Gary Lineker has suggested that the BBC was in favour of him leaving Match of the Day as he prepares to step down from his role as host at the end of the season.
The sports broadcaster and former professional footballer has been hosting the iconic BBC show for 25 years, but announced late last year that this would be his last.
Lineker will still be seen on the BBC next season, anchoring the Corporation’s coverage of the 2025/26 FA Cup as well as the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.
But the iconic Premier League highlights show will get a fresh new look for the 2025/26 season, with Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan set to host the show.
Lineker suggests BBC preferred to replace him ahead of new season
As he prepares for his final few weeks at the wheel, the 64-year-old has suggested that he was nudged towards the exit door when negotiating a contract extension last season.
Speaking to BBC’s Amol Rajan, he said: ‘Well, perhaps they want me to leave. There was the sense of that.
‘I think it was their preference that I didn’t do Match of the Day for one more year, so they could bring in new people’.
Opening up on his talks with the BBC further, Linker added: ‘I always wanted one more contract, and I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether to do three years [more].
‘In the end, I think there was a feeling that, because it was a new rights period, it was a chance to change the programme.
‘I think it was their preference that I didn’t do Match of the Day for one more year, so they could bring in new people.
‘So it’s slightly unusual that I would do the FA Cup and the World Cup, but to be honest, it’s a scenario that suits me perfectly.’
‘I don’t regret comments that led to suspension’
Lineker is still the highest-paid presenter on the BBC – earning a yearly salary of £1,350,000 – but has endured a tumultuous relationship with the broadcaster at points in recent years.
The most high-profile incident occurred in March 2023 when Lineker was required to step back from presenting on the BBC for three days after he openly criticised the government’s immigration policy.
His social media post compared the Home Office’s migrant boat policy to Nazi Germany, sparking both widespread praise and criticism.
Who are Match of the Day’s new hosts?
Replacing Lineker in the Match of the Day hot seat is a trio of presenters who many sports fans are more than familiar with.
Cates, daughter of Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish, has been a key figure in Sky Sports’ coverage of the Premier League in recent years while also working for BBC Radio 5 Live.
Chapman, meanwhile, has worked for the BBC for well over a decade and has been the main presenter on Match of the Day 2 since 2013.
And Logan has also been a regular presenter on the BBC, anchoring their coverage of big sporting events such as Sports Personality of the Year, the Women’s European Championships and last summer’s Paris Olympics.
The decision led to a bizarre incident where the show was broadcast without presenters, pundits or its usual commentators when on-screen staff refused to appear on the show in a show of solidarity towards Lineker, who returned to the show the following weekend.
Lineker insisted that while he regrets the fallout from the incident, he still stands by what he posted on social media.
‘I don’t regret saying [the comments] publicly, because I was right – what I said, it was accurate – so not at all in that sense.
‘Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No I wouldn’t, because of all the nonsense that came with it.
‘It was a ridiculous overreaction that was just a reply to someone that was being very rude. And I wasn’t particularly rude back.
‘But I wouldn’t do it again because of all the kerfuffle that followed, and I love the BBC, and I didn’t like the damage that it did to the BBC … But do I regret it and do I think it was the wrong thing to do? No.’
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