Eni Aluko accuses Laura Woods of 'gaslighting' her as talkSPORT presenter Simon Jordan delivers brutal takedown to ex-Lioness' face on live radio

After retiring from her playing career, Aluko sought out punditry opportunities and was featured on television channels like ITV and the BBC, giving her opinions on both men's and women's matches.

The former Chelsea and Juventus forward has called for punditry roles in women's football to be "gatekept" and recently reopened her feud with Wright, who has long been a champion for the female game. Aluko revealed her disappointment that two of six punditry spots for last year's Women's Euro 2025 final on ITV and the BBC went to men, specifically calling out Nedum Onuoha and Wright while she and Lionesses legend Fara Williams weren't involved.

She added: "It’s nothing against Ian, it’s nothing against them, I’m just saying broadly speaking we need to be aware of that because if we’re building a game where the limited opportunities are now being taken by men, where we can’t go into the men’s game and get the same opportunities, we’re stuck.”

Aluko appeared on talkSPORT on Tuesday to defend her position and was targeted by Jordan, who swerved her concerns about equal opportunities and instead criticised her for being a boring pundit.

He said: “I don’t think you are particularly enlightening, illuminating, engaging or charismatic.

“The language that you use is, to me, it’s steeped in the sense of entitlement. The sheer weight of the entitlement you seem to believe you have would re-sink the weight of the Titanic. I think you have been quite fortuitous.

“I think because of initiatives like DEI, they’ve allowed people to be put into positions in the men’s game that I don’t think they’ve merited, and now that cedes an attitude that you’ve become a stalwart in the men’s game.”

Eagle-eyed followers of the story quickly became aware that the pair had clashed further during the following ad break, with Aluko and Jordan seemingly in the middle of a row when the show returned to the air.

Woods made her position very clear on Monday, defending Wright and claiming that "If you want to grow something, you don’t gatekeep it".

She added: "We want to encourage little boys and men to watch women’s football too, not just little girls and women. And when they see someone like Ian Wright taking it as seriously as he does, they follow suit. That’s how you grow a sport.”

Aluko has now revealed her surprise at Woods' comments, revealing she thought the presenter was an ally and that she had praised her for her punditry work in person.

She said: “Laura was actually one of the people I would consistently go to. We got on like a house on fire and I’d consistently go to her and say, 'How do you think it went?' You know, 'what do you think? How did it go?' Again, I’m that person, right?

“Laura consistently, and I had to look at the messages yesterday and think, hold on, I feel a bit gaslit here. Laura consistently said to me, 'I think you’re a brilliant broadcaster. I think you’re a brilliant pundit'.

“So I think there’s a little bit of serving her argument at this point, which I respect.

“Listen, she’s you know, she doesn’t agree and that’s fine, but you know, I think there’s an insinuation in there that you don’t meet the standard.

“And again, I have to, I’ve worked too hard for people to just conclude that because you’re not seeing me on screen, I’m not good enough. That’s not true.”

Where Aluko goes from this point is unclear. She was let go from her ITV contract last year, having reportedly left bosses at the broadcaster 'angry and bemused' following her initial comments about Wright. 

Woods, meanwhile, continues to work as a presenter for both ITV and TNT Sports, but whether her friendship with Aluko will survive this public row remains to be seen.