From hosting the show in his pants after Leicester won the league to THAT porn noise prank… Gary Lineker’s top five moments as Game of the Day presenter after being forced to ‘take a step back’ on TV program management.
Gary Lineker will not host Match of the Day this weekend after comments he made on social media about the government’s new asylum policy.
Lineker will stop hosting the show until an agreement is reached on his use of social media.
The former Leicester and Tottenham striker, who has presented Match of the Day since 1999, compared the language used to launch a new government campaign against migrants arriving across the English Channel on small boats to 1930s Germany. Lineker’s tweet was found to be in breach of the BBC’s impartiality rules.
Sportsmail looks back at five of Lineker’s greatest moments as they present Match of the Day.
1 – Presenting the show in his pants
Gary Lineker wore a pair of shorts to present the Match of the Day after Leicester won the league
In 2016, Lineker promised to feature Match of the Day in his pants if his beloved Leicester managed the remarkable feat of winning the Premier League title.
The Foxes managed to win the league in one of the biggest upsets in football history, and Lineker made good on his promise… sort of.
For the first episode of the 2016–17 season, Lineker opened the show wearing only a pair of very large shorts bearing the Leicester badge.
Alan Shearer and Ian Wright couldn’t contain their laughter in the background.
2 – The incident of the porn noises
In January this year, Lineker was the presenter for Liverpool’s FA Cup clash against Wolves, but things certainly didn’t go as planned.
A serial prankster left a device in the BBC’s live studio, playing “porn noise” on TV for millions of viewers.
Lineker seemed to find the incident amusing, and the noises continued to disrupt the show for about ten minutes.
YouTuber Daniel Jarvis claimed responsibility for the porn noises, while Danny Murphy admitted he was concerned the noises could be coming from his own phone.
Lineker saw the funny side of the porn noise incident while hosting MOTD earlier this year.
3 – Mocking Lacazette’s screams
Lineker has never been afraid to show his sense of humor and he did just that in 2021 when he poked fun at then-Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette.
In a match against Burnley, when matches were being played without spectators due to COVID regulations, Lacazette was heard screaming very loudly following a challenge from Erik Pieters, but was later on his feet without requiring treatment.
Lineker introduced the scream meter on Match of the Day and at the end of the show he, Dion Dublin and Ian Wright were seen practicing their best screams.
In 2021 Lineker showed his sense of humor by making fun of Alexandre Lacazette’s screams
4 – His bald jokes
Lineker’s humor is certainly not to everyone’s taste and in 2019 he received criticism for making fun of the bald.
Lineker certainly didn’t seem bothered by the fact that the BBC received a complaint about his comments.
He tweeted: ‘The BBC have received a complaint about bald jokes on @BBCMOTD (genuinely). I feel very unfair calling @alanshearer @IanWright0 and Danny Murphy jokingly.
The BBC received a complaint after Lineker mocked Alan Shearer (left) and Danny Murphy (right) for being bald.
5 – His debut as a presenter
Lineker had previously worked for Match of the Day as an analyst, but stepped up to replace Des Lynam in 1999.
In 2021, the official BBC Match of the Day was published a clip of Lineker joking in 1999, in which he said, ‘Hey, I’ll tell you what. Soccer is back. No good? Do I have the job?’
Lineker was certainly a hit with viewers and has been at the helm for over 20 years.
Lineker has been the host of Match of the Day since he took over in 1999.