Gary Lineker has been broadcasting for nearly 30 years, but even he is prone to making the odd mistake when presenting on live television.
Gary Lineker drew on his extensive experience as a presenter reacting to a mistake during the BBC’s coverage of England vs Denmark.
On a night when Gareth Southgate’s players made numerous mistakes against the Danes, Lineker, 63, also made a mistake on the big stage, although you probably didn’t notice it. The former Barcelona and Tottenham ace presented the BBC’s coverage of the clash with Micah Richards, Brentford manager Thomas Frank and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand as experts.
When the match ended, Lineker asked Frank what he thought about the job Southgate had done as a manager. As soon as he finished the question, Lineker heard voices in his earpiece, telling him that he should cut to a video of Southgate’s post-match interview after the 1-1 draw.
After quickly stopping the Dane in his tracks, Lineker gave the signal to play Southgate’s comments and then asked Frank the exact same question he had asked before. Richards admitted that he was shocked by the mistake, particularly in the eyes of millions of people watching in the UK. However, the former Manchester City captain admitted Lineker’s reaction was so cold that he believes fans didn’t even notice.
“Something magical happened on air today,” Richards said on the Rest is Football podcast. “It was the fact that you managed to maintain your composure in an incident that I would have struggled with. What basically happened was that you were supposed to go for an interview with Gareth Southgate, but you went to see Thomas Frank to ask him about Gareth.
Lineker admitted that he “fucked up” because “he was supposed to do it after the interview with Gareth Southgate.” Richards added: “My head was spinning, I was thinking ‘Oh my God’.
“It was a second in the television world in the television studio, but viewers at home perhaps felt nothing at all. The way you went from one thing to another was impeccable.”
Lineker then compared his mistake to something that happened to England defender Marc Guehi during the clash. The veteran TV presenter said: “It was probably like Marc Guehi, who played a brilliant match. At one point he made a mistake, gave the ball away and got it back, which is fine.
“Live television is a little like that sometimes. I had forgotten that we were going to do the Southgate interview first. I got it in my head that I was going to ask Thomas about Southgate and what he thought about his job and things like that.
“Halfway through asking that question, Richard (the producer) says, ‘Oh, we have to go to Gareth Southgate first.’ But it’s okay, it’s live, it’s like when you make mistakes on the football fields. You take care of it.”
When Richards asked him how he managed to stay calm, Lineker said, “You know, Micah, it’s because I have a lot of experience. I also know that ultimately a TV isn’t going to change anyone’s life or their particular mood. And besides, people at home like it when you screw them.
“They don’t care when you make a mistake. The one thing you’ll never be able to do, and I’ll give you this advice now, because it will happen to you on live television, like it happened to me tonight, is that you suddenly go ‘oh shit.’
“Don’t worry about it. Sometimes it’s better to tell people at home, which I did on the way back when I deliberately asked the same question and maybe share the fact that you were wrong.”
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