Manager Ian Wright has reassured fans that Laura Woods is “fine” after she suddenly collapsed during live ITV coverage of the England v Ghana friendly on Tuesday night. Woods was speaking to ITV4 in Southampton when he unexpectedly fell forward.
Wright and Anita Asante reacted quickly and captured Woods before the camera made a quick cut. The audio continued for a while, capturing Wright’s concern for Woods before the commercial break began. Woods then updated his followers on Instagram about his condition. “Well that was a little weird,” she posted. “I’m sorry to worry you all, but I’m fine. The wonderful paramedics at the Saints told me it was probably a virus and that I needed some rest and hydration.”
He added: “I’m really embarrassed that something like this happened on TV, but I’m really grateful to my colleagues at ITV who looked out for me tonight. And I’m sorry again to Righty and Neetu who got me.”
Wright further confirmed Woods’ health status on his “Stick to Football” podcast. Before the football discussion began, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville both asked the former Arsenal and England striker about the 38-year-old’s condition.
“She’s okay, I got a message this morning,” he replied. “I was worried last night, but I’m fine.”
Jill Scott said: “She sent messages out to people saying they thought she had the virus and people wanted to congratulate her. It would be horrifying if that happened on TV.”
Roy Keane couldn’t help but joke about the incident, quipping, “Aren’t you the first woman in Ian’s arms?” To this, Light replied, “I can’t do anything in front of this man!” Keene added: “You’ll get a knighthood for that or something! You’ll get an award or something!”
Woods experienced further health scares last year when he was forced to withdraw from hosting the Tyson Fury-Olexandr Usyk fight due to a freak accident that left him with serious injuries. She explained on social media that she sustained the injury while on vacation with her fiancé, Adam Collard.
She wrote on Instagram: “In the interest of being completely transparent and avoiding any speculation, I just wanted to explain that I have been absent from the TV show for a while.
“Last weekend I had an accident at my holiday home. I swung a pillow around and it hit a large glass lampshade hanging from the ceiling above me, breaking it and cutting my face and arm, but luckily I didn’t lose sight of it.
“First of all, I wanted to say a few words of thanks to Adam, who was my hero that day, who acted quickly and hasn’t left my side ever since, and to his family, who cared for me when I was in shock.
“CAA agents Alex Maguire and Matthew O’Donoghue who immediately found the best help possible. Doctor Yannis Alexandrides from 111 who started the emergency surgery and came in on his day off, and his wonderful medical assistant Zuzanna. They were so kind and had already worked their magic that I didn’t think it was impossible to mitigate the damage.”
