'I pulled it back!' - Gary Lineker came close to breaking strict ITV rule during one-off appearance

Gary Lineker has revealed he almost broke a strict ITV rule during his surprise guest appearance on their World Cup coverage on Saturday.

Associated with the BBC for more than two decades, Lineker appeared on ITV in a surprise role prior to Germany's win over the Ivory Coast.

Having been anchoring the daily Rest is Football shows on Netflix while out in New York, Lineker was present in their high-end Brooklyn studio alongside Ian Wright, Gary Neville, Duncan Ferguson and host Laura Woods.

He was involved in a comical opening segment where he began to introduce the coverage as he often did for the BBC, only for Woods to interrupt and say, "Woah Gary, that's my job".

The England legend admitted that "old habits" were to blame.

While his new gig went well, in his latest appearance hosting the Rest is Football that he nearly messed up badly.

On the Rest is Football, whether on YouTube or Netflix, swearing is very much permitted and Joe Cole took advantage of the freedom when he explained delivering his stunning strike against Sweden in the 2006 World Cup was because he was "f***ing exhausted".

Not long after that anecdote, Lineker explained that he came close to using an expletive while live with ITV but just about managed to keep it in.

READ MORE: Gary Lineker breaks his silence on shock ITV appearance and 'why he really did it'

"I nearly dropped the f-bomb on ITV today," he admitted.

"I was so close to it. We get used to it - you [Joe] swore there. There was a point where I was live and I went 'ffff' and just held it back. I sucked it in!

"I'm nearly 30 years of television or whatever it was so you know not to do it ever but doing this show and the fact we swear a little bit, I was so close and just pulled it back!"

In the United Kingdom, where programmes are regulated by Ofcom, there are strict rules surrounding the use of colourful language.

Any offensive language must not be broadcasted before 9pm - the watershed and Lineker's involvement in the show came much earlier than that and would have undoubtedly drew an apology if he did blurt out the f-word.

He made the most of it on Netflix, however, telling a remote Micah Richards to "shut the f*** up" and switching him off the television when he called him a "traitor".

Gary Lineker explains why he appeared on ITV

Following a playful shots from Richards, Lineker explained that his ITV gig came about as an opportunity to promote his upcoming ITV reality game show and the Rest is Football.

"I was making an appearance to promote my show ‘The Box’, which is also on ITV in September," Lineker stated.

"And also I wanted to go and have a little look at the studio. I also wanted to go and promote our Netflix show, for which I got two mentions.

"It was just for purely professional reasons, Micah."

When Richards disputed Lineker's explanation, the ex Match of the Day presenter went fired back, "Says the person who works for pretty much every TV channel known to man!".