Alex Jones has opened up about a break-up she experienced that seemed lighthearted but actually devastated her.
The One Show host, 44, features on the latest episode of podcast Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon.
Speaking on the podcast, Alex reveals that her ex-boyfriend betrayed her, and lost her the chance to interview Angelina Jolie, leading to a dark period in her life that eventually helped her get herself together.
Betrayal: Alex Jones has opened up about a break-up she experienced that seemed lighthearted but actually devastated her
‘[My boyfriend at the time] moved to London and started working in London. So did I – I was recruited, believe it of not, on a show called Rise, which I don’t know whether you remember, it was a breakfast show on Channel 4 and I became the entertainment correspondent,’ Alex recalls of a time in her mid-twenties.
‘I did all these junkets with film stars. So every Thursday I would come to London and then I would do Thursday and Friday with them and stay for the weekend. I must have been about 25 by this point…
‘One day I was in Topshop on Oxford Street and the production company who made the show called the flat were we lived essentially and said we need to speak to Alex. Angelina Jolie is available for an interview and we need her to come and do it now.
‘And he said, ‘oh Alex is ill and she actually in Wales, but I could come’. So off he went, I’m still in Topshop, unbeknown to me, buying cheap jeans and shoes.
Deceit: Speaking on the podcast, Alex reveals that her ex-boyfriend betrayed her, and lost her the chance to interview Angelina Jolie
‘And so I got back to the flat and was like, where is he? Hours went past, nobody answering their phones and in the end thought, right I’m going to drive back to Cardiff, because I don’t know where you are, you’ve probably gone to the pub.
‘And then the production company called, and they were like, we’ve got bit of a situation. Tomorrow morning your boyfriend is going to the premiere with Angelina Jolie and it it would be really funny if you came on the line, live on the show and surprise him and said that you know exactly what he’s been up to.
‘So again, I said yes, so on live telly I’m like, you lied to me, where have you been? So yeah, not surprisingly, we split up live on telly!’
Despite the humorous anecdote, Alex admits that it wasn’t a happy time for her. She adds: ‘It was a really dark time for about six months and even though I was still very happily working in Wales, I just wasn’t myself, my mum was really worried, my fiends were really worried and at that point I thought, nobody is going to me like that again…
‘It was a really dark time for about six months!’ Despite the humorous anecdote, Alex admits that it wasn’t a happy time for her
‘I’ve had really nice boyfriends and a really nice husband, but I’m grateful because I needed that experience and I thought when I got myself together, I’m going to have a successful career, I’m going to work really hard and I think it was a real turning point for me.
‘I stopped messing about and i focused and from that point forward, was a real turning point forward when real good stuff started happening.
‘It was mad and I can honestly can laugh about it now and I mean there’s a lot to laugh about, but at the same time, I’m super grateful to him because that experience taught me so much. It taught me about how fickle our industry is, how tough you needed to be.
‘Because I was just a little Welshy, who was like, nobody would do a bad thing on purpose, then was like oh, they actually do. But it taught me a lot about being in love with the wrong person and about how it can really damage you and damage your confidence.
‘And I built myself back up and I thought, I’m going to be a grown up from now on, I’m going to do things properly, I’m going to work at my career and from then on, it started feeling a lot more stable…’
Alex also discusses her excitement over having a baby girl, and how hating her temp job helped her get the career she has now.
Listen to Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers.
Listen up! Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon is on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers