Gary Lineker admits he REJECTED huge ITV reality show… as he reveals the outrageous tongue-in-cheek wage demands made by his agent
- Gary Lineker has revealed he refused to appear on an ITV reality show
- He has admitted that negotiations to appear on the show have not gone very far
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Gary Lineker has revealed he recently turned down the chance to appear on a major ITV reality show.
The 64-year-old BBC presenter will stop hosting Match of the Day at the end of the season, leaving him with more free time.
And he has now told how ITV tried to take advantage of this by making him an offer to sign up for one of their shows.
However, Lineker admitted negotiations did not get far after his agent ITV requested an exorbitant salary on his behalf.
“Do you know that last week I started getting requests to be on Celebrity Big Brother,” Lineker told Alan Shearer and Micah Richards on The rest is football podcast.
Lineker added: ‘My agent forwarded it, and then jokingly replied, “Oh yeah. Gary’s fee will be £50 million!”
Gary Lineker has revealed he turned down the chance to appear on an ITV reality show
Lineker admitted that the talks did not go very far, with his agent jokingly asking for £50 million on his behalf
Lineker will not host BBC Sports Personality of the Year next week and will step down from his role as Match of the Day presenter at the end of the season.
‘He did it purely as a joke, of course. And they came back and said, “Oh, that’s a little bit… that’s not in our budget.”
It appears that Lineker did not take ITV’s approach particularly seriously, and he made it clear that his position is unlikely to change any time soon.
When asked if he would consider going on Celebrity Big Brother in the near future, Lineker replied: “I can tell you now, just don’t ask.”
Lineker has turned down the chance for a reality TV stint, and he also recently confirmed he will not be one of the presenters for next week’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
His final appearance came last year when he presented alongside Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott, with Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps being crowned winner of the coveted award.
Lineker will continue with Match of the Day for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season before walking away after first starting the show in 1999.
His replacement is yet to be announced, with Logan, Scott, Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates believed to be the main contenders to succeed him.