'I struggled to speak': Alex Jones gets honest about growing up shy - and how it still shows up on screen
It's easy to forget the cool head you see on weeknights can be nervous underneath. But Alex Jones (movies and tv series) says that, as a kid, she was so shy she could barely get words out.
The One (movies and tv series) Show presenter opened up on the Great Company podcast with Jamie Laing (movies and tv series), describing herself as "painfully shy" at school - the kind of quiet that makes teachers worry. "I was really struggling to speak at all… even in school," she said.
The childhood of "be quiet"
Alex, who grew up in Carmarthenshire, says her parents were just 23 and 25 when she was born. They were loving, but young - and leaned on what they knew: that old line about kids being "seen and not heard."
When visiting friends, she was told to "be quiet." It stuck. "Mum's like, 'I'm so sorry I did that because you just shrank and became smaller and smaller,'" Alex recalled. And that shrinking followed her into assemblies and classrooms where speaking up felt "terrifying."
Finding a voice (and some teenage confidence)
There was a turn, eventually. Around 16 or 17, she says "everything kind of changed." Puberty, confidence, boys - the normal swirl. It wasn't a magic switch, more like a dimmer slowly lifting.
Even now, she calls herself a "high-functioning introvert." It tracks. She's built a live TV career, yet big rooms with strangers still "feel like hell."
How she works with it on TV
On camera, she's calm. Off camera, she leans on small rituals - and on her husband, Charlie Thomson, who's the opposite temperament. "He's like, 'Let's just get people over,'" she laughed. "I'm like, 'Can't we just sit here on our own?'"
At events he'll hold her hand as they walk in. It sounds small, but it's the kind of small that makes the rest possible.
From student shifts to BBC mainstay
Before she ever sat on The One Show's famous green sofa, Alex cut her teeth on TV while still at uni - even juggling final exams with Sky One's Prickly Heat in Magaluf. Not exactly a soft launch.
Fast-forward and she's marked 15 years on The One Show, a gig that demands live timing, a steady presence, and a knack for puncturing awkward moments with warmth. She's also fronted specials like Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking, celebrating Mary Berry (movies and tv series)'s career on BBC Two.
Strictly chatter - and why her name keeps coming up
There's fresh speculation about who could eventually step in on Strictly Come Dancing if and when big changes arrive. Recent tabloid reports have floated Alex Jones alongside Bradley Walsh (movies and tv series) as a potential pairing, pointing to her live TV experience and calm delivery under pressure.
Worth underlining: it's talk, not a done deal. But you can see why her name's in the mix - she's steady on live, telegenic without fuss, and already has Strictly history as a 2011 contestant.
Here's what this really says
The headline is shyness. The story is how she's carried it - not defeated it - into an on-air career that requires composure. And maybe that's the point. Viewers don't need hosts who feel bulletproof; they need ones who feel real and keep the show moving anyway.
If you work in TV, there's a note here: the best live talent often aren't the loudest in the room. Sometimes they're the ones who learned, early, how to breathe, listen, then land the line that keeps millions with you after the break.
- More on The One Show: official BBC page
- Strictly Come Dancing: official BBC page
