Jermaine Jenas hits back after tense GMB clash with Kate Garraway and claims interviewers had a ‘thirst for blood’
JERMAINE Jenas has accused one Good Morning Britain presenter of having a “thirst for blood” after he clashed with the hosts yesterday.
The former England ace, 43, had a tense exchange with Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh over the sexting scandal that saw him fired from the BBC.
During the interview, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder admitted he “lost everything” after being axed from Match of the Day and The One Show over “inappropriate texts”
He was fired by the Beeb in August 2024 after a probe was launched into allegations made by a female member of staff on The One Show.
She had claimed she received unsolicited communications over text, prompting other women to come forward about his workplace conduct.
During the show, things got heated as Jenas was quizzed by Kate and Ranvir over his “responsibility” and if he had any regrets over his behaviour.
The former One Show host was pressed on the topic by Ranvir, who accused him of “skirting round the question”.
He took to Instagram yesterday to give his thoughts on the interview in which he said one presented tried to “twist the knife”.
He said: “How do I feel after my interview on Good Morning Britain?
“First and foremost, I’m glad I did it, I really am, because I think any time you’re presented with these big tests in your life, I think standing up to them is important.
“No matter what side of it you land, you just feel better that you stood up to the challenge. So I’m happy that I did that.
“There’s obviously a level of disappointment as well, just purely and simply with the direction that the interview was taken. It felt like they had an agenda. It felt like there was a thirst for blood from one presenter in particular.
“It just, if I’m honest, felt unnecessary to me and it leant itself to what I said in my last post, it’s the reason I had fears going into it and why I questioned, do I need this in my life?
“They invited me on. I didn’t ask to go on the show. They invited me on because they saw my post about these transitions in your life and rebuilding your life.
“But still, no matter how many conversations I had with producers about, ‘okay, we can touch on this, but we want to move forward and look at what’s next,’ it just felt like a trap. It just felt like one individual had an agenda and she was going to twist the knife because she wanted to.
“I can handle that, it’s totally fine, it is what it is. I just wanted to show you lot [that] this is part of my journey, it’s the journey that I’m on, and it is a warts-and-all documentation of what’s going off in this transitional period in my life.
“I think it’s very important that you all see what the media is like and if I’m honest, that side of it, I don’t miss at all.”
Months after Jermaine left the BBC, his split from his wife Ellie Penfold – who he has three children together with – after 16 years together.
And speaking on GMB yesterday morning, Jenas said it had been a “tough” two years, adding that “everything was taken away from me”.
He said: “I think that I reached a point recently where there was a lot of uncertainty in my life and fear. It’s been a tough two years.
“I feel like I need to start speaking. I’ve lost everything, my job, my family, everything has been taken away from me. I have faced the punishment.
“I was thinking about my wife Ellie and what I put her through. It continues to be hard for my family.”
Ranvir then asked Jermaine what his advice to other men would be and said he was skirting round the question.
She said: “What is your advice to other men then? I find this really interesting because you’re skirting around what you’ve learnt.
Jenas snapped back at the GMB host, saying: “I’m not skirting around anything, Ranvir.
He later accused Kate of asking an “unfair question” when she quizzed him on what he had learnt from his sacking.
The football pundit said there were things happening outside of his work which impacted his behaviour and that people “make mistakes”.
Jermaine said: “You two can’t sit in front of me and tell me you’ve never made a mistake in your lives. We all make mistakes.”
