Gary Lineker has been trending after the BBC decided to force him to "step back" after he criticised the Government's new Illegal Migration Bill, bringing the Match of the Day host firmly into the spotlight.
He questioned the use of language towards refugees on Twitter and his post was met with a backlash, and the BBC's controversial decision led to several of Lineker's colleagues boycotting the broadcaster in solidarity.
Saturday night's Match of the Day lasted for just 20 minutes, with no analysis, punditry or commentary, and tensions are still simmering away today.
But who are the people behind the sports pundit? Here we take a look at his home life, including his four sons, his girlfriend, and his 'unusual' relationship with his ex-wife.
What do you think about the Lineker drama? Let us know in the comments...
His love life
Gary Lineker, 62, lives in London - where his ex-wife, Michelle Cockayne is also thought to reside.
They married in 1986 and remained together for 20 years but eventually, Michelle left Gary citing "unreasonable behaviour", saying he had caused her "stress and anxiety" during their relationship.
In 2007, he began dating Danielle Bux and they later married in Italy, despite a 20 year age gap between them.
Unfortunately, their marriage paled in comparison and only lasted for seven years, with the pair divorcing in 2016.
It was reported at the time that they broke up due to different opinions on starting a family.
Speaking in 2019, Gary explained: "Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time. When she comes to London she stays with me, and when I go to LA I see her."
The pair reunited for a festive knees up - six years after they split.
Taking to Instagram, the mother-of-two shared a snap of her ex-husband alongside her eldest daughter, Ella, who she had in a previous relationship with Adam Willis.
Captioning the photo "Our annual Christmas dinner", the pair were seen beaming wrapping up warm in long coats.
"Always a delight," added Gary as he posted the pic to his 1.1 million followers.
The sports presenter previously explained how he continues to keep in touch with his ex-wife and Danielle's current husband never gets 'jealous' of their relationship.
"He's not got a jealous bone in his body," Gary said to the Radio Times. "We get on really well. We go out for dinner when I'm in LA.
"It might be unusual and people might go, 'that's weird' but, frankly, I don't care. What is normal?
"Is it better to get divorced and end up fighting, screaming and shouting? Or is it better to get on if you can?"
Since their split, Danielle went on to marry Nate Greenwald in 2019, an American entertainment lawyer, whom she went on to welcome now four-year-old daughter, Romy, with.
Then Gary was rumoured to be dating chef Gizzi Erskine after the pair were spotted at All Points East festival.
The duo entered the backstage Ray-Ban area together but Gizzi made sure they were pictured solo.
When the cameras stopped clicking they couldn't seem to get enough of each other.
Speaking at the time, a source said: "Gary was there with his mates but seemed to only have eyes for Gizzi."
But it is now believed the pair are just friends.
How he broke the BBC news to his children
Gary has four sons named Harry, Tobias, Angus, and George, who were in touch with him as the story unfolded in the past few days.
The Sunday Mirror reported exclusively how George shared that his dad initially put on a brave face to his sons after he was axed from the show - sending them a thumbs-up emoji. But he later broke down when he learned that Alan and Ian had all refused to step in, going on strike in support of him.
George continued when explaining how the brothers had reached out to their dad after the news: "After it all kicked off, me and my brothers messaged him saying: 'We're proud of you' and he replied: 'Cheers boys' with a thumbs up emoji.
"Later he told us that he'd been so overwhelmed by the support. He wrote: 'Shearer and Wrighty backing down made me emotional, it means a lot to me.'
"I think he did cry when he found out about that. The support has been a positive thing to come out of this. I've been messaging him today, just saying: 'How are you doing Dad, how are you holding up?' And he replied: 'All good.'"
His son's health scare
Gary has spoken openly about his family, and even opened up on his son George's battle with leukaemia - with the former England star revealing that he was haunted by a horrible recurring dream of him "carrying a tiny little white coffin" during his son's ordeal.
George had a course of chemotherapy during a seven-month stay in hospital after he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at just eight-weeks old.
And Lineker has opened up on how the harrowing ordeal affected him as both a father and a footballer. Lineker - who starred for the likes of Barcelona, Tottenham and Everton during his storied career - was still playing professionally when he first took George to hospital.
Speaking to The Athletic's 'The Moment' podcast, Lineker recalled: "It was the middle of November '91 when we first noticed that he had some kind of issue. It was like a little spot or bump on his forehead.
"So we thought we'd take him to get checked and the doctors thought it was a skin condition. I can't remember what they said it was, but they thought they would take a little biopsy just in case. So they did that and then they said, we'll have another check in just under two weeks time.
"And in the interim period, he had more of these spots appear all over his head so he looked like a golf ball. We went back for the check and they said it was this skin condition
"But in the days before that he started to get very unwell. He was groaning and had these little swellings over his body. They took a look and I'll never, ever forget it. They took his nappy off, and they just looked at each other and went, 'Oh,I'm really sorry to tell you, this is something far more serious'. They said they needed to do more tests but that it looked like leukaemia."
After George was diagnosed, Lineker revealed that he was given a slim chance of survival, with children his age only given a 10-20 per cent survival rate. And Lineker has opened up on how he wanted to battle the disease himself rather than watching his son go through the ordeal.
George has gone from strength to strength in life, and a tech company he founded was valued at £5.5 million after completing its latest funding round.
The start-up, YourBusinessNumber, provided customers with a virtual phone number they can use to keep in touch with clients through WhatsApp Business.
It secured £400,000 - and Gary was among the investors.
The firm raised £795,000 in total in the first year of business, and George Lineker said: "I didn't originally want him to invest, because of the backlash you get from it.
"When we launched we went down the sole trader route, working with London-based personal trainers, hair and beauty, traders and electricians who have a lot of clients on one phone and want to separate their work chats from their personal chats. But we've since got a bit of traction from estate agents, accountancies and recruitment firms."
The BBC has confirmed that Gary Lineker is set to return following intense backlash over its handling of his tweet about the government's immigration policy.
In a statement on Monday morning, BBC Director General Tim Davie issued an apology to viewers for the row over the weekend and admitted that there was "potential confusion" over the "grey areas of the BBC's social media guidance".
He went on to announce that an independent review would be conducted into the BBC's social media guidance. It was also confirmed that Gary would be returning to host Match Of The Day this weekend after he was told to stand down from presenting on Saturday.
It comes after 210,000 Mirror readers signed our petition to have him reinstated on the BBC show.
After the news broke, Gary took to Twitter to comment. He said: "After a surreal few days, I'm delighted that we have navigated a way through this.
"I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming.
"I have been presenting sport on the BBC for almost three decades and am immeasurably proud to work with the best and fairest broadcaster in the world. I cannot wait to get back in the MOTD chair on Saturday
"A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn't compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. It's heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you.
"We remain a country of predominantly tolerant, welcoming and generous people. Thank you."
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