Major clue over next Match of the Day host with pundit 'already practising' Gary Lineker's role

A major clue over who the next Match of the Day host could be has been dropped.

Since 1999, former Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona and England striker Lineker has been the host of the popular football highlights show Match of the Day.

Over the last few years, there have been talks over who could be in pole position to replace Lineker when he eventually decides to leave the show.

Speaking recently on That Peter Crouch Podcast, former Newcastle United and Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas said: “When I do Match of the Day, there used to be a woman called Michelle who used to do Gary’s autocue.

“So when Gary was in makeup I used to go run and jump in the seat and be like ‘look Michelle let’s do the autocue’. She was like ‘go on quick do it’ and we’d just run through the whole show.”

The 41-year-old continued: “I was just practicing and that wasn’t me going ‘oh I want to do Gary’s job’. It was me just thinking ‘right, what’s it like in this seat, for him, to present’, because I wanted to know what it felt like.

“She’d kind of go ‘ah yeah you’ve messed up there’, we’d have a laugh with it. Then he’d come and go ‘get out the seat’.”

Since retiring, Jenas has often appeared as a pundit for TNT Sports and BBC.

Getty

The former midfielder is also a host on BBC’s The One Show and was recently announced as the host for TNT Sports’ coverage of Formula E.

Speaking about his hosting role for Formula E, Jenas said: “The sport’s just so exciting. I think when you just step into it, like I have, watching it from afar and seeing how it’s developed and how it is now and where it’s actually going.

“The buzz around the place has been electric.”

He added: “[Difference] To football? In a big way. I think the thing with football in the UK in particular, it’s a sport that’s been going for a lot longer than ten years.

“The fan base is quite historical and the brilliance about TNT partnering with FE is that we’re going to have 17 races across the season – which is going to be absolutely incredible by the way – we’re going to take people on a journey.”