Kate Abdo has made her feelings clear on the CBS Sports panel amid the controversy involving Jamie Carragher this week.
Carragher caused a stir on Tuesday night for a comment made about presenter Abdo's relationship with boxing trainer Malik Scott.
The former Liverpool defender was wearing an Arsenal shirt after their Champions League last 16 penalty shoot-out win over Porto and told Abdo she was next to wear it.
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After explaining she was "loyal", Carragher said, "Loyal to who? Not to Malik.".
There was an awkward pause and Abdo responded by asking, "What? Why would you even say that?".
The moment became a huge talking point online and even led to some calls for Carragher to be relieved of his duties with the broadcaster.
But Abdo addressed the situation on air in an opening monologue on Wednesday night, describing Carragher as "the middle child" who "goes too far sometimes" and revealing he had apologised.
Abdo, Carragher, Thierry Henry and Micah Richards provide endless entertainment on CBS, with a unique, non-serious setup that is a huge hit with viewers.
In an interview this week, the 42-year-old told The Athletic that the panel is "a family" and if anyone was to leave it would be "damaging".
Asked about the likelihood of keeping the team together, Abdo said: I think you can’t help but think about (how) it could end. The nature of television is short-term contracts. We want to keep the family together. I think that we’re all looking at Thierry.
"I think for Micah and Jamie, TV is the chosen career. It’s the one they’re really pursuing. The same for me. If you find this kind of place of magic, it’s so hard to ever want to walk away from. But in Thierry’s position, there’s another passion that he has that burns just as strong if not stronger. I mean, essentially, he’s already proven what he can do in TV.
"We all know how good he is. So there’s still that area where he still wants to be able to prove that he was not only a great football player but how well he can lead other men to play football.
"There’s definitely a sense of nervousness with us. We’re all aware of what he brings to the table. Thierry has star power that is very hard to replace.
"There’s just something special about him as a person and as an analyst. I genuinely don’t know who you could replace that with. I could say the same about Micah. … It’s a team situation. It matters so much the energy and the spirit of the people. If anybody leaves, it’s just damaging."
Topics: Jamie Carragher, Champions League
Josh Lawless