08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Jermaine Jenas claims huge US star was 'rude' and 'snapped back' at him
Speaking on the Dressing Room Podcast, former footballer Jermaine Jenas opened up on his time as a TV presenter and his interactions with celebrities, one of which he described as "rude"
Jermaine Jenas has revealed how one of his former celebrity interviewees "snapped back" at him when he asked a harmless question. Last year, the former footballer and pundit, 42, was hit with complaints regarding his workplace behaviour and was subsequently axed from his presenting duties on the BBC's iconic show Match of the Day and The One Show.
Following this, Jermaine issued an apology to two female colleagues for sending "inappropriate messages", though he maintained the exchanges were "between two consenting adults" and insisted his behaviour wasn't illegal.
During an appearance on the Dressing Room Podcast, Jermaine offered a glimpse into his broadcasting career, including encounters with A-list stars, with one interaction he branded as "rude".
When asked whether there were occasions that left him thinking, "What's going on here?", he responded: "I mean, there was one time like I almost fell out with Jennifer Aniston. That was strange. It was weird. She just was like... she was just rude."
He elaborated: "So, there's like her and like Reese Witherspoon were on about - the morning show - but they're on Zoom, and you get like a list of questions like before, and I'm always trying to like adjust them based on how I feel they're talking to me.
"And you'll see one, you think: 'I'll swerve that', because they're not like in a good mood or whatever, and I asked her something about being a morning person or something like that, and she just like snapped back at me."
Jermaine said he was a "bit like, 'Alright, Rach", thinking "chill out", but it "kept coming". He added that he didn't know "what it was".
He pointed out that in these scenarios, they could be one interview in a run of 20 and the last one in the queue, highlighting how the guests are only "humans".
Following his departure from the BBC, Jermaine also left his presenting role at talkSPORT but made a comeback to the station in February, affirming that he was "taking responsibility" and had become a "better person".
In a candid chat with Katherine Ryan on the Let Me Tell You Something podcast, he said he'd "broke a vow" and felt like his "level of punishment was up there".
Jermaine, a former Newcastle and Tottenham midfielder, went on to say that he "had to take it" and "have some broad shoulders and handle it".
He even shared details about the nature of the texts, likening them to the content found in the novel Fifty Shades of Grey. Jermaine described it as "Christian Grey in text messages".
He clarified: "It was sexting, as simple as that, but it was initiated to me and then I responded. It wasn't just me going out of my way and it definitely 100% wasn't 'if you do this I will help you in your work'. There was no power element to it going on."
