More women have reportedly come forward with allegations against the TV presenter Jermaine Jenas, who was sacked by the BBC from Match of the Day and The One Show over complaints about his workplace conduct.
Jenas, 41, is understood to be “speaking to lawyers” after his BBC contract was terminated over allegations he sent unsolicited messages to a female colleague on The One Show.
The Sun, which broke the story, reported that other women have come forward amid an investigation into messages allegedly sent by the married father of four. The BBC declined to comment.
The former England international has been taken off air from both prime-time shows.
He has said that there are “two sides to every story”, adding that he is “not happy” and will be taking legal advice.
Jenas, who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, was sacked by the corporation after complaints about workplace conduct. The BBC reported that his contract was terminated this week because of alleged issues relating to workplace behaviour. The allegations involved digital communications including texts, which were raised with the corporation a few weeks ago, the BBC reported.
He was co-presenting a TalkSport drive-time show as it was announced he had been removed from all BBC presenting lineups on Thursday afternoon.
TalkSport said later there were no plans for Jenas to broadcast as a presenter “in the immediate future”.
The BBC chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, said she was aware of the situation but could give “no more information” when she was approached by the PA Media news agency after she spoke on a BBC panel at the Edinburgh TV festival.
A BBC spokesperson said on Thursday: “We can confirm Jermaine Jenas is no longer part of our presenting lineup.”
He was last on air for the corporation earlier in the summer.
In an interview with TalkSport radio on Thursday, Jenas repeatedly said, “I can’t really talk about it,” when asked about the claims being made. “I, as you can probably see, I am not happy about it,” he told the station.
“I’ve just got to leave this to a team of lawyers at the minute who are, yeah, I suppose just managing the situation,” he said.
Jenas earned between £190,000 and £194,999 last year at the BBC for his work on Match of the Day and coverage of the FA Cup and the World Cup. He was widely regarded as a natural successor to replace Gary Lineker as host of Match of the Day, but was noticeably absent from Saturday’s first episode of the new season.
His salary for his work on The One Show has not been made public because it is made by BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial production company, which does not reveal how much it pays presenters.
Jenas is also employed by TNT Sports, a group of paid-for television sports channels.
Staff were informed of his departure from the BBC in an email from the BBC’s director of sport, Alex Kay-Jelski, on Thursday afternoon, which said: “Hello all, I wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas is no longer working with the BBC. Thanks, Alex.”
