'F***ing hell Rio!' Laura Woods turns air blue in unseen TNT Sports footage

Daily Mirror

01-06-2025

Rio Ferdinand signed off 10 years with TNT Sports at Saturday's Champions League final in Munich but he got on the wrong side of presenter Laura Woods pre-match
Laura Woods dropped an F-bomb after Rio Ferdinand accidentally interrupted her preparation ahead of the Champions League final. Ferdinand's 10-year spell working as a pundit for TNT Sports, formerly known as BT Sport, came to an end on Saturday, having announced his departure in the week leading up to the final at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
The match saw Paris Saint-Germain thrash Inter Milan 5-0 to break a Champions League record. Before the game, presenter Woods was working on her introduction while they were still off air.
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But she was left peeved off when Manchester United legend Ferdinand ambled across the camera. Woods, 37, shared the footage from pre-match on social media.
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As Ferdinand walked right in front of the camera, she couldn't help but say: "F***ing hell Rio," before putting her microphone down and laughing to herself.
Woods joked: "That was going to be some of my best work ever," as Ferdinand walked back in front. The 81-time England international then took the microphone away from Woods, who was explaining that she was doing a practice take.
The pair were next heard sharing a laugh. Ferdinand continued by holding the mic to Woods' mouth before pulling it away. Realising that he was actually in shot, Ferdinand apologised to Woods.
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At the end of TNT's coverage, Woods set Ferdinand up to say farewell. "Rio, before we leave, just one final goodbye," she began. "From us here at TNT Sport, to you. That is it for your career here, for now.
"Can I just say on behalf of all of us - including everyone behind the camera - you've been an absolute pleasure. And personally since I joined, you've been so incredibly welcoming. You'll be sorely, sorely missed."
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Ferdinand responded by saying: "I just want to say thank you to everybody that I've worked with,. My job was made a lot easier by the great people and friends that I have worked with and will remain friends for many years.
"As important as the people you see on the screen are the people behind the screen that do all the jobs to get us here and enable us to put our best foot forward are all appreciated. Again, thank you to everybody who has been a part of it."
Ferdinand's colleague, Steven Gerrard, asked him if he going to have a cold beer, to which the 46-year-old replied: "All the beers are on me!"