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Eamonn Holmes guns for Match Of The Day job in GB News rant as he takes aim at younger hosting rivals who 'don't even watch TV'

S.Martinez4 hr ago
Eamonn Holmes has his eyes set on a new job - and it's markedly different from his current breakfast hosting gig.

The former This Morning presenter, 64, confessed on GB News on Wednesday that he wants to replace Gary Lineker as BBC 's Match Of The Day.

He said that he believes 'young people do not watch TV ' and questioned why the job should go to a someone from an earlier generation.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Gary will not be returning to the flagship sports show next season.

His contract will not be renewed after the current Premier League season and will instead he will front international football coverage until 2026, before parting ways with the Beeb for good.

The departure comes more than 25 years since he replaced Des Lynam in 1999.

It is thought that the BBC are looking for fresh blood at a lower cost to replace Gary, who will turn 64 at the end of the month and is paid around £1.35million a year.

But the move appears to have not settled well with some TV stars, as Eamonn, who presented GB News alongside Isabel Webster, spoke to a guest presenter about the story.

The guest presenter stated: 'I still think Eamonn should have got the gig myself'.

Agreeing, Isabel chimed in: 'Oh you would have been brilliant, yeah, nobody knows more about football'.

Eamonn then added: 'See they also do this ridiculous thing in the BBC, it's always been the case, try and get a younger audience. So what does that mean? Get a younger host? And younger people do not watch television.

'So why are they wasting their time?'

Isabel replied: 'They do with Match Of The Day, don't they? They watch it in bed on a Sunday with a hangover.'

Eamon cut in: ' No. They watch it on their phones and on their devices,' before he concluded that 'the best thing about Match Of The Day is the music'.

So far, there are no favourites for the position, but The Sun has claimed that the BBC want Mark Chapman and Kelly Somers to take turns in the hot seat, but insiders claim that he is not a fan of the idea.

The outlet claim that Chapman has flatly refused a Match of the Day job share.

The 51-year-old, currently hosting Match of the Day 2, made it clear he does not want to split the bigger role with Somers.

A source told the outlet: 'As soon as Gary's deal was done, Alex made it clear he wanted Mark and Kelly to replace him.

'It would effectively be a job share and they would rotate hosting duties between them. Mark has made it clear within the team at MOTD that this isn't something he would want to do.

'He doesn't want a job share, he wants Gary's role as his own, which is understandable. It's a headache for the BBC because they thought they'd found an easy solution.

'It's back to the drawing board and negotiations are ongoing.'

After 25 years at the helm of the BBC's football programme, Gary has become an indelible figure in the minds of football fans.

His stewardship brought a number of memorable moments to the programme and its audience.

One stunt which he will be remembered for was when he presented the show in his underpants as part of a wager following his Leicester side's unprecedented Premier League crown.

Gary's contract with the BBC finishes at the end of this season but he has been given an 18-month extension.

But crucially, that will not include Match Of The Day anchoring duties.

Gary is the BBC's highest-paid presenter with a salary of £1.35million and his exit will close a long chapter for one of the nation's most iconic shows.

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