Jermaine Gennas assaulted the BBC after the former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder was fired by the company for workplace behavior. The 42-year-old began working in the media industry during the second half of his soccer career before retiring from sports in early 2016.
Gennas began co-hosting one show in 2020 and was featured regularly in match-ups of time with Beeb. However, he was accused of sending a “inappropriate message” to his colleague, and after conducting a thorough investigation, the BBC compiled relevant documents of evidence against him. And in August he was fired by a company for losing his £190,000 role.
Gennas appeared on a podcast with Reese Many this week, discussing the next chapter of his career on the air.
The former England International explained: “It was a really difficult moment for myself and my family. What happened. I’ve always raised my hands and been fully responsible for it. It’s very important.
“You experience many different feelings of anger and responsibility, but in the end you realize, “take responsibility and you will be able to move forward.”
“Because of my ability to take away my life, in terms of all the deals I had, the work I had at that particular time, I said it would never happen again.
“You’re in this kind of media bubble that works for the BBC. There are so many barriers when it comes to what they want you to and what you don’t.
“So I recently set up my own production company. My agency I had at the time didn’t support it.”
Jennas continued. “The betting company wants to work with me, because I’m in football.
“So there were a lot of blocks on one side and football was bringing me some things, but the reality was that everything was wiped out. It all took away.”
Gennas and his wife, Ellie Penfold, announced their split in March, seven months after the BBC’s departure. And discussing the actions that led to his downfall in the BBC, the former footballer added:
“I worked as a footballer 10 years after I retired, and I just want to go from becoming a footballer when I started anything, to reaching a very fortunate position to work on television.
“It’s a tough job that you put into work, but at the same time, it can be taken away from you. That’s one of the things I realised.”
