Eni Aluko Quits Broadcasting As She Calls British TV A ‘Toxic Space’

Eni Aluko has announced that she is stepping away from TV work in the wake of the backlash she’s received over her views on male pundits blocking opportunities in the women’s game – having unwisely singled out Ian Wright in particular.

Aluko, 38, has been beating this drum for ages, but went viral again recently for a podcast appearance where she doubled down on her views and said Ian Wright should have give up his punditry jobs for her.

Social media being what it is, Aluko wasn’t just slated for her views, but was also hammered by trolls commenting on her looks, sex and race, which is unfortunate.

She then went on TalkSport yesterday and got ripped a new one by Simon Jordan.

So I guess Aluko has decided that now is a good time to step away from punditry and TV work and take a bit of a break.

She explained: ‘I think in the UK… it’s a very toxic space for me. And I’m fighting now to just even have an opinion.

‘There is a feeling that I can’t say anything without the instant backlash that comes with the fact people have already decided they don’t like you.’

She added: ‘I’m a fighter, I’m a resilient person and I go “no, I want to say my opinion” but I don’t feel welcome. That was my point. I don’t have skin in the game anymore, I’m not trying to get people out of the way so I can get in.

‘You’ve got to recognise the environments you can thrive and really do your thing. I just don’t feel (that in) the UK at this moment in time. You never know what will happen in the future, but I’ll always be passionate about women’s football.’

Probably a wise decision as I doubt British broadcasters will be clamouring to work with her for the next few weeks or months. She is still getting work abroad though, including as an ambassador for adidas and UNICEF as well as public speaking engagements.

Aluko, however, believes the reason she’s not getting hired in the UK is because she chooses not to at this time.

She told TalkSport: ‘The reason people aren’t booking me is because I’ve taken myself out the firing line.

‘My last conversation with ITV was, I’m taking a break from broadcasting. That was after the comments about Ian Wright. We had a conversation. At that point, I’d already decided, I’m taking a break from this environment. This is no longer something that I think is serving.’

Well, either way, there’ll be no Eni Aluko on British TV in the near future. Although I bet ‘I’m A Celebrity’, ‘Big Brother’ etc would pay big bucks to have her on board following this controversy.

Could be a smart way to rebuild her image? Unless she starts yapping about Ian Wright again.

For the time ex-QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny dug up ‘abusive’ DMs that Aluko had sent him, click HERE.