The former Manchester United midfielder, once a Thursday night fixture on TNT Sports during United’s Europa League campaigns, chose to reduce his broadcasting commitments to focus on his youngest son, Aiden, who is non-verbal and autistic.
With three children, Scholes found that being away on Thursday nights left Aiden unsettled. To better support his family, he scaled back his TNT Sports appearances and instead contributes to the Stick to Football podcast, a setup that allows him to balance his career while spending more quality time with his son.
"I made a decision this year because of Aiden, obviously due to his special needs you might know about,” the former England international said.
"All the work I do now is just around his routines cos he has quite a strict routine every single day, so I just decided everything I’m going to do it is around Aiden. Everything I’m going to do now just works around him, I do studio work, but everything is built around his day.
"Last season on Thursday nights I’d do the Europa League for Man Utd, that’s the night I’d usually have him, so he was getting all agitated, biting and scratching. He knows the pattern’s not there straight away.
"And I did that for years really, always thinking I’ve got to stop this at some point so I had the chance to do the podcast and I thought that would suit me more. Well… not me, Aiden."