In an episode of The Rest is Football podcast shared by Lineker, Shearer and Richards, they discussed Lineker’s final show in November 2024. By then, Lineker had already indicated that his tenure as host was nearing an end.
On one episode of Match of the Day, Shearer was given the task of opening the show with a joke aimed at Lineker. When asked about his hosting duties on the podcast, Shearer made his position clear in a simple 15-word statement.
“No, I’m very happy with what I’m doing, so I’ll leave it to the experts,” he confessed. “I did the opening (of the program)! By the way, I decided to do it about a minute before it aired, so I was really nervous.
“I was so scared of myself, even though I could only say eight words. I have a newfound respect for presenters. I know it’s not easy, but to be honest, for a moment I felt like I had a problem with my throat.
“The countdown in our ears was like, ’10, 9, 8,’ and then it came on the air and we were like, ‘And cue.’ For a second, I thought, ‘If I mess this up now, I’m just going to look like an idiot.’
“I still sweat when I think about it. Honestly, it’s so important that I was like, ‘If I get one word wrong here, this is going to destroy me.’ You see when you get one word wrong, a meme spreads. Just, ‘Don’t mess up here, get it right.’ Thankfully, I didn’t.”
Shearer and Richards continued their Match of the Day duties following Lineker’s departure, but the Premier League’s record scorer bid an emotional farewell to his colleague.
