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Tearful Gary Lineker doubles down on Match of the Day row

Gary Lineker (Credit: Getty images)

How touching. Several weeks after Gary Lineker’s sporting colleagues boycotted the BBC in solidarity during a row over his tweets, the Match of the Day presenter has revealed the whole affair moved him to tears. 

Lineker, who is, he says ‘still bewildered’ by the scandal, revealed his reaction in a cosy chat with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and ex-Tory MP Rory Stewart on their podcast The Rest is Politics: Leading. (The podcast is produced by Goalhanger Podcasts, owned by none other than Lineker himself – a story for another day perhaps.) 

The row, which pushed the Beeb to the brink, saw Lineker suspended for three days after he made comments comparing the Tories’ language on immigration to that of 1930s Germany. Many of Lineker’s BBC colleagues, including co-hosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, pulled out of their own presenting gigs in a show of support.

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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