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I was born to be a footballer.
James O'Brien interviews Gary Lineker about his football career, family support, and transition to broadcasting in an intimate live setting.
Key Takeaways
- Gary Lineker’s football career was supported by a loving but non-pushy family environment.
- Authenticity and integrity have been central to Gary’s success in both sports and media.
- Transitioning careers can be challenging but rewarding when driven by passion.
- Respect and discipline were key lessons from Gary’s upbringing that shaped his behavior.
- Live, candid interviews provide deeper insight into public figures beyond their professional roles.
What the video covers
- James O'Brien hosts Gary Lineker on Full Disclosure in front of a live audience.
- Gary discusses his early ambitions to be a professional footballer and his initial interest in cricket.
- He shares personal stories about his late physical development and supportive father.
- Gary reflects on the importance of non-pushy parenting in youth sports.
- The interview touches on Gary's transition from footballer to broadcaster and public figure.
- James highlights the rarity of authentic voices in media and praises Gary's integrity.
- Gary talks about his current Saturday night routine and avoiding just watching Match of the Day.
- The conversation includes humorous moments like Gary’s favorite crisp flavor and wardrobe anecdotes.
- Gary recalls lessons learned from his father about respect and discipline on the pitch.
- The episode captures a candid, personal side of Gary beyond his public persona.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Opening Remarks
- 02:00Gary Lineker’s Early Ambitions and Family Support
- 05:45Live Audience and Interview Format
- 09:45Gary’s Saturday Night Routine
- 11:48Childhood Challenges and Physical Development
- 15:31Parenting and Discipline Lessons from Gary’s Father
- 19:30Gary’s Self-Belief and Football Journey
- 25:31Transition to Broadcasting and Media Integrity
- 29:32Personal Anecdotes and Closing Thoughts
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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I think you did.
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All right.
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Yeah.
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But it was also in those days not an issue for the BBC.
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I used to stop worrying about the Daily Mail.
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There's a parallel universe where you could have been working for Paul Daker at the Daily Mail.
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I mean, that's the first proper plan you've had really.
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Before I invite our guest onto the stage tonight, I'll say a couple of things in front of you that I would be a little bit embarrassed to say in front of him.
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It's weird having heroes when you do what I do for a living, when your job is essentially to take pot shots at people, always authentically and honestly, but it's also really nice having heroes.
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And when you have someone in public life who goes from being a hero in one format to being a hero in another and then in another.
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It's quite extraordinary when you get to know them personally.
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I used to joke that the right-wing has about 500 stormtroopers.
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All household names, all the columnists, all the newspapers, all the owners, all the broadcasters.
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And the centrists had Carol Voldem, me, and Gary Lker.
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I'm not sure that's funny anymore.
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Carol was my guest last year on Full Disclosure.
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She, of course, has stepped back a little bit from public life or from some of the jobs and some of the work and some of the profiles that she was doing.
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So there's only us two left now.
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It sometimes seems, which is just one of the many reasons why I am...
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Actually, one more thing before he comes on.
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I know my wife, Mrs. O'Brien, is here tonight or I'm among friends, so I can call her by her real name, Lucy.
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And I know that she's already thinking that I have taken the jacket to the dry cleaners and not the trousers.
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So it's no longer a suit.
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And she is already thinking, I'll tell you now, she's saying, "Why didn't you wear that nice one that I bought you for Christmas? That nice deep blue, that nice navy blue corduroy jacket that I bought you for Christmas."
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To which the answer, darling, is that Gary Lker is wearing it tonight.
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Not the same one, but goodness me, I look like I'm dressed in the two-u version of his suit.
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And when he walks onto the stage, you will see that I'm not exaggerating.
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One job.
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Ladies and gentlemen, Gary Lker.
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Thank you.
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Welcome.
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Are you all right on that side?
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'Cause you're used to sitting on this side, aren't you?
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Are you going to be all right there?
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Oh, don't put me off.
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'Cause I'm asking the questions.
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That's how it goes tonight.
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What are you doing with your Saturday nights at the moment?
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Enjoying them, are you?
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Yeah.
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I'm making the thing of either going to a football match or going to try some really nice restaurants somewhere in different places of the country.
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Lovely.
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So, I'm making a special effort to not just sit at home and wait for Match of the Day to come, which the rest of us still do.
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Although, of course, I watch the repeat in the morning.
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I guess it's not quite the same.
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It's going to be a slightly different edition of Full Disclosure from usual because you lot are sitting in the room with us.
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As you know, the format generally goes through the life and times of people and then has a little look at the end often at whatever it is that my guest is there to promote or to plug.
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So, it's a testament to what a top bloke Gary is that he's not here to plug or promote.
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No, nothing at all.
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Nothing.
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Although you were eating crisps in the grid.
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I didn't know you were going to do that.
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He didn't know I was going to do that.
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I didn't know you were going to do that.
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But I did because there were some questions written by members of the audience and one of them included, and I'd spotted it because it was on the top, it said, "What's Gary's favorite flavor of crisp?"
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So, I thought to myself, I've actually already had dinner and I ate most of the packet 'cause I couldn't fit it in otherwise.
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So, I thought I'll keep that in the pocket 'cause obviously it's salt and vinegar.
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So, that's answered that question.
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So, that seemed like a better joke this way.
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So, we will begin at the beginning.
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When did it first become—well, when did you first feel that you wanted to be a professional footballer?
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Because your dad was a market trader in Leicester and all those, as I realized, how hard he worked.
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So, I thought...
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Before I can remember, James, really footballer or cricketer, I honestly thought I had much more chance at cricket.
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I was tiny when I was a kid.
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Well, most kids are tiny, but compared with people of my same age.
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So, I didn't really believe that I would be physically strong enough or big enough to play at that kind of adult level.
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But I eventually spurted when I was 16, 17.
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I was quite late to puberty, which was pretty embarrassing.
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I used to hide in the showers at training and everything.
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It was just dreadful.
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But I was good at cricket and I honestly thought I'd had much better chance at cricket.
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But in the end, it was one or the other.
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I wanted to do one or the other and football, the opportunity of football came along first.
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And so the people around you didn't squash your dreams then?
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I mean, people, your parents, your family spoke about it and spoke about you as if it was a plausible ambition, a realistic chance.
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It's funny, I lost my dad about seven years ago and he was incredibly supportive.
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Always.
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He had the market van and he used to drive the team in the back of the van with no windows.
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We used to be knocking around everywhere.
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I don't think health and safety these days would have approved, but he was incredibly supportive.
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But I remember when one of my last conversations with him, he was talking about my career and it was actually the first time he ever said to me that he loved me, really, which, 'cause he was on his deathbed and I started crying.
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I had to go out and all and then a lift full of nurses opened and I was like, oh God.
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So, it's a bit...
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But it was beautiful.
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And the other thing, he was talking about my career and I went, I said, "Did you ever think I had a chance?"
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He went, "I always knew."
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And I said to him, "You could have told me."
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'Cause I was surprised by everything that I achieved on the pitch.
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So, he wasn't a demonstrative man?
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Not at all.
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I didn't push you at all, but just supportive and the right way as parents.
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I mean, one of the things, like one of my absolute pet hates, are parents on touchlines.
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I've got four boys of my own that I went through it with.
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They're all adults and none of them are footballers.
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They're keen sportsmen and stuff, but it's probably better they're not.
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And parents' behavior on touchlines, the way they shout at their own kids, it just doesn't help them.
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If you anyone got kids playing, just let them play.
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Don't say anything.
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Just don't say anything.
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Just applaud when something good happens.
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That's all you need to do.
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So, I used to hate that, but I watched them and watched them and watched them play.
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But my dad did the same, but he was never pushy.
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He just, you know...
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There was only one time that he did that and that was I was about 15 and I think I was given offside about three times and I knew I wasn't.
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And of course, you were and I think...
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No, I know when I was offside and when I wasn't.
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And there I swore at the ref.
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I said, "Fuck's sake," or something like that.
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And my dad walked onto the pitch and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.
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Said, "You never ever talk to a referee like that," and took me off.
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And that was a lesson.
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Wow.
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That was the most embarrassing thing ever.
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And maybe one of the reasons I never got a yellow card.
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Yeah.
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I was too terrified that my dad might have a problem getting home.
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Sheesh.
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So you must have had extraordinary self-belief then yourself.
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Well, but what I mean is that the football just happened quite organically whereas this is this is a mission I would say I was I was I was born to be a footballer. I was born to be I was born to be in the box.
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Yeah. Um I I think I learned to be on the box. Very good. You've used that line before.
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And this one I've used as well. Soon I'll be in a box. So I mean, did you have to bash doors down or or were people quite encouraging when you decided to make the movie?
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No, I also Yeah, I get a lot of letters from people saying, "How do you make it into media?" And I I probably give the same advice as anyone else. you know, work really hard, send letters everywhere, try maybe local radio,
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hospital radio, things like that, blah blah blah blah blah, or score loads of goals for England.
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Yeah. Um cuz that's that's how I got in because given an opportunity, I was punditry for a couple of years first, but you know, I used to sit alongside Design and I was always asking him stuff and Right.
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Yeah. because I was keen to learn and and and you can tell, can you, when other players are in the studio who's going to be all right as a pundit and who isn't pretty quickly? Um, you can tell generally by their attitude because
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pretty much all of them really understand the game. Um, but it's not enough just to understand the game.
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You've got to understand how to broadcast. And um, it's not easy talking over a 60-second clip of of of four clips of of defensive organization. And it's not an easy thing to do. So, you've got to work just as hard as that as you
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do at football. It's not easy to read auto Q actually. I mean, it some it's harder than it sounds.
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Um, yeah, it takes a bit of getting used to, that's for sure. Um, so some ways it's easier without Yeah, go because you don't seat your pants. You can't kind of Well, you just talk. You can just talk.
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But if I mean, one thing that's like Gary, one thing happened to me once on Match of the Day.
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I was I was going away and there was this we were about seven games in and but you know I always I've got the script in front of me and so the real QC it's quite a long link can't remember
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the two teams that were playing but we got halfway down the link and it stopped and that's happened a lot of times so just as it stops it's fine you just pause you start to look to your script you know you've got your words
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there because I couldn't remember which bloody game it was cuz we'd already done six so so I'm starting to look down and then I sit it moving again. So I look up, but it's moving backwards and it completely threw me and I just
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thought when in doubt share it with the audience and I just said the auto's going backwards.
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It's really weird. Yeah, that's a bit but it is Yeah, it's it takes a bit of getting used to but So the segue was quite painless but you don't get a moment some footballers do.
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You didn't have a kind of grand denum, did you? It wasn't a sort of big big farewell. You're playing in in Japan at the very end.
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Quite a big farewell in Japan. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm glad to get rid of me.
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Big big in Japan. It was You didn't go back to corners. I know this sounds terrible, but in Japan I'd never I was always left up top, you know, left happily so on the halfway line. Um now everyone comes back down
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there. Every every player I don't get it. But so I used to stay on the halfway line. I got to Japan.
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Bring back the big man. I thought, oh, quite liked it. Quite liked it. Yeah.
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Still didn't edit, but So, so, so the so the the broadcasting career takes off quite nicely. They think it's all over was was quite a big part of that because it showed a a levity.
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Yeah, that was also a deliberate choice from John as well. Um, to show that you could be funny. Well, not necessarily to show that I could be funny, but to show that it was all a little bit like goody goody two shoes,
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you know, these no yellow cards and all this sort of stuff. So, it's nicy nicy.
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So, he thought it might give me an edge because you would Yeah. You know, quite you have an edge off off the screen. You like you're a fun guy.
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You're not Well, you're not square. So, I mean, duck to water then. So the the the the broadcasting career no it wasn't inductive to auto I remember you have nerves the first two years of presenting um I was I was thrown in at the deep end
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and this was you know this was pre-auc focus right and I used to go in do the show and so many times driving home I used to think I'm never going to be able to no I used to get like bit wooden and trying
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to learn you learn to listen, you know, learn to hit account while you're speaking like interview someone and then from that go to a link and you you know what it's like but it's just it takes some getting used to. I'd never
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never done it. So there's so many times I just thought I'm never going to be able to do this. And you can learn the art, you can learn the craft then in a way that you can't now because now if
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you if you didn't hit the ground running, the internet would be full of people calling you all sorts of names.
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Exactly. The only Yeah. Having said that, I my kind of learning was on BBC, right?
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It wasn't on a little satellite channel somewhere where you could learn with not many people watching. So I remember the second show I ever did was um actually presenting was England versus Scotland's highlights of Euro 96 which got 11 million viewers.
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Yeah. I mean 11 million viewers for I mean it was a big deal that game and um I didn't know there were 11 million people watching at the time thankfully.
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I suppose I I mean this will sound a little bit odd, but given what we were saying about the Fiat Uno a minute ago, you you needed another career, but footballers today who scale the heights that you scaled could could hang up
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their boots forever and be set up for life and the rest. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I and I don't mind sharing this. I was one of the top paid players in the world when I was at Barcelona.
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Yes. um earning something like oh about 320,000 quid a year which was an enormous amount of money at the time.
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Um that's a week's wages now. Yeah. Um for a moderately good Premier League player. So it has changed and but that that felt a lot at the time but even then it wouldn't have been enough.
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No. To to sustain I there's a lot of life after football. Yeah. A lot of life.
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And there's jeopardy here. then you need to make a go of the broadcasting because um you know there's not really a plan C.
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When did you allow yourself to start thinking I reckon I could take over from Dez line on match of the day?
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Well, it came a lot quicker than I thought it would cuz well Dez I started Football Focus in I think it was about because Steve Ryder left for ITV first and then that created a gap. I was so
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lucky with timing. That created a gap at Football Focus where I could learn and then Dez left for ITV and it was it I remember it was a Tuesday because we used to have Football Focus meetings on a Tuesday and I was driving into
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television center and the security guards on the door he said he said um terrible news about Design and I went what do you mean? He went he's gone to ITV. I went has he um and he said he said who do you think
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they're going to give it to? I went oo I'm about to find out. And I went in and I and the guys that called me in they said right you're in straight away. So um yeah I learned a lot from Dez. Um but
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I'm glad he pissed off. And you made it your own. I mean, you really did make it your own when when And you seemed very relaxed from the very start, but when were you truly relaxed?
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Um, I think it took a few um I was I'd already done a couple of years football focus, which I told you it took me a while to and then I had and then I I would say probably another couple of
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years to get absolutely used to the environment and feel in charge of it. So, I look back now and I think I don't like it. But it wasn't quite bad enough for them to to ditch me. But I think and and I
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started to progress and in the end you become relaxed and you become yourself and then people decide whether they like you or not. Ultimately it's about likability I think.
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Yeah. And and yeah, I guess the more authentic you are then the the less you're going to worry about things because that's who I am and you can take it or leave it which isn't true in in in media dealing. So we
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should probably have a quick word about how attention from unwanted attention from the media goes hand inhand with the level of of of success that you enjoyed and even before you started speaking your mind um more more publicly. You you
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you had quite a rough time from British newspapers like almost everybody did in the Oh, it's it it was I mean it was hard to believe but it was way worse back in Yeah, I know.
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I mean for footballers as well and and anyone famous. I mean they basically trying to trap you.
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Yeah. Trap you into some kind of you know love triangle or you know honey pots and all this sort of thing. So you constantly you know so there I I used to get I mean I there used to be rumors about me that I was
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this kind of flender you know I used to go mess around with and I I never was cuz I a I was happy and and and b I was you know terrified of of that kind of thing. So I never I never messed around.
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And then I used to get we used to get my agent would call me on a when you get the call on a Saturday night. He was like um news of the world have been on.
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They of um apparently you you're the father of a child in so and and he'll go I'm sorry I've got to run it by went nonsense. And it was always nonsense but you get a knot in your stomach because
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if they run that story you know it's halfway around the world before the truth has got his trousers.
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That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and they did run stories like that about people. Yeah. Not having their trousers on.
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Yeah. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. But it was and it was dreadful. That side of it has changed a little bit.
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And it's probably changed because of, you know, the awfulness of the hacking and phone hacking and and that and I know, you know, obviously loads of people. We're all done. We're all done with that. So um and I remember
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this was a mad I was sitting at home and news night was coming on and they were doing something on the phone hacking thing. I thought I watch this and they started and they went boom boom boom boom boom and the big five four or
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five big banner you know the big banner headlines of it was like Prince Harry David Beckham blah blah blah me right so I've gone what the [ __ ] I'm genuinely sitting there watch I oh my what is this
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so they go they've got this invest one of the investigators who's kind term whistleblower.
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Yeah. So he said he's gone through and he's gone they've gone through Prince Harry and then then right it's just whoever is present. So Gary then I went yeah he was clever. So I thought go on he went we followed him for two years
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but he obviously knew it because he led us nowhere. Oh, I never had a [ __ ] clue that I was followed for 2 years. They then show they genuinely this footage must be somewhere. They've cut to a little he
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went for example. So she was saying, "How do you do?" So we and they've got it. He's in a bush, right?
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Filming me the other side. I'm playing golf and I'm on the tea and how have I not seen him?
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How incredible. And he's and I'm It wasn't a bad swing. It wasn't my I bet you were doing the golf course. I was worried about the swing. It was not too bad for me. So, it was genuinely genuinely
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go incredible, isn't it? So, you can't win. It wasn't that you were squeaky clean. It was that you were very clever.
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And you remember there's a great story about um I I can't I can't remember who they were, but they were camped outside a massage parlor trying to catch a very specific celebrity who never turned up.
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But I think I think Sarah Ferguson's dad did. And the poor sod ends up all over the newspapers.
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And no one had previously had a clue that he was not her husband. No, no, no, it doesn't. He's He's um He's never in the news, is he? I can't. I know.
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I wonder what ever happened to him. No idea. Um, so you're on this I mean you become at this I mean it's a weird phrase national treasure and I don't think I've ever met a national treasure who's comfortable
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with being described as a national treasure but you you you do it twice. You do it as a footballer and then you do it as a broadcaster. You achieve the kind of level of of of success and popularity that that most people can
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only dream of happening once, never mind really happening twice. Oh, absolute national treasure. Yeah, quite right. I don't know how you answered that.
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Show him your t-shirt. Show him your t-shirt tattoo. But you but there must have come a point whether you were conscious of it or not at the time where you realized you'd become part of the television furniture.
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You you because they ask you to do the Olympics. You become settled. You become settled in. Yeah. And they ask you to do the big things and which is which is fabulous.
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Um so and and I it's funny. I mean I love I love playing football. Um, and and as I said, there's nothing like scoring a goal, but there's also a buzz about television as well, but people say, "What's more
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nerve-wracking? Presenting England in a World Cup game or playing for England in a World Cup game." And I And the truth is, if you mess up on TV, no one cares yourself.
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Yeah. If you mess up for England in a penalty shootout or something, Yeah. you affect people's mood for a long time. Yeah. So there is a there is a it's much more relaxing presenting a big course it is. Yeah. Never fluff your
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words occasionally or ask the wrong question. Doesn't matter. No one no one notic. You think of it all night.
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20 years later people are going to shout it out of their car as they drive past.
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Not not if it's happened on telly. TV. Exactly. Sort of a bit of a fauxar on the telly.
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Um when did you start flexing your political muscles? And was it was it social media? I can't remember. Was that how it started?
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Yeah. I've always had views. Of course you are. But there was never a platform to use it. And then sadly there was.
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Oh dear. Oh dear. What could possibly go wrong? Um and I abuse and I have a you know a bit of a sense of humor in some things. And then and and it's I blame my son George. Right. Right.
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So I'm sitting at home. This is 2012 I think. So, I'm sitting at home and George is on Twitter and he's going I'm going I said, "We're watching the game, right?" And he's he's I said, "You're not watching the game." He said,
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"I'm doing both." Yeah. I said I went, "All right, okay. What What is it?" He said, "It's Twitter." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, you just write a few things and then people like them or not or you get
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a bit of a debate going." I went, "Sounds ridiculous." And he went, "No." He said, he said, "You would love it." This what he said.
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He said, in fact, I went, "How does it work? How does anyone know you're on there?" He said, "I've got he got quite a following, George. I mean, he's up to nearly 100,000 or something, but at the time he had about
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25 30,000 followers, which was quite big. He got in early. He was into it." And he's got a very dry sense of humor and very self-deprecating manner. So, anyway, so he said to me, right, I said, "How do you get?" He said, "Well,
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people, word of mouth, this and that and the other." He went, "I'll bet you £5, right? if I put you on there now. He said, "By the end of the night, you'll have more followers than me." I went, "Don't be ridiculous."
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And he just I knew he did it and he posted, "Dad's on. Dad's on. Here we go." And then it went and then it went someone else. And then it went and all of a sudden by the morning it was like
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150 200 and it was And I I had to give him a fiverr. Yeah. and and not the only fire he's ever had.
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What What What did you get out of it? Someone asked me this the other day and it's hard to remember cuz neither of us are on there anymore. You're not, are you?
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It I' I've still got it, but it's only to post my a podcast. I don't do that.
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No, it's it never read anything. I don't look at it. It's because it's a cesspit.
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Precisely. [ __ ] Has it changed? It's hideous. Absolutely hideous. But what back in the good old days?
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Yeah. What did you get out of you could have some chat with people? There wasn't much abuse flying around back then. You could put out your points. You talk about football going on. It was a great way, I think, of, you know, guiding
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people towards the things that you did. Match of the day. BBC loved it back then, funnily enough.
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Um, and it went on for years like that. It was a lot of, you know, you know, you'd have a little few spats, but fun spats, you know, with whoever. And then and then it started to turn a bit but
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you you know I always put my political views always tried to be a bit careful but it was also in those days not an issue for the BBC because in until about I can't remember the exact year but about 2019
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the impartiality rules only applied to those in news and current affairs not to anyone else. So it was fine. And then suddenly someone goes, "Well, you can't do that.
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What do you mean I can't do that anymore?" The goalposts were like shifted massively over there.
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Well, what do you mean I can't have an opinion on anything anymore? Why? Why does that uh which I could quite understand. I mean, you can have an opinion as long as your opinion is what they want you to have an opinion.
Speaker A
Yeah. or or it's not an opinion that's going to upset the Daily Mail because there were plenty of Well, that the bizarre this was my I mean I love the BBC. I owe it so much.
Speaker A
It's a brilliant organization and there's so much good about it. But I used to say to them I used to say to them, "Stop worrying about the Daily Mail. They're going to hate you anyway.
Speaker A
They don't want the license fee. They want to kill the license fee. They want to kill everything about the BBC. Stop trying to pate them. Stop it. It's just doesn't make any sense. giant mouth that they're just throwing things into. It's
Speaker A
never going to be full. It's But anyway, that's here we are. Did you know that you because when you were getting your phone calls from the from the from your agent telling you that the news of the world,
Speaker A
you get the not the only vague equivalent to that that I ever had was on Saturday nights when the managing editor at LBC would ring me. And I could tell from his voice that he was about to mention something I'd tweeted about
Speaker A
Nadine Dor. But poor bloke. And it was it was because she was being criy I know it's very hard to believe. No, but she was secretary of state for culture, media and sport. And we are we are a massive
Speaker A
media company. So there were, you know, there were things that I shouldn't have been doing on Saturday night.
Speaker A
Probably need your help to learn one or two things. I could have probably given her a little bit of guidance on, for example, who owned [ __ ] channel 4.
Speaker A
But I I I would get I would get those calls and and I kind of knew when I was on Twitter a lot whether it was about that her or not. I kind of knew. Not always. Sometimes I was completely taken
Speaker A
by surprise, but I kind of knew when I was pulling the pin out of a hand grenade and lobbing it into the ether.
Speaker A
Did you? I tried to avoid p doing that. I mean, you are, you know, you're clever than me. you're in the news world and I you know but but sometimes I have that thing that I care and that's when it's hard to
Speaker A
not get involved. If you see something that's desperately wrong it's hard not to get involved a little bit. Um so you know I would do that sometimes I get the odd little message or phone call we're not particularly
Speaker A
happy with this that begins like this. Yeah that's it. Yeah. And I was going, well, you know, you move the goalpost, not me. You know, there's nothing in my contract nothing that stated that you you can't use social media to, you know, and I was
Speaker A
always I always tried to be careful. And then obviously I replied to a a pretty venomous kind of tupris tech um message um um with the thing about you know how comparisons with um early 30s German it was pretty
Speaker A
mild dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s. Yeah. not dis Yeah, which Yeah. So fairly accurate, I would say. But yeah, I would but it created a bit of a storm and then it was I mean it was
Speaker A
and then you had this extraordinary silver lining, didn't you? Because I think uniquely they suspended you and everybody else down tools as well. That must have been I mean I genuinely no messing around.
Speaker A
That must have been an incredible moment for you. That was the most one of the most emotional things I've ever had out there. I mean, I had a group chat with Alan Sheer and Ian Wright and we were obviously
Speaker A
chatting during that and I I said on that group chat I said I've got a feeling they're going to stand me down on Saturday night and Righty said if they do that I'm not doing the show and it happened to be
Speaker A
that righty and Alan were going to do the show on Saturday night. So, and it's one thing saying that.
Speaker A
Yeah. But to down tools for someone else's cause that doesn't happen. No. And it was Friday afternoon and well it was I firstly I had a lunch I had a lunch with a couple of friends of mine. One of
Speaker A
them being Charles Corin funny enough and and JD and who was the other one?
Speaker A
Can't remember. But anyway, we had lunch and um I got the message that they were going to drop me. So they made it publicly before they told me. Right.
Speaker A
Nice touch. Um so we're sitting in the restaurant went look this is this is going to happen and um within half an hour Ian Wright tweeted that he wouldn't be doing the show. And I went oh my god
Speaker A
wow that's I went a bit as I'm now whenever I think about I bet. I bet.
Speaker A
And then 20 minutes later, Shira did the same. And I was in the back of a cab by this stage with my mate. I was sobbing.
Speaker A
Absolutely sobbing. That support because if they hadn't done that, you'd have still been best mates. It was not something you could have expected them or expected to and never ever expected them to do that. And then obviously everyone
Speaker A
else followed and then the commentators down tools and then it was like, wow. And then from going, you know, desperately asking me to to apologize and I kept saying, I don't think I've got anything to apologize for. I
Speaker A
genuinely don't. So, no. Um, and then skip forward 36 hours and they're apologizing to me. So, but, you know, I I understand how difficult it is for them and the influences that there are at the top, of course, BBC, but um, it was
Speaker A
incredibly moving weekend. I can't think of anything like it. And you know, I do this stuff for I've been following this stuff for for the best part of 30 years for a job. I can't think of anything like it. That moment
Speaker A
when when it dropped and you saw these two men doing this thing of sort of public I love them forever.
Speaker A
I bet you do. I bet you do. Um there was no way back after the next after the mistake that you which was clearly a mistake. The mistake wouldn't have landed as heavily as I never ever ever felt worried during
Speaker A
the first thing. Yeah, it didn't bother me because I felt I was in the right. I didn't think I was in the wrong.
Speaker A
Um, but the emoji I missed that upset me because I of course I of course it was a mistake cuz I didn't see it.
Speaker A
In fact, it was up there apparently for quite a long time before anyone anyone even noticed it themselves. And then um Andy's here tonight said works with John, my agent now, Andy. And he called me and he said there's an emoji
Speaker A
on the I went oh no really. Um and you know I didn't I didn't really know that it was this sort of trope.
Speaker A
Sure. I mean how would why would you think that about fellow human beings ever?
Speaker A
But I just you know put two and two together. I thought this is bad. this is really bad because it's not principled.
Speaker A
No, I apologized immediately and then I apologized again but it it wasn't enough for them but um well I could have flat it out but I thought actually you know what let's walk away and and you did and and it meant that
Speaker A
things ended a little earlier than you would have liked but not in a way that casts any sort of shadow over what you'd achieved.
Speaker A
I don't I don't think there's anyone out genuinely. There might be a few people that want it want it to be that. But I think I think also would I be that stupid?
Speaker A
No. Not deliberately st I mean I can be stupid but not that stupid to to have put that out there deliberately. No, of course not.
Speaker A
And when did you start having let the dust settle and licked your wounds and and and um dealt with the change? When did you start thinking about what else you might like to do next? Well, I was already, you know, podcast
Speaker A
of course um empire. Yeah, it is. It is. So, I was already doing that anyway and then, you know, and then other offers started to come in reasonably quickly and so because again, I think people recognized what it was. It was just a
Speaker A
genuine error mistake. Um, and so yeah, so it didn't really and and the truth is now actually, I mean, in in hindsight, and I never, you know, would have wished this or, you know, wouldn't sure say I'm glad it happened, but, you know,
Speaker A
things have as things have transpired. It's been, you know, I've had Saturdays off for a week. I'm going to do the World Cup for Netflix in New York whilst BBC are doing the World Cup in Sulford.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um bizarre quite nice. But so yeah, things have turned things. What? What else have I mean?
Speaker A
I've got a new series um a reality show actually um which I'm hosting. Oh, thank God for that.
Speaker A
Yeah. No, I've always been asked on to reality shows for forever and I've always said not until and deck retire or or Claudia gives up. I don't mind that.
Speaker A
But um it's called the box and it's a lot of fun. Um yeah, it is it is genuinely something completely different. Saturday night face changed a bit then there's a there's a little bit of an excitement about another project
Speaker A
and and I know amazing a new challenge. Yeah. And bloody pensioner as well. When do we get to see that?
Speaker A
Probably I think they're looking at very early September. And how do you make decisions? I mean, not just now, but going back over the last 20 years when when these various offers come down in front of you, and
Speaker A
you obviously work very closely. Well, I always turn them down really. I mean, I'm sure I was at the BBC and I was I couldn't there's only so much to do.
Speaker A
But what are you looking for? What do you I mean, what are what are the things that tickle your fancy?
Speaker A
Um, well, I I like the look of this idea. I thought it was really clever. I mean, basically, for those that you wouldn't know yet, cuz it's not out. So, there's 10 celebrities. They're in these they've got these big yellow boxes that
Speaker A
they plonk around different parts of the country and the celebrities are inside them and they do not know what they're going to do, what they're faced with or what kind of game it is until they come out the box and and it works and it's a
Speaker A
lot of fun and um I'm looking forward to people seeing it. It's something I completely different than I've done before, but um it's light-hearted and fun.
Speaker A
I love it. What an absolute joy. Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen. Gary Ler. Thank you.
Speaker A
Thanks.
Topics:Gary LinekerJames O'BrienFull Disclosurefootball careerbroadcastingBBCsports interviewparenting in sportsauthenticitypublic life
