“People at school used to assume I was going to be a footballer, and it...” — Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Quote

People at school used to assume I was going to be a footballer, and it wasn't until I got to 16, when I was at Southampton, that I had a doubt for the first time in my life. Southampton said I wasn't big enough, but it was just because I hadn't grown. Simple as that.

Sometimes in midfield, it's nice because you do get a little bit more of the ball, and maybe out wide you rely on people to get you the ball.

When my dad was still playing, he was away for five years on and off, so it just used to be me and my mum at home until my little brother came along when I was five.

My dad always pushes me, tries to make me do better, and maybe that's what gets the best out of me. He's tried to instil that in me.

I don't like to get scared - it's not one of the emotions I enjoy. So I have to assume that if there are scary things in my books, they aren't very scary.

I consider a good dinner party at our house to be where people drink and eat more than they're meant to. My husband is a really fantastic cook. His mother is Italian and if you walk into our house, we assume you're starving.

People often assume New York City is no place to keep a dog. This is certainly what my parents told me when I was growing up there. But I have found this not to be the case at all.

There's nothing funny about somebody living an easy life, or so you would assume.