Gary Lineker was left shocked by the BBC offering him his own cooking show after his axe. Lineker will leave the after hosting his this Sunday, in light of the backlash he received over a social media post on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The 64-year-old was last week after reposting a clip on social media criticising Zionism, which included an illustration of a rat. publicly apologised for what some perceived to be a slur aimed at Jews, claiming he was unaware of the connotations.

And a statement on Monday from the BBC “by mutual agreement”. The former England striker was initially set to leave his 26-year role as Match of the Day presenter at the end of this season while continuing to front the BBC’s coverage of next season’s and the 2026 World Cup.

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However, he will now depart a year earlier than planned. Lineker already claimed last month in an interview with the BBC’s Amol Rajan that people within the organisation “wanted me to leave”, even prior to his recent controversy.

He said it was very clear to him as far back as last year, when the broadcaster's bosses informed him that they no longer wanted him to present their flagship football highlights show. And the ex-Tottenham and forward astoundingly went on to claim he was offered the chance to have his own cooking show on the BBC as consolation.

Speaking to three days before reposting the video with a rat emoji, Lineker revealed: “It’s funny, when I was talking to the Beeb and they told me they didn’t want me to do another three years, they said, ‘We think you could do a cooking show.'"

Lineker rolled his eyes as he recalled the offer of a drastic career change, saying: “'Are you kidding?' I thought it was hilarious.”

In the same interview, the veteran presenter was asked to clarify who at the BBC had allegedly wanted him out of the door. He was also quizzed on how drastically he felt things had changed since Alex Kay-Jelski became the BBC’s director of Sport in April last year.

“I think it has, and that’s what I was alluding to,” Lineker explained. “He has his reasons, he wants to change Match of the Day a bit.

"Ultimately, I don’t think they will, because I don’t see how you move a highlights show away from being about highlights. I think he wants more journalists – he has come from that background. He has got no television experience.”

Kay-Jelski in January announced the decision for Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates to share Match of the Day hosting duties between them. The trio of presenters were initially set to have 'supporting roles' alongside Lineker at next year's World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Those plans have now changed, with reporting they will compete for the role of lead presenter. A source was quoted as saying: "Now Gary's gone there has to be a lead anchor for the World Cup coverage.

"Mark, Gabby and Kelly can definitely share the duties between them, but it will boil down to who gets the big games. For example, who will be taking the lead role on the final — which will be the game they all want to be the leading voice on.”

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