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Jermaine Jenas returns to punditry at Arsenal's clash with Liverpool

Jermaine Jenas made his return to punditry at Arsenal's showdown with Liverpool.

Mail Sport filmed the former Tottenham and England star working on the touchline for an overseas broadcaster ahead of the match. 

It marks his first foray into punditry since he wasabruptly sacked in Augustby the BBC from his £190,000 job for sending 'inappropriate messages' to two female colleagues.

He later admitted left him feeling ashamed and fighting to save his 13-year marriage to Ellie Penfold.

Jenas was axed from The One Show and Match of The Day. He was also met with similar allegations from other women in the weeks that followed, which he later denied.

Jermaine Jenas made his return to punditry on the sidelines of Arsenal's clash with Liverpool

After the scandal emerged, two new women told MailOnline how Jenas had also targeted them. One revealed how Jenas sent her an unsolicited picture of his manhood while he was working at the World Cup in Qatar two years ago.

And another, predating his mainstream broadcasting success with The One Show by several years, accused Jenas of sending her unsolicited sexual messages while he was shift working for BT Sport in 2017.

Jenas joined The One Show in 2020 as a stand-in co-host following the departure of Matt Baker and he was made a permanent fixture the following year.

He had been a regular pundit on sports programmes Match Of The Day and Match Of The Day 2 and a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The father-of-four had been widely regarded as a natural successor to replace Gary Lineker as host of Match Of The Day, but was noticeably absent from the first episode of the new season.

On his departure, a BBC spokesperson previously said: 'We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting line-up.'

Jenas has criticised how his former employer handled his sacking and has said he will be speaking to his lawyers about the situation.

Upon his sacking from the BBC, Jenas told his former female colleagues he was 'genuinely sorry' for sending inappropriate messages, issuing an apology after being told not to contact the two women due to 'legal process'.

But he insisted they were 'between two consenting adults' and that his behaviour was not illegal.

When he was axed by the BBC following claims by two female workers, the former Match of the Day host initially denied the claims to his wife before admitting to them.

He said in an interview with The Sun after confessing to the allegations: 'I feel ashamed. I feel I've let everybody down - friends, family, colleagues.'

The former midfielder also hit out at the BBC for the way the corporation handled his axing, saying: 'The handling of the situation wasn't great. It was quick — and hell.

'I don't think there was a game plan for when they were going to announce they'd fired me.

'I think different departments were being told different things. I think it's shocking.'

Jenas said that he had hoped to speak to the two female colleagues who had made the allegations, but had not been able to when the process got underway.

'When it was all unfolding and I knew I was losing my job, I asked HR if I could contact the two women directly and apologise to both of them.

'But because of the legal process, I wasn't allowed. I didn't get the opportunity to say sorry to them at that particular point when I really wanted to apologise.

'I really want to apologise from the bottom of my heart in terms of what I've put them through.'

Addressing the women directly, he said: 'I'm genuinely sorry for what I've done to you. I always thought it was consensual and a two-way thing.'

During his football career, Jenas appeared for England and played for Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers.

He also hosts Formula E race coverage for TNT Sports, which was previously BT Sport.

More to follow.  

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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