Latest news with #MatchOfTheDay
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Gabby Logan thought public ‘didn't like her' after Strictly exit
Broadcaster Gabby Logan revealed she cried after being eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, having been told she was too competitive. Logan, who finished 11th with partner James Jordan, reflected that her competitive nature, valued in sports, was not appreciated on the show. She believes there was a societal shift between 2007 and 2012, where competitive women became celebrated, unlike her experience on Strictly. Logan stated she was not playing the game expected of a woman at the time, implying a need for faux humility. Gabby Logan, alongside Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman, is set to take over Gary Lineker 's role as Match of the Day presenters for the upcoming football season.
Times
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Gabby Logan: ‘I was told I was too competitive for a woman'
Gabby Logan is posing in a pair of form-hugging PVC trousers and killer heels, with her shoulders adorned in fur. And as her last photo is taken she delivers a diva punchline to bring the house down: 'Well, that's my Match of the Day outfit sorted then.' If only. Logan takes the helm of the BBC's TV institution in August (along with Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman) following the recent departure of Gary Lineker. I dare you to wear that outfit, I say. 'The BBC don't say anything much about clothes, but they might say something about an outfit like that. So I don't think I'm going to rattle the cage,' she muses as we sit down to talk. MOTD is the longest-running football show in the world. To paraphrase Labour campaign watchers, she is about to walk across a highly polished floor holding a Ming vase. Is she nervous? 'Before any broadcast, I get just nervous enough to give a good performance. Before I had children I was quite superstitious. I'd wear the same coloured pants or walk the same route through the corridor to the studio for luck. But kids take you out of yourself. Now it's about being totally prepared so you feel adrenalised, excited.' Did Gary leave her a note, maybe some crisps? 'No. But our initials are the same so the door sign is the same.' When Logan was recruited by Sky TV back in the Nineties, her new bosses sent her out on the town with a fashion stylist. They drank champagne and then spent £5,000 on Prada, Armani and Kenzo clothes. Does MOTD do the same? 'Would it surprise you to hear the answer is no?' OK, one more, this time more serious: Lineker was the highest-paid BBC presenter, on £1.35 million a year. Has Logan demanded equal pay? 'That's all sorted,' she says. What does that mean? 'It's sorted.' A bumper summer of women's sport Her response is a swift reminder that we are not here to discuss MOTD but something possibly even bigger. Logan is about to front an unprecedented summer of women's sport coverage on the BBC. Women's football (the Euros begin in July), rugby (the World Cup is in August), not to mention cricket, tennis, athletics (the World Championships are in September) and netball. 'No sidelines, no second billing,' says the official Beeb announcement. There will be a grassroots campaign to get more girls and women participating too. 'Names will be made,' they predict. 'Think back to the women's Euros in 2022,' Logan enthuses. 'Lots of people didn't know who Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly, Ella Toone or Ellen White were and it was such a joy to see them emerge as household names. Heroes, basically. And there are so many more to come.' Who might be the new stars? Look out for Aggie Beever-Jones (the England international and Chelsea star who recently scored a hat-trick against Portugal in the women's Nations League) and Ellie Kildunne (the England rugby union star and 2024 World Rugby's women's player of the year). 'A lot of these women are already very well known within sporting circles, but they really deserve wider recognition. And that means both women and men watching. With football particularly, I think sometimes the narrative can be: 'No men's Euros or World Cup this summer — it's going to be a quiet one.' It's really not. Across all these sports, there is amazing female talent waiting to be discovered.' Logan is of course a former international athlete herself — she was a gymnast for Wales at the 1990 Commonwealth Games but retired due to injury aged 17. Her father is the former Leeds United and Wales international footballer Terry Yorath and, as a young girl, she loved that game too. Could she have made it as a player with the right encouragement? It's easy to forget the FA actually banned women from using its facilities between 1921 and 1971. 'I was thinking about this recently,' she muses. 'Could I have made it? I would love to have played alongside England's all-time greatest, Kelly Smith. [The former England international was so determined to play football as a girl, she joined a boys' club in Watford aged seven. She became the top scorer, but was then kicked out after the parents of opposing teams complained.] But the determination you needed to succeed without facilities or media interest was incredible.' I spoke to Logan two years ago when she commentated on the women's World Cup final in Australia. At the time Neymar, the Brazilian star of the men's game, had just signed a deal worth £129 million a year playing for the Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal; Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, earns more than £170 million a year at another Saudi Arabian club. Logan remarked that the men's game seemed 'a bit broken'. Can the women's game avoid that? 'This is the balancing act the women's game has got. They want the same brand deals as the men's game to bring more money in and grow the sport but without losing the connectivity with fans. I don't think anyone would disagree that the men's game has lost a little bit of that. You always see the women go to talk to the fans after a match. There are some amazing men too but it feels as though the stakes are so much higher — there's the whole 'talking behind the hand' thing because of lip-reading which is everywhere now. It feels harder to connect. But I would add: the fans in the men's game still care passionately. I have spoken to Sunderland, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest fans recently: the passion is still incredible.' Is any player worth £170 million a year? 'You're worth what someone decides to pay you. There's a lot of debate about players taking the money to play in Saudi Arabia but you can't walk in their shoes. You don't know if they're giving that money to the town they came from or building schools. So many players do that but it doesn't get the coverage because it's not exciting. And in terms of entertainment, would you apply that to the music industry and say Elton John isn't worth that money? Or that movie star isn't worth it for a film?' 'I want as many people to participate in sport in a safe and fair way' OK, women's sport can feel refreshingly wholesome — except perhaps in one area. It's been two months since the Supreme Court ruled that under equalities law, a woman is defined by biological sex, not gender identity. What is Logan's view on the ruling and what effect will it have on women's sport this summer? 'I'm not going to talk about that,' she says firmly. I am surprised. Logan has previously supported the former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies's stand on trans women in women's sport. 'I think we need to protect women's sport. That's why I think it's good what Sharron Davies is doing at the moment, in terms of talking about it,' she told a newspaper in 2019. 'We're dealing with science here. This is not about attacking a community; it's about saying: how can we make this a fair place for women to compete?' Is it fair to quote that as your rough position? 'I think that pertains to a conversation as much as anything,' Logan says. 'People having a forum to debate and have a conversation about something. I want as many people to participate in sport in a safe and fair way, whatever that looks like.' It feels like the Supreme Court ruling should make this issue easier to discuss. Why is it still so political and polarising? 'You tell me. Maybe there's a vacuum somewhere that's allowed it to become so polarising, which is disappointing.' We are sitting in a quiet corner of a photo studio. These exchanges feel like a half-hearted game of ping-pong in a very rundown youth centre. I get it. Logan is here representing the BBC and broadcasters are incredibly nervous about the gender debate. Days after we speak, the tennis legend and TV pundit Martina Navratilova is censored on ITV's X channel after posting comments about the controversial Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. But it's a shame because on social media and in her 2022 memoir, The First Half, Logan is often both funny and bolshy. On X she has variously questioned Brexit, trolled Melania Trump's fashion choices, denounced Donald Trump and come out in support of Marcus Rashford's campaign for free school meals during the Covid pandemic. 'I found the people opposing Marcus Rashford totally baffling,' she says, rallying. 'This is a kid who knows what it's like [Rashford was brought up by a single mother] trying to use his position in a positive way. I grew up when football players were constantly being bashed for their lavish lifestyles, so the 'stick to football' attitude was very disappointing.' 'After my brother died, I promised him to live my life for two people' The 'wild west' of social media is where you find no-nonsense Logan. In fact, swagger into Gabby's Bar with a bad attitude and you are probably leaving through the window. In her memoir she calls the BBC broadcasting legend Des Lynam 'the master', but is more than ready to put him straight now. Last year Lynam said he had 'no gripe' with female presenters but that, 'When you're a pundit and you're offering opinions about the game, you have to have played it at the level you are talking about — ie, the men's game.' 'It's really strange for Des Lynam to be coming at it from that angle when he's never played the game at that level, has he?' she says. Elsewhere the billionaire former Spurs chairman Lord Sugar expressed concern that, while women pundits often comment on the men's game, there were no men covering the women's 2022 Euros tournament. 'Given the viewing figures for the women's Euros and the excitement around the whole tournament, I think perhaps Sir Alan misjudged that one,' she says. That's Logan all over. She is diligent and head-girlish, but then she's had to be. Her early life was happy, exciting even. With her mum, Christine, and siblings — sister Louise and brothers Daniel and Jordan — she moved around while her dad played in Leeds, London, even Canada. But the day 15-year-old Daniel died suddenly while playing football in the back garden (he had an undiagnosed heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), things changed overnight. Daniel and his father were very close and, heartbroken, Terry Yorath's life spun out of control; he became depressed and drank to excess. The marriage eventually fell apart. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Logan pulled herself together. In the funeral parlour, seeing her brother for the last time, she made him a promise: 'I am going to do everything I can to make your life count.' 'Yes, to live my life for two people,' she says today. The tragedy and her sporting instincts drove her to achieve and yet Logan has learnt that competitive women ruffle feathers. The moment of truth, she says, came while appearing with her husband, the former Scotland rugby international Kenny Logan, on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007. While Kenny was lauded as the game bruiser twirling through the pasa doble in a kilt, she was seen as trying too hard. Kenny came 5th, Gabby Logan was eliminated early in 11th place. It really hurt her. In The First Half she says the day she left she cried, 'People really don't like me,' into her sofa. Why did it hurt so much? 'Because I was kicked out! And it was a harsh lesson, learning that sometimes not everyone likes you. You realise the parts of your personality that you thought were attributes as a sportswoman are not valued. I was told I was being too competitive, whereas I was thinking, 'I thought that was good. That's what I did in sport — and it worked — and that's what my husband is doing.' I actually reckon there was a societal shift between that show in 2007 and 2012. At the 2012 Olympics we started to appreciate tough, competitive women. We made heroes of them. But in 2007 I wasn't playing the game expected of a woman.' What would a woman 'playing the game' look like? 'Oh, it would have served me to say,' — she bats her eyelids and smiles — ' 'Oh gosh, whatever, that's fine! I'm just happy to be here!' rather than trying hard. But you have to decide if that's you, and that's something I'm not compromising on.' There was another significant fallout from Daniel's death: the disrupted relationship with her father led her into an unhealthy pattern when choosing men. 'For a few years I sought the company of not very appropriate, older men,' she writes in her book. Most notable was Gary Staines, a long-distance runner who took a shine to her at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. She was 16. Staines was 26 and engaged. A year later his marriage ended and Logan moved into his London flat. Logan ended the relationship once she was at Durham University, where she read law. But by her early twenties, despite having cut her teeth on local radio and making a name for herself as a presenter at Sky Sports, Logan was feeling lost. With her husband and Prince Charles at a reception for the Prince's Trust, 2013 PA 'I didn't like myself very much,' she says. 'I was probably wanting to mend something because our family was quite broken, because of my brother dying. I felt I could create something like a family, a happy place. Those were the relationships I was pursuing. But a bit of guidance from a therapist helped me recognise those patterns were not healthy. That was a good time for it to happen, because in my early twenties I realised I wasn't enjoying relationships I was in. It didn't seem like a good way to be.' 'Thank God I am married to a normal bloke' Early in 1999 Logan was on her way home from dinner with a girlfriend who suggested a late drink in a bar. Logan didn't want to go; she was still queasy from an uncomfortable New Year's Eve dalliance: 'a cigar-smoking wide boy' she'd snogged and who wanted her to do cocaine in the lavatories at a London cabaret (she didn't). Nevertheless, she and the friend slipped into London's K Bar and she was introduced to Kenny Logan. Early portents weren't great. He was drunk and thought he was talking to the former Big Breakfast presenter Gaby Roslin. Nevertheless they hit it off. 'Thank God I am married to a normal bloke who isn't an addict,' she says in her book, and is very funny about Kenny bouncing her off the water bed in her London townhouse during their early years together. 'He's still my number one,' she says. In recent years her marriage to Kenny has become something of a minor sporting spectacle in itself. Logan has been disarmingly honest about how the menopause affected her sex drive ('Is this going to become a duty?') until she took HRT. And it was a 2021 edition of podcast The that prompted Kenny to get himself checked out for prostate cancer; he tested positive. He has made a full recovery but both have been refreshingly open about the impact of the disease on their relationship: Kenny talked us through his testicles growing to 'the size of tennis balls' and the month it took post-surgery to get any erectile 'movement'. 'We decided: we have a platform — let's use it for good,' Logan says. 'We get a lot of great feedback from people who say they took action [about their health]. I'm sure our kids have been teased about it more than we know, but they also feel grateful that their dad's life was, if not saved, at least spared from something more serious.' As a teenager herself she says she was too tall and flat-chested to be fancied by boys. She didn't drink and was dedicated to her sport. No wonder, as a 16-year-old at the Commonwealth Games, she was baffled as to why male competitors wanted to hang out with her and her sister Louise — who went on to become a model — or why the Sultan of Brunei's brother, Prince Jefri, sent her a Brunei team tracksuit as a gift along with his phone number. 'I just thought, 'Oh, nice tracksuit,' ' Logan recalls now. 'I only really read about him afterwards.' Prince Jefri reportedly owned more than 2,000 cars and enjoyed entertaining on a superyacht called Tits. Why did it take her so long to realise that, in her own words, many sports people at major tournaments are 'on heat'? 'I was very young, but when you step back it's obvious, isn't it? All these very fit, healthy people who train so hard — and, if my experience is anything to go by, miss out on so many social events because they are trying to get their gymnastics right — are suddenly ready to mingle. You're done training and there are lots of other fit, lovely people around who also want to let off a bit of steam. It's no great surprise that there are romantic liaisons. I believe the French handed out more condoms than ever at the Paris Olympics. It's the swimmers you have to watch out for — their events always finish first. And if you get up at 5am to train for your whole life and you are superfit and you finish your competition, you deserve to party, right? Just don't live next to the swimmers in the village if you want a good night's sleep.' Back then a young athlete could make mistakes — she is clear the relationship with Gary Staines 'should never have happened' — but we now live in a world of social media. As a leading broadcaster, the scrutiny and abuse are intense. Logan has been told to 'get back in the kitchen' on X; and in the last year alone she has been taken to task for wishing viewers a 'happy festive season' instead of saying 'Christmas' and for using the term 'cock-up' while commentating on last year's Olympics. 'You have to decide how much it's going to invade your sanity,' she says. 'The people that matter to me, I will always listen to their opinion. I am just glad I stopped my kids having phones till they were 16 so they could at least have a taste of what I had: the chance to be in the moment, even to make mistakes.' Dress, Shoes, Earrings, ROBERT WILSON FOR THE TIMES MAGAZINE Lois is at university and Reuben a rugby player for Northampton Saints (he joins Sale Sharks next season). They are relaxed about their mum's achievements, although there was a flurry of texts when she got the MOTD job. 'It's an institution, so of course it was huge for them too,' she says, smiling. But first, this summer of women's sport will be the fruition of years of determined, unrecognised effort. There are parallels with Logan's TV career. Aged 11, she watched a VHS tape of the 1984 Olympics over and over again, noting even then that only men seemed to be presenters. In her twenties, at Sky TV, her boss told her that her career would be over when she was 28, and in her early thirties she very nearly gave up after being sidelined at ITV. She took a 66 per cent pay cut to join the BBC. She had just had children when ITV let her go. Wasn't she suspicious? 'No. That's TV. I had a real crisis of confidence. I wondered, 'Am I any good at this job?' But the truth is, sometimes people just aren't into you.' No wonder her X profile simply says, 'Still here.' 'I owe my opportunities to some quite strident women in TV before me who said, 'It's not right that we get chucked off air just because we hit 40,' ' she asserts. 'Women like Kirsty Wark, presenting Newsnight into her sixties. Like the sportswomen we will hopefully celebrate this summer, I feel I am very much standing on the shoulders of giants.'
The National
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Dua Lipa and Gary Lineker join stars calling PM to halt all arms sales to Israel
More than 300 actors, musicians, activists and others used an open letter to call on the Prime Minister to 'take immediate action to end the UK's complicity in the horrors of Gaza'. As well as suspending UK arms sales to Israel, the group urged Sir Keir to 'use all available means' to ensure humanitarian aid gets into the territory and 'make a commitment to the children of Gaza' that he would broker an 'immediate and permanent ceasefire'. The signatories included Lineker, who left his role presenting Match Of The Day earlier this month following a controversy over one of his social media posts about the conflict in Gaza. He was joined by actors including Cumberbatch and Brian Cox, along with Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlin, singers Paloma Faith and Annie Lennox, and Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos. Josie Naughton, founder of the charity Choose Love – which organised the letter, said: 'Words won't save the lives of Palestinian children as they are being killed, words won't fill their empty stomachs. Benedict Cumberbatch is one of several actors to have signed the letter urging the Prime Minister to end all arms sales to Israel (Ian West/PA) 'We need action from Keir Starmer now. That means stopping arms sales, making sure that legitimate humanitarian organisations can reach people in Gaza. It means doing everything possible to make these horrors end.' The letter follows Tel Aviv's decision to renew its military offensive in Gaza last week as it presses for what Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called 'total victory' over Hamas. UK ministers have condemned the decision, suspending trade talks with Israel, sanctioning West Bank settlers and summoning the country's ambassador, while Sir Keir himself called for Mr Netanyahu to end the offensive. The Prime Minister also described the situation in Gaza as 'intolerable' and warned of 'the prospect of starvation' due to a lack of humanitarian aid. Ministers have already suspended licences for some arms sales to Israel, but activists have demanded that the Government goes further, imposing a total ban including on parts for the F-35 jet. But the Government has said halting the export of spare F-35 parts is not possible as the UK is part of a global supply network and cannot control where those parts end up. A Government spokesperson said: 'We strongly oppose the expansion of military operations in Gaza and call on the Israeli Government to cease its offensive and immediately allow for unfettered access to humanitarian aid. 'The denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law. 'Last year, we suspended export licences to Israel for items used in military operations in Gaza and continue to refuse licences for military goods that could be used by Israel in the current conflict. 'We urge all parties to urgently agree a ceasefire agreement and work towards a permanent and sustainable peace.'
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Arsenal icon worried about Mikel Arteta's decision after £30m transfer deal
Arsenal hero Theo Walcott has admitted to being "worried" by Chelsea's move to sign Ipswich striker Liam Delap, who he has also tipped to be England's next great No. 9 Arsenal hero Theo Walcott has shared his concerns about the Gunners missing out on the signing of new Chelsea hotshot Liam Delap. The forward made waves in the Premier League with Ipswich last season, netting 12 goals despite the team's relegation after their first spell in the top tier since 2001/02. Delap, 22, had a tempting £30million release clause which Chelsea pounced on to boost their front line for the upcoming Champions League campaign. Manchester United also showed interest, but Delap preferred the Stamford Bridge outfit. The striker sealed a long-term six-year agreement amid the club's battle for firepower up front among existing forwards Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu. Amid persistent rumours connecting Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko to a switch to the Emirates this summer, Walcott frankly admitted that Chelsea's deal for Delap puts him on edge. Walcott, who became an analyst on Match Of The Day last summer, articulated his fears during an interview with The Athletic: "When people speculate, clubs look for a No. 9 and the fans get upset or confused saying, 'Why can't we find a No 9?' It's really hard to find them because everyone wants to be that really predictable player... those who like to come inside. "Strikers are selfish, they just want to score goals. But now, all of a sudden, the wingers are starting to get more selfish because they want to cut in and do their thing. They're not connecting like they once did. That's why Delap going to Chelsea worries me as an Arsenal fan." Walcott went on to explain how traditionally, wearing the number nine for Chelsea has been a Herculean task with stars like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Fernando Torres shouldering the burden, yet he tips Delap to succeed and even take over Harry Kane as England's frontman star. "I know they have been going for that No 9, that Didier Drogba type, it's that curse of the No 9. Delap can break that curse because he's a really good striker. He's the next one after Harry Kane for England." Having shared the pitch with legendary goal-scorers at Arsenal, Walcott feels disappointed that Arsenal didn't make a move for someone like Delap, seeing potential and grit in the young striker. "(It) disappoints me as an Arsenal fan if you don't go after someone like that," he added. "You can see it in him as well, you can see his fight. He doesn't care who he plays against." Delap kicked off his career in blue on a high note, coming on as a substitute during their 2-0 triumph over LAFC in the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup. Delap made an immediate impression, providing the cross that Enzo Fernandez converted to double Chelsea's advantage in the second half. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The top 12 TV shows that cause the most rows in Brits' homes
It is a row that is regularly played out in homes across the country – who gets control of the television remote. And it has emerged that the programmes most likely to cause a squabble are Match of the Day and Love Island. In a poll of 2,000 Britons, 17 per cent confessed to arguing over the football highlights show. Love Island was second on 13 per cent. Researchers found that 55 per cent regularly row over which TV show to watch. A total of 48 per cent said they often 'gave in' to their partner, but then went and watched their programme on their phone instead. Gina Allen, 33, of Watford, said: 'When Saturday comes round, I know that he [my boyfriend] will want to watch Match of the Day. 'I enjoy it too, but only if Spurs have won that day, which isn't often the case, so I prefer watching something on Netflix or Disney at that time of night.' She added: 'Now I have my own Saturday night shows that I watch without my boyfriend while he shouts and screams at the telly in the other room.' Saturday is the day when arguments are most likely to kick off, and 25 per cent of those polled confessed to hiding the remote control or taking the batteries out. One in ten also admitted telling their children that the TV 'stops working' at 5pm. A spokesman for Toshiba, which commissioned the survey, said: 'It's no wonder that 58 per cent of respondents say they own a second screen to reduce TV-related arguments.' Lawyer Henry Nelson-Case said: 'In the court of living-room justice, the battle for the remote is the ultimate trial by fire. 'I've seen less drama in actual courtrooms than when someone tries to switch off Match of the Day mid-match.'
