Ahead of London hosting the Ballon d'Or ceremony for the first time, we chat to the co-host about who she'll be announcing as the winner. Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappé? Scott has some thoughts

Like all football fans, Kate Scott has loved this year’s race for the Ballon d’Or – football’s most prestigious individual award. The drama, the lobbying, and how unashamedly territorial the clubs have been about star players like Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane has been pure box office. And the varying levels of humility on show? Equal parts hilarious and brilliant.

Unlike all football fans though, Kate Scott (formerly Abdo) and her mates on CSB’s legendary Champions League coverage (looking at you Thierry Henry, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher) have played a massive part in said drama. Point blank asking the favourites in post-match interviews for their thoughts on winning the Ballon d’Or has seen many clips go viral.

And as a co-host with Henry, Scott will play an integral part in this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. This coming Monday, with Kane, Mbappé, Yamal et al all sitting together in the stalls at The London Palladium, she will get to announce who’s won.

“This is going to be the fourth one I've hosted and they've always been somewhere else in the European continent,” Scott tells me on a call. “So it's always cool when you get to do something that's a little closer to home and you get to include people that you really care about – that's probably what makes me most excited.”

Alongside her husband (former boxer Malik Scott), Scott gets one more plus one and is going to take one of her nephews. Cool auntie alert. “Well, my other three nephews aren't too keen on me at the moment!” she jokes.

Early next week the world’s best players – men and women – will be in London as the UK hosts the Ballon d’Or for the first time in its 70 year history. Ahead of the fireworks, we caught up with Scott to chat predictions.

GQ: The Ballon d’Or hits London for the first time, how big a deal is that do you think?

Kate Scott: As British people, especially somebody like me who's lived abroad a lot and spends a lot of time representing the UK to America, it's cool to get to do this where football is at the heart of culture.

When I hosted last year in Paris and Ousmane Dembélé won, it was the perfect story because you got such a great crowd reaction there for him, which made it really special. We could potentially get the same kind of thing with Harry Kane.

Thierry's the perfect choice to host something like this because he's an adopted Londoner, isn't he? I know we will always see him as French but a lot of people see him as one of ours because he's chosen to make the UK home and because of the time he spent at Arsenal. He's one of those rare players where you don’t have to be an Arsenal fan to appreciate him and love him as a footballer.

You’re a great duo!

For me, it's easy to work with somebody that you know well. I know what amuses Thierry, I know where he will maybe want to jump in and make a joke or whatever it might be. So I think having that friendship is super helpful.

OK, so Harry Kane. It's been 25 years since the last British player won. That was Michael Owen. Do you think that will change on Monday?

I understand top players will always want to go to Real Madrid and Barcelona but somehow the Premier League feels like the heartbeat of world football where so many top players are. So to think that we haven't had an Englishman win that award in such a long time is crazy. If Harry Kane doesn't win it this year, it almost makes you think, "God, what would he have to do to win it?" Harry Kane is such a likable guy, and I think a lot of people appreciate him as a footballer and would enjoy seeing him get some kind of accolades because he's often missed out on the biggest silverware. But the competition is so high that it's one of those years where I feel like whoever wins, you can say yeah, there's a fair argument for him winning.

Have you enjoyed seeing how all the favourites’ campaigns to win have played out?

We had Harry Kane on the show yesterday after the Bayern Munich vs Arsenal game, and he's so humble in the way he approaches things or the way he talks about himself, but Lamine Yamal is young and brash and has approached it in a totally different way. He obviously feels like he's deserving, and then I think Kylian Mbappé maybe responded to that. I don't know that [Lionel] Messi would ever have lobbied for it, but [Cristiano] Ronaldo had a totally different type of personality. I just feel like it is very personality based, and maybe if you feel like you're in a race with somebody, then you feel like you have to match their energy.

Looking back to when you hosted in 2014 and 2015 – peak Messi Ronaldo era – has that aspect of the award changed?

I wonder if it's just access that has changed more. You know how now with social media, everyone has so much more ability to put their own voice out there. Kids of [Yamal’s] generation are so willing to be on social media and share. It's like a livestream of thoughts and whatever else is going on in their life. Whereas I feel like maybe Messi’s generation was a little more hesitant around that. I also don't think I have seen clubs be quite as tribal about it – it's like influencing the jury, I suppose, in some ways.

Do you, Thierry, Micah and Jamie have a sweepstake going on who's going to win?

[laughs] We haven't but we talked and I know that Thierry is just going with French, so he's going with Mbappé as he’s the player he has the closest personal relationship with. Jamie's very pro-English so he will always root for Harry Kane in that scenario and Micah says Kylian Mbappé is his first love but he loves Lamine Yamal too and also thinks Harry Kane would be fantastic for the English, so he's all over the place.

What about you?

It's so hard to know what the Ballon d’Or is rewarding because that has evolved over the years. If it's extraordinary goal scoring, then it has to be Harry Kane because his numbers are through the roof. If it's big performances on the bigger stages, I guess you'd say Mbappé was so influential in the World Cup and all Real Madrid’s big games. But Yamal to me is that player who just creates magic – like that Rabona [against Galatasaray] – and makes you feel a certain kind of way when you watch him play. And that to me is so special, and it's so rare that players are able to do that. He has that ability to make people talk about him for days.

The Ballon d’Or is now up there with the Oscars in terms of the glitz and glamour. How fun is it to see all the top players pull up in their fits?

It does feel like the red carpet feels like a big moment because young players are very willing to express themselves. I think back to a different era, there were maybe one or two players who would be willing to make bold fashion choices or whatever, but now that just feels so much more prevalent now. It’s become this cool moment of watching how everybody pulls up.

What’s the most fun thing about hosting the Ballon d’Or?

Obviously you're given a script ahead of time, which you're involved in and get to help refine a little bit so it feels natural to you, but they are so locked down in terms of winners. So you are part of that suspense too. Because they understand just what the award means in world football, they want to make sure that this doesn't get out. You want to see all three of the top contenders sitting in the front row wondering who gets it. You want that moment of drama where the camera shows you a shot of each of them. That's the cool part for me is knowing that I don't know either and I'm super excited to find out who won it. One thing I do know about the script is that it keeps on repeating this is the closest title race in years.