Jermaine Jenas had a tense exchange with Good Morning Britain presenters Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh on Thursday as he faced questions about the sexting scandal that ended his BBC career.
The former footballer was dismissed from the broadcaster’s presenting line-up in August 2024 after sending explicit text messages to female colleagues. Before his departure, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder had become a familiar face across the BBC, appearing on Match of the Day, The One Show and BBC Radio 5 Live.
His appearance on the ITV breakfast programme came after a series of Instagram posts that appeared to signal the beginnings of a cautious return to public life. But rather than offering an easy reset, the interview quickly turned difficult.
Jenas, 43, appeared guarded throughout the conversation, with his answers often sharp and his body language notably defensive, despite insisting that was not the case.
At one point, Garraway asked him directly what he had “learned” from the scandal. In response, Jenas said: “To say I was happy in the industry I was in is an overstatement. When it comes to what I’ve learnt, it’s a very specific thing to put my finger on.”
The interview saw Garraway ask Jenas what he had ‘learned’. Jenas replied: ‘To say I was happy in the industry I was in is an overstatement. When it comes to what I’ve learnt, it’s a very specific thing to put my finger on.
‘It’s probably a little bit of an unfair question to find that one thing. You go through life, you make mistakes and there were things happening on the outside of work also affecting my behaviour.’
Singh then accused him of ‘skirting around what you’ve learnt’, but Jenas responded: ‘I’m not skirting around anything, Ranvir.
Jermaine Jenas pushed back at Kate Garraway in a tense appearance on Good Morning Britain
Jenas was defensive and combative with presenters Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway
‘I’m more than happy to have the conversation, which is why I’m here. I’m not here to be defending myself in any way, shape or form.
‘I know what I did was wrong and I accept those punishments. Nobody is skirting around the responsibility of what I did. I know what I did and I know what I did was wrong. So I don’t understand where that line of questioning is coming from.’
Singh then asked him for his ‘advice to other men who are in positions of power in any industry and who think they are just flirting with women at work who… what is your advice to other people then who might be learning from your mistakes?’
Jenas replied: ‘I think they can look at what happened to me and make their own assumptions about what they have to do with their own lives.
‘I’m not here to preach to other people about what they should do with their lives. I’m here to explain to people my own experiences of what I’ve been through and what I’ve done and the impact that it’s had on everybody in my life.
‘I’m not here to dictate to people in terms of what they want to do. I understand why you have to come at me with this line of questioning and it’s completely fine and if you feel like I have not been punished enough then go ahead and keep going.’
Singh said she was ‘not saying that’, adding that Jenas had spoken about ‘what’s been taken away from me’ – but ‘people might say you put yourself in that position, you risked it all by doing what you did’.
Jenas replied: ‘Oh, 100 per cent. I did put myself in that position and 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 to what is coming next. That’s where the post comes from.
‘It’s impossible to not learn about yourself when you are put into the position that I was put into, that I put myself into. You have to take stock, look around yourself, look at your own behaviour and realise that things have to change.
Jenas recently shared how he is ‘building’ his life, two years after being axed by the BBC
‘I’ve done that over a period of time where it’s been very tricky – granted I put myself in that position.’
Jenas deflected throughout his ten-minute interview, pleading for forgiveness because everyone ‘makes mistakes’.
The 43-year-old learnt of his sacking from the BBC while live on radio.
He added: ‘The learning from it doesn’t always have to be negative. We are so obsessed in this industry with “oh, he’s been cancelled” – everything has to be negative.
‘Hang on a minute, I’m a person who has learnt a lot from my mistakes and spent ten to 12 years in this industry and had a brilliant career and really enjoyed my time on television. There’s a lot for me to give back.
‘I’m not saying on television, it could be on any different platform where I know a lot of people feel how I feel.
‘I’m a human being. We make mistakes. You two [Singh and Garraway] can’t sit in front of me and say you’ve never made a mistake in your life. We all make mistakes, we live in the public eye.
‘Every mistake I made was made public and I had to handle that as a man. That’s exactly what I did. The thing now is about moving forward and what I’m about to do next. Currently, I’m not sure.
Jenas and his former wife Ellie Penfold at Wimbledon in July 2024
After the split, Jenas has found love again with his Parisian estate agent girlfriend Anne Leplaideur
His axe from the BBC after misconduct allegations caused Jenas to lose his marriage to Ellie Penfold.
Despite moving on and starting a relationship with Parisian estate agent Anne Leplaideur, Jenas thanked his former partner for how she has handled the situation.
He said: ‘It’s been good with my children, but up and down also. It’s been a very, very tricky spell. I’ve got an 18-year-old and a 13-year-old, who are very aware of social media and everything that has been going on.
‘Having some very open and honest conversations with them as a father is very difficult. At the same time, you’re then trying to protect the nine and four-year-olds.
‘Ellie has been incredible in the whole process, maintaining a consistency in their lives. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.’
The former footballer and his wife, a model, were married for more than 13 years.
Jenas had previously been considered a natural successor to replace Gary Lineker as host of Match Of The Day, who stepped down as host of the football highlights programme at the end of last season.
After being sacked from the BBC, Jenas apologised saying he had done ‘nothing illegal’ and that ‘inappropriate messages’ sent were ‘between two consenting adults’.
Jenas returned to broadcasting on TalkSport radio in February after the outlet distanced itself from him in the wake of his departure from the BBC.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on individuals, but we will always look at any issues raised with us and take action as appropriate.’
