Gary Lineker was moved to tears as he remembered the support from Ian Wright and Alan Shearer that left him 'sobbing' after his suspension from the BBC. The ex-England skipper was controversially removed from Match of the Day back in 2023, following a social media post.

It happened after he had compared the Government's plans to ban immigrants arriving on small boats from staying in Britain to '1930s Germany' on Twitter. The suspension sparked a wave of support from pundits Wright and Shearer, as well as commentators.

The act of solidarity resulted in the programme airing without any punditry or analysis. The suspension was lifted in time for the next episode, with BBC Director General Tim Davie apologising for the decision.

Reflecting on the incident, Lineker told LBC: "I had a group chat with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright. I said on that group chat, 'I've got a feeling they're gonna stand me down on Saturday night'.

"And Wrighty said, 'If they do that, I'm not doing the show'. And it happened to be that Alan and Wrighty were going to do the show on Saturday night.

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"And it's one thing saying that, but to down tools for someone else's cause - that doesn't happen.

"It was Friday afternoon, I got the message that they were going to drop me.

"Within half an hour, Ian Wright tweeted that he wouldn't be doing the show. And I went, 'Oh my God. Wow!'"

Visibly moved, he continued: "I went a bit, as I am now whenever I think about it.

"And then 20 minutes later, Shearer did the same. And I was in the back of a cab by this stage with my mate and I was sobbing. Absolutely sobbing. That support.."

Lineker concluded his 26-year tenure as Match of the Day host at the close of the 2024/25 season, with his final episode airing in May.

It has also been confirmed that the presenter will not be involved in the broadcaster's coverage of the World Cup this summer.