Jermaine Jenas says he is returning to talkSport 'a better person'

Jermaine Jenas: "The biggest thing in this whole situation is about taking responsibility"

Jermaine Jenas is returning to broadcasting on talkSport this weekend, telling the station he is "coming back a better person" six months after he was sacked from the BBC.

The presenter and ex-footballer was dismissed from the BBC's Match of the Day and The One Show following complaints about workplace conduct.

Jenas told talkSport's Shebahn Aherne on Friday that "the biggest thing in this whole situation is about taking responsibility" and he had been "looking inwards, making some improvements".

Shortly after the BBC sacked Jenas, he told The Sun he had sent "inappropriate messages", was "ashamed" and had "let everybody down".

'Work on yourself'

Jenas had his contract terminated for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a female colleague.

The BBC did not disclose further details about the allegations against him.

The former footballer told The Sun he sent "inappropriate messages" to two colleagues on the One Show, but insisted he "did nothing illegal" and said they were sent to "two consenting adults".

The presenter added the texts were a "huge error of judgement" for which he was "deeply sorry", adding that he was "not a sex pest".

Jenas, who is married with four children, told the paper he was receiving therapy and accepted he "fell below [the] standards" of the BBC.

At the time, talkSport said there were "no plans for Jermaine to broadcast as a presenter on talkSport in the immediate future".

He said on Friday he was returning to the radio station and would be "doing what I love most, which is talking about football".

Aherne asked him how he could assure listeners he had changed.

"You need to take responsibility for your actions [and] why you're in this position," he said.

"And there's a reason why this has happened. And once you kind of accept those things, then you can work on yourself and you can work on the other things and you can work on your family and work towards a brighter future."

When asked about the impact his actions had had on his family, he said he realised "they didn't deserve to be in that position".

Jenas added that he intended to "get back on [the] path" of being a role model.

He will return to his job as a football pundit this weekend as co-commentator for Aston Villa vs Tottenham in the FA Cup for talkSport.

Jenas had been hosting talkSport's drive show when the news of his dismissal from the BBC became public.

Earlier this week, when reports emerged he might be returning to the radio station, Women in Football told the Press Assocation it came as "no surprise that employees at talkSport are reportedly uneasy at the prospect of working alongside him".

"Our concern is that talkSport appears neither to have ascertained whether Jenas has honoured this commitment nor to have consulted the women working in their offices and studios. This is a mistake."

A talkSport source told the BBC in response on Friday that "the talkSport team has been consulted, as you would expect."

Media work

Jenas made his footballing debut at the age of 17. He played for his boyhood team Nottingham Forest, then Spurs and Newcastle United. He went on to play 341 times and made 21 appearances for England.

He retired in 2016 aged 32, although he had not played since 2014.

Jenas turned his attention to media work as a pundit while recovering from a knee injury and became a regular on Match of the Day, as well as BT Sport.

He started acting as a stand-in host on The One Show in 2020 following the departure of Matt Baker.

It was announced in April 2021 that he and Boyzone star Ronan Keating would be given permanent positions - Jenas presenting with Jones from Mondays to Wednesdays and Keating on Thursdays and Fridays.

In December 2023, he collected an honorary degree from Nottingham Trent University.