Gary Lineker gives reasons for being ‘silenced’ as BBC pundit steps aside for Alex Scott | Football | Sport
Gary Lineker made a light-hearted attempt to explain his absence from the BBC’s FA Cup coverage on Sunday after joking that he has been “silenced”, only this time by illness. The presenter made a cryptic reference to his four-day suspension after being taken off air by the broadcaster last week before making his return on Monday, before being forced to withdraw from his duties having lost his voice.
Lineker was due to front the BBC’s coverage of the FA Cup tie between Brighton and Hove Albion and League Two outfit Grimsby on Sunday.
But the British broadcaster revealed just hours before kick-off that the 61-year-old would be taken off air again, citing illness as the reason behind his absence.
Alex Scott was drafted in to replace Lineker to present their match coverage at the Amex Stadium and Lineker made a tongue-in-cheek remark aimed at the BBC after confirming why he would not be present for the game.
A statement from BBC Sport’s Twitter account read: “Due to illness, we’ve got a line-up change for today’s live FA Cup coverage of Brighton v Grimsby on BBC One.
“As viewers will have noticed yesterday, Gary Lineker was struggling with his voice and unfortunately it has deteriorated overnight. Alex Scott will be hosting instead.”
And Lineker, tweeting from his own personal account to his 8.9 million followers, said: “I’ve been silenced…. literally, by a nasty cold so, annoyingly, won’t be working at @OfficialBHAFC this afternoon.”
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