make so many sacrifices.

Jill Scott22:32

I feel like the sacrifice maybe isn't with me because I got to go and live my best life playing football. But I feel like my family made a big sacrifice really because I have been absent from a lot of things. My sister's wedding, I remember going to the wedding and the first dance was about to happen. I had to leave because I had like an FA Cup semi-final the next day in London. I had to drive from Sunderland to London, still all my hairpins in. I think I still had my bridesmaid dress on for me not to be there for our first dance and to just leave the wedding. But you know what? They've always been so supportive and I still feel this massive like amount of guilt. Maybe the sacrifice wasn't with me. It was more my family.

Presenter23:18

Well, a love of football, Jill, and definitely a friendly personality, but also passionate on the pitch. Which brings me to controlling your emotions when you think things are unfair. I mean, during the Euros, millions of T V viewers saw you using some very strong language.

Jill Scott23:23

Which brings me to

Jill Scott23:32

Yeah, because I wasn't one of the best players, I think my job was to stop the best players. And the best way to do that was to put in a tough challenge, maybe just give them a little bit of a tug on the the shirt on corner kicks, just give a little stamp on the foot. So you've got to be brutal. Yeah, I think you know what, if you're a great player or a good player, I'm going to make sure you've had a tough game today. So the phrase that you used, which

Presenter23:38

And the best

Presenter23:47

So you've got

Presenter23:48

Yeah, I think so.

Presenter23:55

We can't repeat on on Desert Island, it's not on this island. It's simply too spicy. But that became a kind of a bit of a catchphrase. There were people were doing T shirts, they were making monks.

Jill Scott24:05

Yeah, you make it.

Jill Scott24:06

Yeah, somebody sent my grandma a mug. It says F-O-Y-F-P, but she doesn't know what it stands for. She thinks it's just a picture of me shouting playing football for England. So it is not the highlight of my career that my 89-year-old grandma wakes up on a morning with a mug having a cup of tea out of me swearing.

Presenter24:30

Time for some more music, I think Jill Scott, your sixth choice today.

Jill Scott24:33

Whitney Houston, my love is your love. My nephew Dexter, so he's 11 now. And when he was younger, I used to sing this song to him when we were in the car. He used to come on car journeys with me, him, Charlie, my other nephew. And I used to sing this song to him because it was just all about how much I loved them. And they were only like three and five years old. And he said to us the other day, I haven't played it to him for about seven years, and it came on on the radio. He said, Jill, is this the song you used to sing to me? And he was saying all the lyrics. And it was just, I said to him, Yeah, how do you remember that? So, in years to come, maybe when he's older, he'll listen to this song and hopefully think of Auntie Jill.

Speaker 425:13

If I wake up in World War II World War I see destruction and poverty

Speaker 425:25

And I feel like I wanna go home

Jill Scott25:27

Feel like I'm what I'll

Speaker 425:29

It's okay if you're coming with me.

Jill Scott25:31

Yeah.

Presenter25:45

Winnie Houston, and my love is your love. Jill Scott, earlier this year you opened a football pitch named after you in Jarrow. Now it's for everybody, but the priority is for girls and women to have access to it. What does that place mean to you?

Jill Scott25:59

Oh, so much. And I remember the request coming through, and I had kind of this picture that I was going to just rock up and open this like really small, like five-side football pitch. And oh my god, this facility is massive from the Football Foundation. It's worth a lot of thousands of pounds. And you know what? It means a lot to us because going back to when you say about girls' football wasn't prioritised, and we had that last slot on like Friday night, 8 till 10, this pitch is going to prioritise women's and girls' football. And it's not about saying boys' football isn't allowed, but the main priority is going to be can we get the girls' football on there? And we want more girls to play football, but at the same time, we have to take responsibility that we create a safe environment where they can play football. When I kind of revealed that plaque, I went back to when I was nine years old, turning up a Balden girls for the first time and being like, oh, I found people like me and I can play football with them. And now thinking I've got this pitch that can then open up opportunities to that next generation that can be safe, that can go and play football with smiles on their faces. It was a real like full circle moment.

Presenter27:10

And this is a big conversation now, isn't it? I mean, during the Euros last year, Ian Wright was very outspoken about the importance of access for young girls to do football in PE lessons. Do you think that things have changed enough for that next generation? Do we still have

Jill Scott27:24

have quite some way to go.

Jill Scott27:25

On the back of the Euros, Leah Williamson and Lotta were like, look, we need to look at this and try and kind of leave our legacy a little bit. And now they've created equal access for girls and boys to play football. I think we don't want to deny girls, young girls, a dream. They can give it a go or see if they like it. And I'm sure a lot of them will as well. I love the fact that all the lionesses are going to get their own football pitch and obviously it's going to be spread out around the country. I think that's a great place to start.

Presenter27:54

It's time for some more music. Your seventh choice. What is it and why are you taking it to the

Jill Scott27:58

The island. I love Peter Andrea and on the back of the jungle

Jill Scott28:02

I sang this song a lot and I think

Presenter28:03

So this is I'm a celebrity game.

Jill Scott28:04

Yeah, so when I was in the jungle, I'm a celebrity. I sang this song a lot. We were doing raps and stuff like that. Peter Andre always been a fan of his, and he actually sent us a message on Instagram going, Next time I go and do a concert, you can come and do the rap on stage. So I'm going to hold him to that. Also, it reminds us a lot of my initiations at Everton Manchester City, which is where you join a team, you have to get up and do a song or a dance. If it wasn't poetry, it was always this song, Peter Andre, Mysterious Girl.

Speaker 428:35

Looks up

Speaker 428:36

Girl, I wanna make you mine I want to be with a woman just like you

Speaker 428:44

You know that I'm the only man who can love you like I can. So just let me be with the woman that I love.

Speaker 428:56

Baby girl, show you make a looking glass.

Speaker 429:01

Mysterious girl, I wanna get close to you.

Presenter29:05

Peter Andre and Mysterious Girl. Jill Scott, you were awarded an MBE for your services to football in the twenty twenty New Year's Honours List. Unfortunately, you didn't get to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace due to Covid. You opened up the parcel in your local post office car park, I think. What were your thoughts on receiving the honour?

Jill Scott29:21

What we

Jill Scott29:23

Oh, I was so honoured. My phone rang, and it was like this is someone from the cabinet office or something like that. And I thought it was a hoax call. Said, Jill, we've been trying to get hold of you for months and months. And yeah, basically, I nearly missed the invitation for my MBA, but it was all booked and ready to go on the Wednesday. And I remember on the Tuesday was when we went into the first national lockdown for COVID. So I couldn't go and receive it. And I just got one of them parcel slips, and I had to go to the sorting office. And they just give us my package. And when I opened it, I was like, oh, it's my MBA. So I didn't think I was going to receive it at the Warrington Post Office.

Presenter30:00

So I didn't think I was gonna res

Presenter30:04

It's almost time to cast you away to your desert island, Jill. What's the first thing that you'll do when you get there?

Jill Scott30:09

I'll probably have a little look around to see what's there, see where I can set up camp and stuff like that. I like to know my surroundings. Maybe that's a football thing of playing in midfield, always looking around. But then if it's hot, I must see I'll probably get some chill time in.

Jill Scott30:25

Get some sunbathing in, I think.

Presenter30:27

We've heard how sociable you are and how much of a team player. How do you think you'll deal with solitary island life?

Jill Scott30:32

I don't think I'll be very good at all. I don't like time on my own. So I joke that in the past when I had them long journeys on my own, I still do it now. I just say poems and raps to myself. And I used to interview myself when I was younger. So I used to be like, so Jill, you had a good game today. How did it feel? And then I'd always just try and. So I'll probably end up sitting on the desert island talking to myself.

Presenter30:57

Well, whatever it takes to get you through. You do, of course, have a bit of survival experience having emerged the victor from your time in the jungle in last year's Amazelebridge competition. What did you learn by putting yourself in such an unusual situation?

Jill Scott31:11

I learnt that sport can equip you for so much in life, and I say that to young people now. I said before, if you don't go on to reach a highest level of sport, it's so good for life in general. There's so many moments in your life where you'll feel like you'll win, maybe relationships you'll feel like you'll lose. And I think sport teaches you about winning and losing from very early days. I speak about resilience, I didn't even know what it was, but I suppose young nine-year-old Jill was building resilience and determination without even knowing. So I think then when you step into, say, the jungle or a desert island, sometimes you've built them things inside of you that can help you cope with being in these situations that you would never find yourself in usually.

Presenter31:52

Well, it's almost time to cast you away. But before we let you go, we'd love one more track from you. Your final choice today, what's it going to be?

Jill Scott31:57

Your final choice

Jill Scott31:59

Well, I don't think I would have had the opportunity to even come on Desert Island discs if we hadn't have won the Euros. And the song that reminds me of that the most when I did that last lap with the team walking around Wembley for the final time, gold medal around my neck, holding the trophy. When I hear this song, which is Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, it brings a massive smile to my face. And the fact that the whole nation got behind us whenever this song comes on, I think they do think of that Euros moment when the lionesses brought it home.

Speaker 432:33

Reach it out.

Speaker 432:36

Touching me

Speaker 432:39

Touching you sweet girl line.

Speaker 432:48

The times never seem so good

Speaker 432:54

I believe what

Speaker 432:59

To believe that never won

Presenter33:06

Absolute chaos in the Desert Island Disc studio next door. It's just unconscionable.

Presenter33:13

Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. So, Jill Scott, the time has come. I'm going to send you away to the island. I'm giving you the books to keep you company, the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare. You can also take a book of your choice. What would you like?

Jill Scott33:26

You know what, I was thinking hard about this and I've read a lot of books about inspiration, motivation. But I think if I was on an island, I'd need a little bit of fun. And my mum used to always read the books, The Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole. And I used to pinch them and just read kind of little extracts from the diaries and they used to always have us laughing. But I was also a little bit too young to be reading some of it. So I feel like that would just keep us going. Suit and

Presenter33:54

Absolute classic. It it is yours, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mull.

Presenter33:58

You can also take a luxury item for sensory stimulation or to ease the pain of your isolation. Nothing practical. It's got to be indulgent. What do you fancy?

Jill Scott34:07

Thank you.

Jill Scott34:08

I think I would have to take a pen and paper, which I know sounds like so simple, but I think if I could write my poems and my poetry, and maybe I could do the secret diary of Jill Scott on a desert island, but I think if I had somewhere where I could put my thoughts down, I would just want a pen and paper.

Presenter34:28

And finally, if you had to just save one of the eight tracks that you've shared with us today.

Jill Scott34:32

That you've shared with

Presenter34:34

Which would you go for?

Jill Scott34:35

Oh, that is such a difficult question. I think I would have to say the climb. I think when you played that song, I instantly got goosebumps, and I think it is a motivational song, so I think that would get us through my time on the desert island.

Presenter34:51

Jill Scott, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs. Thank you.

Presenter35:09

Hello, I hope that Jill's happy on our island writing poetry. There are more than 2,000 programmes in our archive which you can listen to including the programmes where former England players have been cast away. There's David Beckham, Ian Wright, Gary Lineker and Tony Adams and you can also find Jill's favourite author Sue Townsend there too. You can find their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or on our own Desert Island Disc's website. The studio manager for today's programme was Sarah Hockley, the assistant producer was Christine Pavlovsky and the producer was Sarah Taylor. Next time my guest will be the crossbench peer, Lord Simon Woolley. I do hope you'll join us.

Jill Scott36:13

Jill Scott's Coffee Club. We are back. I'm so excited for the second series, Ben.

Speaker 336:19

It's going to be so exciting, bigger and better this year.

Jill Scott36:22

We've got the Linus's England manager, Serena. Wow, as if we've got Serena. I'm happy that I've seen her a couple of times after the Euros. More on T V than in live.

Speaker 336:22

Uh

Speaker 336:31

Let's not forget as well, Ji, we've got to hear about all your antics in the jungle too.

Jill Scott36:37

Every now and then there'd just be a tan I gone

Jill Scott36:41

So I was constantly getting in trouble. Jill Scott's Coffee Club. Listen on BBC Sounds.