Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Chris Flanagan

‘As I was delivering the first line in my pants, all I could see in my peripheral vision was four shoulders going up and down, of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright giggling’ Gary Lineker tells FFT about the night he hosted Match of the Day in his underwear

Gary Lineker.

Gary Lineker has hosted Match of the Day for 26 years, and one show may be remembered more than most.

Lineker will step down as the programme’s presenter at the end of the season, having sparked much amusement on one particular episode in 2016.

Back then, Lineker vowed that he would present Match of the Day in his pants if Leicester City won the Premier League, so small did he believe their chances were of actually succeeding.

A show to remember

Gary Lineker (Image credit: BBC)

Leicester were given a 5,000/1 shot by some bookmakers of winning the league at the start of that campaign, having narrowly avoided relegation during the previous season.

Lineker is a lifelong Leicester fan, having grown up supporting the club before starting his playing career at Filbert Street, and still wasn’t convinced that they would continue their strong start to the 2015-16 season and go on to lift the trophy.

Leicester City with the Premier League trophy (Image credit: Getty Images)

Remarkably though, that’s exactly what Claudio Ranieri’s men did, making them arguably the most surprising champions in English football history.

That meant Lineker had to do what he’d promised – on the opening day of the next season, he did indeed present Match of the Day in his underwear.

Asked for a standout moment of his 26 years as Match of the Day host, during an exclusive interview with FourFourTwo, one show inevitably sprung to mind for Lineker.

“Yeah, the one in the pants – thankfully it didn’t stand out!” he quips mischievously.

Lineker spent the early part of his career at Leicester (Image credit: Alamy)

“That was the most surreal thing I’ve done on Match of the Day because they said, ‘Right, we’ll do the opening of the show stood up’. That doesn’t normally happen, but it would have looked odd opening that show at the desk.

“As I was delivering the first line, I was trying to keep a straight face and do it normally, but all I could see in my peripheral vision was four shoulders going up and down, of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright giggling. It was a laugh, I don’t regret promising to do it. It was fun.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.