Football legend and armchair political pundit Gary Lineker has turned down the chance of presenting Good Morning Britain because he's not an early riser.
The Match of the Day star was approached to replace Piers Morgan as the show's new permanent presenter alongside former BBC Breakfast host Susana Reid. Lineker, who boasts 8.4million Twitter followers and regularly shares his political views on social media, was seen as the ideal man to replace the controversial Morgan, reports The Mirror.
Piers left ITV after storming off set during a row over Megan Markle. He now presents an evening programme on startup channel TalkTV. Despite the lucrative pay and popular breakfast television slot, Lineker said the job was not for him.
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“He turned it down straight away saying he’d never be able to handle the pre-dawn starts,” one insider revealed. “He said he doesn’t get going until at least 9am so there is no way he’d be firing on all cylinders before breakfast. He said it’s just not for him.”
News the dad-of-four was approached for the role comes after he was asked whether he’d fancy hosting a breakfast show last year. Speaking in September, he told a journalist: “I don’t function before nine o’clock, I had to have three coffees just to speak to you. No, no, no thank you.”
The quest to find a permanent host for GMB has proved trickier than expected. Since Morgan’s abrupt departure last spring, Good Morning Britain has had a series of stand-in hosts who have included Richard Madeley, Adil Ray, Martin Lewis, Alastair Campbell and Ed Balls.
Amol Rajan, one of the presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme, also turned down the role, opting to stay at the BBC.
Last year Lineker quit his big-money job on BT Sport after six years. He said he wanted to spend his time doing other things, explaining at the time: “I would like to thank BT Sport for the generous renewal offer but,
after much thought, I have decided to call it a day. I feel it’s time to do things that I’ve always promised myself I’d do: such as follow Leicester across Europe with my sons (how many opportunities will we have?)”
Lineker’s agent did not respond to a request for comment.
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