8 hours ago
3
It was January 2025 and the Champions League was just starting back up on TNT Sports. Could Liverpool build on their league phase success? Could Paris Saint-Germain finally win the title for the first time? How about Real Madrid? Arsenal? All irrelevant in terms of this topic of discussion.
One of the Gunners' most famous fans was absent from the TNT Sports channels, not presenting Europe's top competition on Tuesday and Wednesday nights like she had become synonymous with doing. The likes of Reshmin Chowdhury and Matt Smith would instead be carrying the load.
It was the start of Laura Woods' time away. The face of the channel and the two-time British Sports Journalism Awards Sports Presenter of the Year winner had just given birth to her first child with Love Island star Adam Collard, and was set for 13 weeks on the sidelines on maternity leave.
Eyebrows had been raised when Woods and Collard's relationship went public in October 2023 when the former posted a series of photos of the couple that she would swiftly delete. How could the golden girl of British broadcasting end up with a man who was famed for being a bit of a thirst trap in controversial Love Island stints not once, but twice?
Again, largely irrelevant in terms of this discussion. What people could see in front of them was a much-loved presenter getting on with her life. Having penned a deal with one the the biggest sport platforms in the country worth £1.35million a year, she had found herself a partner and would go onto start her own family.
Those viewers have seen Woods grow in front of their eyes. Now 38, she had made her name, really, on TalkSport's breakfast show next to Ally McCoist, before making the move to TNT, where she would become one of the most monitored, adored and critiqued presenters in the game.
Laura Woods is the golden girl of sports presenting, currently picking up £1.35million a year at TNT Sports
She raised eyebrows when going public with her relationship with Love Island bad boy Adam Collard - the couple are now engaged
They also had their first child together in January as Woods took maternity leave from TNT
It all started at Kingston University, where Woods would study print journalism. 'I had already done a week's work experience on a newspaper and decided it wasn't for me,' she said during the stint. No offence taken.
So she took the leap to television and broadcast, and would take on work experience at popular Sky show Soccer AM. 'As soon as I went into TV it was like colour – everything was exciting and new. The people, the personalities, the characters,' she added. Fair enough.
After graduating university, she would carry on her fling with Sky - rivals of her now-home TNT. From runner, to editorial assistant, to assistant producer, to associate producer, to producer - it was clear she had something special.
It was then time to step in front of the camera, however. Woods has on occasion been compared to Emma Paton - the face of Sky's darts coverage. While Paton started her career in wrestling - yes, wrestling - Woods would work in darts, carrying out behind-the-scenes interviews with the sports stars for Sky's YouTube channel.
She continued to branch into different sports. Football and darts had been ticked off, and NFL and boxing were to come. The NFL with Sky, boxing with DAZN. Speaking on an appearance on JaackMaate's Happy Hour podcast in December 2022, she explained how she would make it her mission to become an expert on any hand she was dealt - making any necessary transition seamless.
Woods balanced her work at Sky (and others) with her TalkSport breakfast show until 2022, when she would depart in her biggest career decision yet. She left DAZN in 2023 and quit her ITV NFL show in the same year. The TalkSport exit came a few months prior.
She got her big-money move. Jake Humphrey was stepping down from his role as TNT's anchor (very high performance), and he needed replacing. Step forward Woods. A yearly contract worth nearly £1.5m to work a few times a month and the opportunity to move forward her life away from the camera. She jumped at it.
Since then, she's become a mainstream name and face. Fans are accustomed to seeing her blonde locks and hearing her soft voice at 8pm on TNT in the middle of the week. Even if she did take a few months off to have a baby with a Love Island bad boy at the start of the year.
Her career started out with work experience at Sky Sports, and she worked her way up to the main anchor at rival company TNT
Fiance Collard received widespread backlash for his ways on Love Island in 2018 when he was 22 years old
Collard went back on the show in 2022, but found love outside the villa with Woods, and fans now follow their relationship closely
Woods is a two-time Presenter of the Year winner at the Sports Journalism Awards
Collard, 29, was first introduced as a Love Island bombshell in 2018, winning the heart of Kendall-Rae Knight before coupling up with a further three girls, including Zara McDermott. But it was his partnership with Rosie Williams that most remember him for.
Domestic abuse charity Women's Aid issued a warning about spotting signs of abuse on the back of Collard's relationship with Williams. They said there were 'clear warning signs in Adam's behaviour' and warned of 'emotional abuse'. It had come after Adam had his head turned by McDermott while coupled up with Williams.
Collard had said he didn't 'need to reassure' Williams, that she was on the 'defence' and that she had 'acted like a child'. He also said Williams' jealousy of his flirting with McDermott had 'pushed him away.'
His full response read: 'I could've been a little bit more sensitive with the way I went about certain things. But at the same time, I know the main conversation that people have watched that probably doesn't look good for me was a very, very long conversation that has been cut into a really short amount of time.
'It was a massive shock to me when I saw that, but I really didn't intentionally try to upset anyone. It wasn't nice to see Rosie upset because she obviously did care, but you're in a situation. You're in a bubble.'
Collard was recalled to the show in 2022. He said he wanted to 'ruffle a few feathers', but again failed to find love. That was until he met Woods. That happened on Instagram, when he messaged her to respond to a meme she had posted on her story. Fast forward two years, and the couple are engaged and have a child together.
He was 22 when he first appeared on Love Island. He is still a prominent public figure, this year appearing on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, before undergoing back surgery.
'Now watching my girl from the bed on her first day back,' he posted from his hospital bed as Woods returned to TV screens in May. 'Proud of her after only 13 weeks getting back into the mix and I can't tell you how much she's been my rock throughout this whole injury, process and the last six months in general on all fronts.'
She has worked at the likes of Sky, TalkSport and DAZN, while she also appears on ITV
Fans are accustomed to seeing her on their television screens when the Champions League comes around
But they are also interest in her personal live, shared online as the face of sports broadcasting
Woods may be nine years Collard's senior, but fans have watched the duo progress through their lives and careers in front of their eyes. Woods continues to make millions on the box and share details of her life away from the screen on social media to her 740,000 Instagram followers.
Like it or not - this relationship is very real with a baby to prove it. They are far from perfect - Collard has a controversial reality TV career, and Woods recently received backlash for expressing remorse at the death of political commentator and Donald Trump supporter Charlie Kirk, with followers questioning her use of X.
But as a multi-award winning presenter and the face of modern football presenting, she really is the industry's golden girl and her future will likely only get brighter. On-screen, her talent is evident, and her popularity has soared in the last two years.
The message would be to watch this space. With a comfy TNT deal and the Champions League back after the international break, you will likely see her face more and more in the coming weeks. And more interest in her professional career means there is more interest in her personal life - if that's your thing, it's sure to throw up a few more surprises in time.
