ITV Euro 2024 presenter Laura Woods' Love Island boyfriend, famous ex and horror face injury

With 51 games being played at Euro 2024, viewers at home are not only set for a feast of football action but will be hearing a lot from pundits and presenters across the BBC and ITV.

While the BBC have the likes of Gary Lineker and Gabby Logan fronting matches, ITV's coverage will be led by Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods.

Woods has quickly become one of the most-respected sports presenters in the country through her appearances on Sky Sports and talkSPORT and is now used to fronting big matches alongside pundits including Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Graham Souness.

As one of the most recognisable faces on TV, the 36-year-old's private life has always attracted interest from viewers with her relationships often making headlines. Here's everything you need to know about the ITV presenter.

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Who is Laura Woods?

Woods is a sports presenter working not only for ITV, but also TNT Sport, DAZN and Amazon Prime Video.

Born in Dagenham, East London, in 1987, she started out in broadcasting after graduating from Kingston University with a degree in print journalism. She got a job as a runner at Sky Sports in 2009, and eventually worked her way up to becoming a producer at the channel.

Woods moved into presenting by doing behind-the-scenes interviews for Sky Sports' darts coverage on YouTube, before getting a job on Saturday morning children's show Game Changers. After that, she began reporting on NFL coverage before joining the Soccer AM online presenting team, heading up the show's Facebook coverage of Euro 2016.

In 2018, she became a regular pitch-side reporter on Sky Sports' Super Sunday, but left the channel earlier this year after 13 years.

Following her departure from Sky Sports, it was announced in August 2022 that Woods would join former American football stars Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell to front ITV's Friday night NFL highlights show. A few months later, she was named as one of ITV's presenters for the World Cup in Qatar, alongside Mark Pougatch, Kelly Cates and Seema Jaswal, while she was also the lead presenter of the channel's coverage of the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Last July, she joined TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) as the lead presenter for the Champions League and their boxing coverage. The previous month, she had announced she was leaving the talkSPORT Sports Breakfast show, which she had presented three days a week alongside former Scotland star Ally McCoist.

The 36-year-old broadcaster also works for DAZN, reporting on boxing and the Women's Champions League for the online streaming service.

Woods is fronting ITV's coverage of Euro 2024 alongside Mark Pougatch
Woods is fronting ITV's coverage of Euro 2024 alongside Mark Pougatch -Credit:Getty Images

Love Island boyfriend and famous former partner

In October, Woods went public with her new boyfriend, former Love Island contestant Adam Collard.

The 28-year-old fitness coach, who appeared on series four of the popular show before making a return in series eight, had gained a reputation as a lothario during his time in the famous villa. But he claims to have abandoned his previous ways and declared Woods 'The One' after starting a whirlwind romance with the presenter, who he first contacted on social media before meeting in person.

'The first time we met – I'll hold my hands up – I did DM her first and got a reply but then nothing ever happened," he told the Sun. "I would never get in a relationship with someone [unless], at least at one point, I thought they were The One."

Since disclosing their relationship, the pair have shared photos of romantic trips away, with Collard admitting he has plans for a life with Woods, who is eight years older than him.

"I'm protective, whether it's Laura, or my family, my friends. I want to get married. I want to have kids as well. I've always thought, what type of person will I be? How can I protect my kids?" he said. "We are not necessarily the average everyday couple. We're both doing a lot and I think that I've always been beyond my years anyway, I think it's probably exactly everything that I've needed for a long time.'

Woods was previously in a long-term relationship with former England rugby player Alex Corbisiero. The pair dated for eight years, before the presenter ended the relationship a few years ago.

She told The Sun that she had no regrets about her decision to break up with the former loosehead prop, but said she "loves being in love" and wants to get married and have children.

“My last relationship was eight years and I was nearing 30 when we broke up," she said. "It was my decision – it was the right one and I’ve never regretted it. We’d lived in each other’s pockets and breaking up with him felt like coming up for air. The next thing for us was probably marriage and having kids. And I do want that one day – I love being in love and I love kids. But I’ve prioritised work because I love that too and my ambitions are important to me."

She added: "The one thing I know is that I won’t settle and I’ll wait for the right guy. I’ll know when it’s the right person because I’ll want to make that sacrifice. But if there’s one thing lockdown has taught me is that I put work first too much and I need more balance.

"I don’t use internet dating sites. I hate being set up and I’m quite fussy – if I’m not in control I don’t like it! I’d rather meet someone organically in the pub. I don’t believe in forcing anything. I’ll know when it happens and until then it’s not an area of my life I feel like I’m missing out on.”

Horror face injury

Just weeks before the start of the Euros, Woods was hospitalised with a horrific facial injury that she suffered while on holiday with Collard. She had been due to host the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight on DAZN but had to pull out due to a bizarre incident that left her face sliced open around her eye.

Taking to social media, she said: "Just wanted to explain my absence from the telly for a little while, to be totally transparent and avoid any speculation.

"I had an accident last weekend at a holiday cottage. I swung a pillow and hit a large, glass lampshade hanging from the ceiling above me, which shattered and cut my face and arms, but luckily missed my eye."

Laura Woods will miss Fury vs Usyk on Saturday Night
Laura Woods posted her injury on her Instgram -Credit:laurawoodsy/Instagram

She went on to thank those who helped her during the unexpected situation, writing: "I wanted to say a couple of thank yous, firstly to Adam, for being my hero that day, acting so quickly and not leaving my side since and to his family for taking care of me in a time when I was petrified.

"To my agents Alex Maguire and Matthew Odonohue at CAA who searched for the best help immediately. To Dr Yannis Alexandrides and his wonderful medical assistant Zuzanna at 111 who opened their emergency surgery and came in on their days off, they were so gentle and have already worked magic that I didn't think was possible to reduce the damage."

Woods also posted photos to show the improvements she made in a short period of time, adding: "I've added in the photos from then to now to show that even though it may look rough, it's such a wonderful improvement already and I'm so grateful.

"It was a hell of a shock and I've been a bit sad, but I'm feeling very lucky it wasn't worse. So a big thanks to my eyebrow too, for taking the brunt of it. I'm gutted I can't cover the fight in Riyadh tomorrow anymore, but wishing the brilliant TNT boxing team all the best. Be back soon xx."

She returned to TV to front TNT Sports' coverage of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund earlier this month.

Worst ever interview

Woods has interviewed some of the biggest names in football, from Paul Pogba to Cristiano Ronaldo, but it was one legendary Premier League manager who was responsible for her worst ever interview.

While at Sky Sports, the presenter faced a disgruntled Jose Mourinho, then at Tottenham Hotspur, after a game in which Harry Kane had a goal controversially ruled out for offside. The Portuguese manager was not happy with the decision, meaning Woods was on the end of an intense exchange, in which the coach "looked into her soul".

Discussing the interview with former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, she said: "Harry Kane had just a scored a goal that was ruled out or something like that. Wrighty, he was looking into my soul! He was looking into my soul and he didn't like what he saw. That's how I felt.

"Anyway, I started the interview, asking him questions and he immediately flipped it back on me and went, 'well, what did you think?' And I was like, 'right, I have to put my big-girl pants on here'. I was like, 'it's not about me, it's about you. No one cares about my opinion'. [He replied] 'well I care, what did you think?' And I agreed with him but I just thought I had to hold my own."

Despite the frosty exchange, Woods is still a fan of Mourinho's, adding: "I think he was testing me but I like him as well. I miss him when he's not around, like I miss that personality. That job, for any football fan looking in, it looks like a really simple job but it's not."