Kelly Cates has spoken about her appreciation for her Match of the Day co-hosts Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman, admitting she has not read any reaction to her appointment to the iconic football programme.
New Presenting Line-up
Last season marked the first with Cates, Logan and Chapman sharing hosting duties after Gary Lineker stepped down as long-running anchor. The trio, who also fronted the BBC's World Cup coverage, present Match of the Day on rotation. Cates, daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, said she felt honoured to take the role alongside them.
Speaking on The Romesh Ranganathan Show, Cates said: "They [the BBC] just asked me. There was no big manoeuvring. Gary was leaving, which accelerated it slightly, and the process came a bit quicker." She added: "They said, 'Do you want to come and do it, we're looking at a team of three.' I was like, 'Who are the other two?'"
Reaction to Co-hosts
Cates recalled: "They said it was Mark and Gabby and I said, 'That's amazing.' It's Match of the Day, so it sells itself. Also, the fact it's those two… Normally, I take the p*** out of the people I work with and it's OK. But it's Mark and Gabby, and they're amazing. Being on a team with them is genuinely really exciting. I feel like I'm in a great little group."
Avoiding Coverage
Cates revealed she shields herself from any coverage of the appointment, positive or negative. She said: "I didn't read it, and that's not hard to do. It's not hard to avoid the coverage. It's hard to stop people sending you the coverage but I just tell them I don't want them to send it to me, even nice stuff. I still really have no idea what people thought about it or think about it. I just do my job."
Viewership Changes
Match of the Day's traditional broadcast viewership has fallen, but digital viewing has offset the decline. Between August and December 2024, average weekly viewing across TV, iPlayer, and Saturday/Sunday shows was 7.65 million, dropping to 6.88 million in the same period last year—a decline of around 770,000. However, average weekly views for highlights across iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app reached 1.52 million between August and December 2025, more than compensating for the traditional programme's loss.
