Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have hinted Gary Lineker could be set for a move to ITV.
It comes after the former footballer, 63, announced he would be leaving his huge role on the BBC 's Match of the Day after 25 years. Gary's time at the BBC won't come to an end just yet as both parties agreed in principle to him presenting coverage of the next World Cup in 2026.
Attention has also turned to who will replace Gary with Match of the Day 2 favourite Mark Chapman, stalwart sports presenter Gabby Logan and Football Focus star Alex Scott in the running. Meanwhile, many are wondering what Gary will get up to next. Presenters Ant and Dec have weighed in on Gary's future jobs as they called for him to join them on ITV.
The presenting duo issued a plea for Gary to sign up to their show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! next year. In an Instagram live video, Ant told viewers: "We've got to go now, oh no wait, there's one more suggestion it says, 'Get Gary Lineker in [the Jungle] for next year'."
In response Ant said: "Now that's a good idea. Great suggestion, now that he's left match of the day, let's get him in." Gary is the longest serving MOTD host in history after succeeding the iconic Des Lynam back in 1999. He had started as a BBC Radio 5 Live presenter and also worked on Saturday afternoon show Grandstand.
In March last year, the sports star was briefly suspended from the programme after his tweet about the government's asylum policy sparked a row over BBC presenters expressing political views on social media. Alex Kay-Jelski, the BBC's new director of sport, said in a statement: "Gary is a world-class presenter, and we're delighted that he'll lead our coverage of the next World Cup and continue to lead our live coverage of the FA Cup.
"After 25 seasons Gary is stepping down from MOTD. We want to thank him for everything he has done for the show, which continues to attract millions of viewers each week. He'll be hugely missed on the show but we're so happy he is staying with the BBC to present live football."
BBC presenter Manish Bhasin has become the latest to respond to suggestions he should succeed Gary as the presenter of Match of the Day. He is currently working for Premier League Productions and Amazon on Premier League football, so could be a candidate for the Match of the Day job.
Manish sat in on Match of the Day 2 in the past and has developed a rapport with current Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, who left last season. However, it doesn’t seem as though the presenter thinks he’s in with a shot. Replying to a tweet which said “Your time has finally come”, Bhasin wrote: “I wish! Thanks for the kind comments though.”
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