Defiant Jermaine Jenas blasts BBC’s ‘stunning’ dealing with of his sacking
Jermaine Jenas has defiantly blasted the BBC for its handling of his dismissal after the father-of-four was found to have sent inappropriate messages to two female staff.
The former One Show host, 41, says the ‘process’ by how he was axed from the programme was ‘shocking’ and has threatened the Corporation with legal action.
The BBC has come under scrutiny for its handling of disciplinary matters in the wake of scandals involving Huw Edwards and Strictly Come Dancing.
The Mail on Sunday revealed that BBC chiefs secretly complied a dossier of damning evidence against Jenas before confronting the star and dismissing him via a video call while he was on a family holiday.
Speaking to the Sun, the ex-footballer described his sacking by the broadcaster as ‘quick – and hell’.
Jermaine Jenas has hit out at the BBC for its ‘shocking’ handling of his dismissal process
The former One Show host said his sacking from the programme was ‘quick – and hell’
Jenas was presenting his talkSPORT show as it was announced he had been axed by the BBC
The BBC was comparably slow to dismiss Huw Edwards after he was arrested for having indecent images of children
He said that there was ‘no game plan’ for announcing his dismissal, and also claimed that HR executives had blocked him from directly apologising to the two women because of ‘the legal process’.
Jenas added: ‘I really want to apologise from the bottom of my heart in terms of what I’ve put them through.’
The BBC’s swift removal of Jenas contrasts with its handling of its star news anchor Edwards, 62 – who continued to collect his annual salary of over £475,000 after he had been arrested for having indecent images of children.
He is estimated to have received over £200,000 pre-tax since bosses knew of his allegations.
BBC chiefs were also blamed for being too slow to act on bullying allegations surrounding professional dancers and contestants on Strictly.
Jenas’ scandal has left his relationship with wife-of-13-years Ellie Penfold, who he says is ‘raging’ and has kicked him out the bedroom
The former England international has told his wife of 13 years, Ellie Penfold, about the claims
Jenas’ latest comments come as the BBC was accused of showing signs of ‘corporate paranoia’ stemming from ‘post-Huw Edwards PTSD’ by PR guru Mark Borkowski.
He told MailOnline: ‘They’ve been criticised for taking too long to fix things, now they’re moving at the speed of light.’
Within hours of him being sacked, Jenas was removed from The One Show’s Facebook cover photo, while a Match of the Day mural which featured him was removed from the BBC’s Quay House home in Salford.
The former footballer was also swiftly airbrushed from the website of talent agency M&C Saatchi Merlin, with his bio page now coming up with a ‘not found’ message.
The scandal has also put Jenas’ 13-year-old marriage to Ellie Penfold on the rocks, with the two said to not be speaking since the revelations emerged.
Jenas has admitted that Penfold is ‘raging’ and had kicked him out of the bedroom.
A favourite to replace Gary Lineker as host of Match of the Day, Jenas admitted to sending the messages to BBC colleagues, but denied he had done ‘anything illegal’.
BBC Sport presenters Jermaine Jenas has been fired following allegations of inappropriate behaviour
BBC Sport colleagues were informed of Jenas’ dismissal via a short email from the Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski (pictured)
The former One Show host denied being a ‘sex pest’, while admitting that he had made ‘a lot of mistakes’ and was asking himself ‘a lot of hard questions at the moment’.
He said he had let everyone down, including his dog who looked at him ‘disappointed.’
His BBC colleagues were informed of the news via a short email from Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski.
It simply read: ‘Hello all. I wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas is no longer working for the BBC.’
The ex-footballer is also being investigated by TNT Sports and talkSPORT. He was on air with the latter channel as it was announced that he had been dropped by the BBC.
