Jermaine Jenas has revealed that his 13-year marriage is on the rocks and his wife is not speaking to him after she kicked him out of the bedroom on the back of his sexting scandal.
In a bombshell mea culpa tonight, the former Premier League footballer said he was ‘ashamed’ and ‘deeply sorry’ after sending inappropriate messages to two female BBC colleagues.
Jenas, who shares three children with his wife Ellie Penfold and was pictured wearing his wedding ring today, has been kicked out of the couple’s bedroom at their £1million home in Hertfordshire.
The 41-year-old, who also has another teenage daughter from a previous relationship, has confessed to lying to his wife during a family holiday in which he snuck off to have a Zoom call with BBC bosses over his inappropriate messages.
Jenas, who worked as a pundit on Match of The Day and co-hosted The One Show before his BBC contract was terminated, insisted ‘nothing physical ever happened’ but has confessed to ‘cheating’ on his wife in an interview with The Sun.
Addressing his marriage, he told the newspaper: ‘We’ve not really spoken properly since. She’s absolutely raging.’
Jermaine Jenas has revealed that his 13-year marriage is on the rocks and his wife is not speaking to him after she kicked him out of the bedroom
The One Show host, pictured at Wimbledon this year with wife Ellie Penfold
Jermaine Jenas was pictured wearing his wedding ring hours before the interview was published
Jenas fears his wife may never forgive him but is focusing on the care of their two daughters and young son.
The ex-Newcastle and Tottenham star said his children have even been asking ‘What’s going on, Daddy?’
Jenas says he has apologised to all of his family and that his wife now needs time to process what has happened.
In the lengthy interview, the presenter revealed how the couple had previously got into explosive rows and had even gone to therapy as he was living a glitzy lifestyle while she was not getting her own fulfilment.
Jermaine and Ellie had been holidaying in Marbella, Spain, with their children when the BBC contacted him.
He then came clean to his wife that he had been fired because she was expecting him to go to work on The One Show on Monday.
‘I just said, ‘I’ve been sacked from the BBC’. She said, ‘What for?’, and I said, ‘For sending text messages that weren’t appropriate to two girls’.’
Jenas admitted he has been referred to therapy but fears his two eldest daughters – aged 11 and 16 – may fall victim to bullying.
He said he had let everyone down, including his dog who looked at him ‘disappointed’.
Jeans was let go by the corporation after women complained about his workplace conduct and a junior member of staff – said to have been previously impressed by the BBC star – raised concerns over alleged flirty texts.
The corporation acted ‘swiftly and decisively’ because ‘the BBC cannot be seen to be slow to take action’, a source claimed.
Jermaine Jenas was ‘completely over the line’ and ‘doesn’t have a leg to stand on’ over the ‘flirty texts’ that led to him sacked from the BBC, an insider has claimed
Jenas is pictured arriving for the 2024 Shein Women’s Football Awards at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London
He has now been airbrushed out after being sacked from the BBC for allegedly sending inappropriate messages
But some criticised the broadcaster for sacking Jenas, suggesting it was worried about its reputation in light of the recent scandals.
Jenas said he is considering suing the BBC for their handling of the situation.
The married star insisted he did nothing illegal and the messages were between consenting adults, one of whom he said made clear she was interested. He denied ever sending indecent images or videos.
The BBC sacked Jenas on Monday, five days after the initial HR process began, he revealed. Other staff were only informed after the media reported on the story, and this ‘says everything’ you need to know about how the organisation handled it.
The Mirror reported one BBC insider close to the internal investigation claimed it spoke volumes that Jenas was dropped by his agents, M&C Saatchi Merlin.
Jermaine Jenas, 41, pictured with his wife Ellie Penfold
The former England international has told his wife of 13 years, Ellie Penfold, about the claims
The couple tied the knot in 2011 and live in a house in Hertfordshire (pictured above)
Jenas’ ex-model wife Ellie Penfold (pictured) is standing by the axed BBC star as ‘multiple women’ come forward to make fresh claims about his alleged ‘inappropriate behaviour’
The former footballer also appears to have been airbrushed from the website of talent agency M&C Saatchi Merlin. This is how his bio page previously appeared
‘This is not just a flirty text which might get you a b*****g, he was completely over the line and we have absolute evidence of that. He really doesn’t have a leg to stand on,’ the newspaper reported.
‘The matter was raised very recently. We looked at it, we talked about it – and we said goodbye.
‘It’s a clear abuse of power and there’s no room here for anything of that nature.’
The scandal comes just weeks after he was named Ally of the Year at the Women’s Football Awards.
It follows bosses at TalkSPORT and TNT Sports taking the allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ very seriously and have launched their own investigation.
The radio station says he will no longer appear on the show in the ‘immediate future’ after finding out about the presenter’s BBC sacking just moments before he went live on air yesterday afternoon.
The football pundit was fired by the BBC this week over ‘alleged issues relating to workplace behaviour’, which the broadcaster confirmed involved ‘digital communications such as texts, which were raised with the corporation a few weeks ago’.
Other women have since come forward as messages allegedly sent by Jenas are being investigated.
A source told The Sun that a lot of ‘Chinese whispers’ are circulating and the scandal was shrouded in secrecy, with not ‘even top talent like Alex Jones, Alan Shearer or Gary Lineker’ knowing about it.
Jenas pictured on his last episode of the One Show in July 22 of this year alongside Alex Jones
In his final appearance on the One Show in July (pictured), he interviewed former popstar Will Young (who is pictured far left)
Jermaine Jenas (left) pictured for the L’Oreal Wing Men campaign with Jamie Redknapp and Peter Crouch
TalkSPORT found out about Jermaine Jenas’ sacking just moments before he went live on air yesterday and say there are no plans for him to appear in the ‘immediate future’
Staff are said to be ‘rocked’ and ‘shocked’ by the revelation but the corporation acted ‘swiftly and decisively’ because ‘the BBC cannot be seen to be slow to take action.’
The source claimed the first complaint came after Jenas allegedly ‘flirtily messaged a female member of staff on The One Show’ and she raised misgivings formally.
Jenas’s sacking was spearheaded by new director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski.
The corporation said: ‘It followed allegations involving digital communications such as texts, which were raised with the corporation a few weeks ago.’
Sources at the BBC say Jenas will no longer host its evening show with immediate effect. He also appears to have been removed from agency MC Saatchi’s website.
One told the Mail: ‘It all came as a massive shock but his colleagues have now been told the news and he won’t be back. His colleagues are stunned, they didn’t see it coming at all. They were kept in the dark to start with. They couldn’t believe it when they found out.’
The ex-Premier League player began co-presenting a talkSPORT drive-time show moments after it was announced he had been removed from all BBC presenting line-ups.
TalkSPORT said: ‘There are no plans for Jermaine to broadcast as a presenter on talkSPORT in the immediate future.’
Jenas did not address news about his sacking during the live broadcast on Thursday evening and left the News UK building after the radio show in a car.
Jenas, who played for Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest, told talkSPORT News in a brief interview: ‘Look, I can’t really talk about it.
‘I, as you can probably see, I am not happy about it.
‘But currently, as it stands, I’m going to have to let the lawyers deal with it.
‘You know, there’s two sides to every story, as we know. So, that’s all I can say right now.’