BBC star Jermaine Jenas has been sacked over allegations that he sent unwanted and inappropriate text messages to staff.
The 41-year-old, who presented The One Show and also appeared on Match of the Day, was sacked by the company this week. The BBC launched an investigation last month after receiving complaints about text messages sent by the presenter.
Today Jenas broke his silence on the allegations, saying he was “not happy” and that “there are two sides to every story”. However, reports say it soon emerged that other staff had also come forward after one woman complained about the unsolicited messages. The content of the message is unclear.
BBC staff have been shocked by the development. Director of sport Alex Kay-Gerski emailed staff at 3.39pm on Thursday to say only: “We wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas no longer works at the BBC. It felt like there was nothing to mess around with.”
Staff at The One Show were left in the dark until Thursday morning, when rumours emerged that he had been sacked. A source said: “There was suddenly a frenzy on staff WhatsApps about what was going on. There were rumours something was going on but bosses kept the investigation secret.”
BBC bosses were determined to act decisively and swiftly. The source added: “Things are very sensitive at the BBC at the moment because of all the scandals that have hit the organisation recently. If there was any allegation of misconduct in the workplace they had to take strong action.”
Mr Jenas, who has three children with wife Ellie Penfold and a fourth on the way from a previous relationship, earned money from the BBC for his work. Between £190,000 and £194,999 for the FA Cup, Match of the Day and World Championship.
In May he was named Women’s Football Ally of the Year. At the time he said: “I’ve always supported women’s football. I have three daughters myself. My mum raised me.” Jenas is also employed by TNT Sports, a group of pay-TV sports channels.” They told the BBC they would not comment.
He last appeared on BBC TV at the beginning of the summer. A BBC spokesman said: “We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting team.” Jenas broke his silence, emphasizing that “there are two sides to the story.”
In a statement provided to The Sun by a spokesman, he said: “I can say I’m not satisfied — there are two sides to the story — and I will be speaking to my lawyers about this issue.”
Jenas has been fired by his agent MC Saatchi and his page is no longer viewable on the company’s website. Jenas was seen as a leading candidate to replace Gary Lineker as main presenter of Match of the Day and made it clear last year that he was eyeing the role. “Of course I’ll be there… it’s Match of the Day and it would be a great opportunity,” he said at the time.
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead but it was my first time presenting Match of the Day 2. “I loved it, it was comfortable, it was normal, and I loved doing The One Show.” Jenas’ playing career ended in 2014 when he suffered a serious knee injury while playing for his final club, QPR. He played for Tottenham for eight years until 2013, making 155 appearances, and also played for Nottingham Forest and Newcastle.
He won 21 caps for England from 2003 to 2009. His official retirement came in 2016, finally admitting defeat in his attempt to overcome. Despite the injuries, by this time he had already begun to move into a media career
He began his career with ITV Sport and BT Sport, and also moved into the reality TV and documentary industries before starting his career with the BBC. He is a permanent presenter of The One Show in 2021. Jermaine previously revealed that his time on The One Show had affected his marriage.
He married his wife, model Ellie, in 2011 and the couple have three children. After Jenas retired from football, he moved on to a “glamorous” TV job, which Ellie struggled with. Ellie stayed at home raising the kids, while Jenas interviewed A-listers and attended events. The presenter admitted to dating other people after filming of the show had finished, which led to arguments at home.
The couple faced the problem head on and took holidays separately until their relationship got back on track. “I think up until about five years ago it was pretty stressful for both of us,” Jenas told the Daily Mail. “There was a lot of competition in our relationship and a lot of, ‘You can do this,’ ‘You can’t do that.'”
He added, “It had a lot to do with the kids and the fact that, ‘I was starting this new career, traveling, meeting new people, going to shows… it was all glamorous, but for my wife it was like diapers and milk… I’m a very practical dad and I’m always trying to help, but she still found this fulfillment in her life. “It wasn’t my own life.”
Jenas said he had to address the issue, telling Ellie to “give me three days away, once or twice a year”, adding that the secret to their marriage now is communicating “before a crisis occurs”. The former footballer said: “We’ve been together for 15 years and there’s nothing we don’t talk about, no matter how frustrating it is.
We have these conversations and it just happened over time, because we got tired of arguing, actually.” He admitted that his social life is now “calmer” as sometimes he wouldn’t get home until 11pm while Ellie took the kids to school the next day. Jenas and Ellie have two daughters, Geneva and Olivia, and a young son, Jacob.