Gary Lineker is reportedly set to make his TV return over on ITV, albeit in a very different format from Match of the Day.
The 64-year-old bade BBC viewers farewell in May, in an emotional last goodbye to the sporting show he had long-helmed, which saw him choked up as he sat alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
Lineker confirmed his exit from the BBC earlier this year after he shared a post to his Instagram story from the Palestine Lobby group titled ‘Zionism explained in two minutes’.
The repost included an illustration of a rat, which has historically been used as an antisemitic representation of Jewish people, most notably in Nazi Germany propaganda.
The veteran presenter and former England footballer later ‘apologised unreservedly’ and swiftly deleted the post, saying he was unaware of the reference and posting it had been a mistake.
However, it has now been reported that Lineker will return to the Saturday night box to helm a new gameshow, which The Sun has claimed will ‘infuriate’ his employers at the Beeb.
The publication has reported that he will host ITV’s acquisition The Box, in which celebrity contestants are placed in separate boxes and then find themselves dumped in the middle of challenges that they know nothing about.
Each episode ends with two contestants dueling it out to stay in the game.
The show has been gathering steam, as TV networks search for the next answer to match The Traitors dominance – see the latest attempt, Destination X.
Touted as a possible successor to Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV, the buzzy reality competition format first hit screens in Norway, where it has been hugely popular.
The tabloid reported that ITV have been keen to snap up Lineker for some time and think this show, hailed as a mashup of I’m A Celebrity and SAS: Who Dares Wins, could be just the thing.
A TV source told The Sun: ‘The scheduling hasn’t yet been confirmed but filming takes place in the autumn, and the series is due to air early spring.
‘It looks likely to get a Saturday night slot though, but obviously it’s all still to play for.’
Metro contacted Gary Lineker’s representatives for comment.
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