Jermaine Jenas has revealed how he broke the news of his text message scandal to his wife of 13 years.
He admitted sending inappropriate texts to women at the BBC and says he has ‘let myself down’ as it emerged his marriage is on the rocks as a result.
His wife Ellie hasn’t spoken to him ‘properly’ since learning of the scandal and she is ‘absolutely raging’ – kicking him out of their bedroom in their £1million Hertfordshire home and he doesn’t know if she’ll forgive him.
He came clean to her about being fired after she believed he would be returning to The One Show.
He told The Sun about the moment he decided to fess up to Ellie, telling her ‘I’ve been sacked by the BBC’.
She asked ‘what for’ and he replied: ‘For sending text messages that weren’t appropriate to two girls’.
Jenas insists 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 defiant star said he is ‘ashamed’ and ‘deeply sorry’ – admitting to ‘frantically’ sexting a woman for 24 hours after she gave him her number at a work event
The One Show host, pictured at Wimbledon this year with wife Ellie Penfold
Jermaine Jenas admitted sending inappropriate texts to women at the BBC and says he has ‘let myself down’ as he revealed his marriage is on the rocks. Pictured with his wife Ellie
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
In a bombshell confession, the defiant star said he is ‘ashamed’ and ‘deeply sorry’ – admitting to ‘frantically’ sexting a woman for 24 hours after she gave him her number at a work event.
But he told The Sun he isn’t a ‘sex pest’ and he has to defend himself. However he went on to say he lied to his wife after being informed of the allegations to ‘find a way out of this mess’.
The scandal-ridden broadcasting corporation fired Jenas in an excruciating video call – while he was on a family holiday in Marbella, Spain, with his wife and their three children.
Jenas, 41, slammed this as ‘grim’, having to ‘sit there and listen to what you’ve said’ as four people on the Zoom call read out his inappropriate text messages.
Jenas, who has been married to Ellie for 13 years and has four children, said he is considering suing the BBC for their handling of the situation.
He told The Sun that he is ‘so, so sorry’ and owes ‘everyone’ an apology because he let down himself, his friends, family and colleagues.
The married star said he ‘self-sabotages’ and has a ‘self-destructive streak’ but is getting therapy.
He confessed that he believes what he did was cheating on his wife but nothing physical happened.
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 former footie player said he was in ‘shock’ and panicked about losing his family – even saying he thought his dog looked at him in a disappointed way after he fessed up.
‘We’re human beings and we all make mistakes, some bigger than others and mine is a big mistake,’ he said, admitting that his anxiety ‘spiralled’.
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.’