Jermaine Jenas has accused Good Morning Britain hosts of having a 'thirst for blood' following his awkward appearance discussing his sexting controversy on Friday.
Jenas sat down with Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh after making a series of Instagram posts that seemed to signal a tentative comeback attempt. The 43-year-old ex-footballer appeared on the ITV programme on Friday (June 12) for his first TV interview since being sacked by the BBC.
The ex-Match of the Day regular was dismissed after allegations were made that he 'sent unsolicited texts' to a female staff member at The One Show, which he co-presented from 2020 to 2024. It was subsequently reported that 'multiple women' had come forward about explicit messages he had allegedly sent to colleagues.
Prior to his dismissal in August 2024, the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder had been a regular pundit on sports programmes and a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Speaking on GMB, Jermaine said: 'I've lost everything, essentially. My job, my family, everything was kind of taken away from me. And that's not for me to decide the punishment, but that's exactly what happened - it's what I had to face.'
Jermaine also noted that he focused his attention on protecting his family in the face of criticism, with Ranvir then saying: 'I notice you don't mention the women who you were texting, and who accused you of sending unsolicited, perhaps even videos or text messages, that they did not want, and did not expect from you. Do you have an apology to them?'
Ranvir then asked: 'But do you recognise that you were in the wrong?' with Jermaine saying: '100 per cent,' before adding: 'It was something I shouldn't have been doing, but also, this was a marital thing more than anything, I need to apologise to my wife.'
Later in the interview, Ranvir said: 'You're sort of skirting around what you've learned, but you've mentioned about the fact that you [were] in a position of power. And that for some reason, you thought this was consensual, but clearly these women did not want to receive what you were sending them,' with Jermaine quickly interjecting.
'I'm not skirting around anything, Ranvir. I'm more than happy to have the conversation, which is why I'm here. I'm not here to be defending myself in any way, shape or form,' he said.
Taking to Instagram on Saturday morning, he reflected in a video: 'How do I feel after my interview on Good Morning Britain?'
'First and foremost, I'm glad I did it, I really am, because I think any time you're presented with these big tests in your life, I think standing up to them is important. No matter what side of it you land, you just feel better that you stood up to the challenge. So I'm happy that I did that.'
'There's obviously a level of disappointment as well, just purely and simply with the direction that the interview was taken. It felt like they had an agenda. It felt like there was a thirst for blood from one presenter in particular.'
'It just, if I'm honest, felt unnecessary to me and it leant itself to what I said in my last post, it's the reason I had fears going into it and why I questioned, do I need this in my life? They invited me on. I didn't ask to go on the show.'
'They invited me on because they saw my post about these transitions in your life and rebuilding your life.'
'But still, no matter how many conversations I had with producers about, 'okay, we can touch on this, but we want to move forward and look at what's next,' it just felt like a trap. It just felt like one individual had an agenda and she was going to twist the knife because she wanted to.'
'I can handle that, it's totally fine, it is what it is. I just wanted to show you lot [that] this is part of my journey, it's the journey that I'm on, and it is a warts-and-all documentation of what's going off in this transitional period in my life. I think it's very important that you all see what the media is like and if I'm honest, that side of it, I don't miss at all.'
At the end of the interview on GMB, the hosts shared a statement from a BBC spokesperson: 'We do not comment on individuals, but we will always look at any issues raised with us and take the action as appropriate.'
