Jermaine Jenas breaks silence two years after BBC sacking due to 'inappropriate messages'

Jermaine Jenas has spoken out two years after he was sacked by the BBC for for sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues.

Back in August 2024, former Newcastle United, Spurs and QPR player Jenas was taken off air from both Match of the Day and The One Show.

At the time the 41-year-old was one of the biggest names in the BBC's punditry lineup but the inappropriate messages to female colleagues led to his contract being terminated.

Shortly after the decision, Jenas spoke out to say that there were 'two sides to every story,' but later apologised to his wife, Ellie, and family.

Since then Jenas has taken some time away from the media to focus on repairing his relationship with Ellie, choosing not to address the matter publicly any further.

However, months after his sacking, his wife announced the couple had split up after 16 years together.

But now, the disgraced presenter has appeared on TV for the first time since his sacking to finally address the scandal and what it means for his future career.

During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Jenas admitted he has reached a point of uncertainty and fear in what has been a 'tough two-year period' for him and his family.

“I’ve lost everything essentially – my job, my family, everything was taken away from me," Jenas said.

"It’s not for me to decide the punishment, but that’s what happens.

“But my feelings aside, I was thinking about my children, I was thinking about Ellie and what I put her through.

"It was hard for me, and it has been hard for them, and it continues to be hard for them, and I think that that’s where I had to put most of my attention at that particular time to try and do what I could to protect them.”

Following the initial report that Jenas had been sacked, multiple women came forward with allegations that sent explicit and unsolicited messages.

Therefore, when Jenas didn't address this in his first comments, presenter Ranvir Singh then decided to press Jenas about the scandal, asking: "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 for them?"

He replied: "I've always apologised. I don't think that's something I've not done. I've always apologised to everybody who was involved."

She further pressed: "Do you recognise that you were in the wrong in that way?"

To which he said: "In the way that I was in a position of power in my role in my job, it was something that I shouldn't have been doing.

"But also, this was a marital thing and more than anything, I need to apologise to my wife over everything. I'm not here begging for a job; I'm not here because I want to be back in television. That's not where I'm at."

Jenas claimed that he had been 'heavily' and 'disproportionally' punished for his actions, adding: “People make mistakes, and I think the mistakes that I made have been heavily criticised, heavily publicised, and I think I’ve been punished heavily.

“Are we in a society now where we don’t allow people to learn from their mistakes and move forward in life, because that’s where it feels like I’ve been for the last couple of years.

“I know what I did was wrong, and I accept those punishments, nobody’s skirting around the responsibility of what I did. I know what I did, and I know what I did was wrong.

“I’m not sat here begging and pleading for my job back, I’m fully accepting of what has been taken away from me.

"I put myself in that position, and that’s where the learning comes from, and that’s where I have to now look forward as to what it is I’m going to be doing next.”

Fans react to Jermaine Jenas breaking silence on sacking scandal

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jenas' comments didn't exactly go down well on social media, with many arguing that he came across poorly without taking responsibility, questioning why he even decided to do the interview.

Posting on X, one wrote: "Why has Jermaine done this interview? Absolute car crash. No responsibility still and sounds like a right k**b."

Another agreed, adding: "This is a car crash interview. He's so arrogant, saying he shouldn't have been punished heavily and got very defensive. Hasn't apologised or accepted what's been taken away but questions if he should be given another chance."

While one wrote: "Don't think that interview went as well as Jermain hoped, not sure what he was hoping to achieve. He probably wishes he'd stayed in bed now."