'I'M SO COMFORTABLE NOW — I'M NOT ANSWERABLE TO ANYONE'

He left Match of the Day under a cloud, now Gary Lineker is focusing on his multi-million-pound podcast empire. He talks divorce, dating and what he really thinks about the BBC

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After the BBC Director General Tim Davie resigned over the Trump Panorama editing scandal last month, one of the first text messages he received was from former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker. The ex England striker asked if he was OK.

“I got a message straight back which was nice,” reports Lineker. “I always liked Tim and, let’s face it, the Director General of the BBC is the only other job that compares to being a football manager in that you're going to get kicked out at some point.”

It must have been a poignant moment. After all, in May Lineker himself left his BBC role earlier than planned following a furore over a social media post (Lineker had shared an antisemitic video on Instagram; he apologised and departed before presenting next summer's World Cup as originally intended). And in the past Davie had to defend charges of alleged BBC impartiality involving Lineker several times, even controversially suspending him from MOTD in 2023 after he slammed the then-Conservative government's immigration policy (Davie’s decision triggered an MOTD staff walkout).

Now both have left the Beeb. Does Lineker feel sorry for the corporation in the Trump saga (following the Panorama incident, the US President is threatening to sue the corporation for between $1 and $5 billion)?

“The BBC is still the most trusted and respected media organisation on the planet. I don’t know what led them to do what they did. They didn't even need to. I suspect it was just some kind of error. I can't imagine anyone thinking, ‘If we put that there it makes him look worse’. It’s very difficult for the BBC and I've always felt that way. There are thousands of brilliant people working there but they've tied themselves up in knots a little bit with their impartiality rules.