Jermaine Jenas is considering suing the BBC after he was axed for sending inappropriate texts to female colleagues, according to reports.
Jenas, 41, has been dropped by The One Show and Match of the Day with immediate effect after it emerged hehad allegedly sent "suggestive" messages to junior staff on The One Show.
BBC bosses are said to be confident they have "absolute evidence" the ex-footballer will struggle to refute.
Those who have seen the content of the messages, believed to have been sent by the former footballer to at least one runner via WhatsApp, said they were "horrified".
Jenas has reportedly instructed lawyers who are looking at taking action against the BBC, according to MailOnline.
It comes after he apologised for letting down his “family, friends and colleagues” in an interview with The Sun newspaper.
“I am ashamed, and I am deeply sorry,” he said.
“I have let myself down, my family, friends and colleagues down, and I owe everyone an apology – especiallythe women with whom I was messaging. I am so, so sorry.
“I am sorry for what I have put them through. I think it would be fair to say I have a problem.
“I know I self-sabotage and have a self-destructive streak when it comes to my relationship especially, andI know I need help. And I am getting help.
“I have made a lot of mistakes, and I am asking myself a lot of questions at the moment. I know there’s a lotof work that needs to be done, and it will be hard.”
Jenas said he fell below the standard of responsibility that “needs to be upheld whenyou’re a member of the BBC”, but insisted there was no criminality involved.
“I did nothing illegal – these were inappropriate messages between two consenting adults,” he said.
It comes after a BBC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting line-up.”
Jenas told The Sun: “I’m not proud of what I wrote and what I said. And I do consider it cheating, yes, although nothing physical ever happened.
“This is all on me and I fully accept there is a level of responsibility that needs to be upheld when you’re amember of the BBC. And I fell below those standards. I must take the responsibility.”
Jenas said he felt as though he is “the number one target right now in the country” after allegations began to swirl around his sacking on Thursday.
He told the newspaper: “These were two consenting adults I was speaking to. With one she made it clear shewas interested.
“I don’t want to start going down the ‘who pursued who’ road, but when people are saying things that arewrong and false information is being spread, I do have to kind of defend my space.
“In that particular instance, there was an adult conversation that took place in a bar in London where thatperson made it very clear that they had an attraction to me. Yes there was alcohol involved but I take full responsibility.
“I feel people don’t know the truth and are forming opinions about me that aren’t accurate. I wasn’t goingthrough some kind of BBC vault trying to get women’s numbers.
“I’m obviously going to say I’m not a sex pest. These were consenting adults I was texting.”
Jenas has been married to model Ellie Penfold for 13 years.
He said he was sacked by the BBC on Monday, five days after a HR consultation process began where he wasshown a string of messages he is said to have sent to two colleagues on The One Show.
Jenas, who played for Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest, said he was “speaking to his lawyers” after being axed by the corporation.
According to official figures published last year, Jenas earned £190,000 to £194,999 for his work on the FA Cup, Match Of The Day and the World Cup at the BBC.
His salary for working on The One Show was not in the public domain, as it is produced by BBC Studios.
