Jermaine Jenas claims his own dog appears to have turned against him after texting scandal
Jermaine Jenas has said that he feels like even his own dog has turned on him following his sacking by the BBC over sending 'inappropriate' messages to two female colleagues.
The sacking of the former footballer turned One Show presenter and Match of the Day pundit came out of the blue, with Jenas broadcasting live on talkSPORT when it happened.
While he was asked about the circumstances there, he was rather tight-lipped about the whole thing, saying he was 'not happy about it' and he would 'leave this to a team of lawyers'.
The former footballer then gave an interview to The Sun where he said he 'did nothing illegal', but was 'ashamed' over what had happened.
Advert
He said: "I am ashamed, and I am deeply sorry. I have let myself down, my family, friends and colleagues down, and I owe everyone an apology — especially the women with whom I was messaging. I am so, so sorry.
“I am sorry for what I have put them through. I think it would be fair to say I have a problem. I know I self-sabotage and have a self-destructive streak when it comes to my relationship especially, and I know I need help. And I am getting help."
Elsewhere in the interview, he said his wife of 13 years, Ellie Penfold, was 'absolutely raging' and they'd 'not really spoken properly since' she'd kicked him out of their shared bedroom.
"I had to tell her by Monday evening because I knew then that I’d been fired," he told the outlet.
“I just said, ‘I’ve been sacked from the BBC.’ She said, ‘What for?’ and I said, ‘For sending text messages that weren’t appropriate to two girls'.”
The Jenas household has been host to some 'difficult conversations', and the former footballer feels that even his canine companion seems unhappy with him.
He said: "I’ve let everyone down. Even my dog looked at me disappointed."
Going into further detail about what he'd done, he explained: "These were two consenting adults I was speaking to. With one she made it clear she was interested.
“I don’t want to start going down the ‘who pursued who’ road, but when people are saying things that are wrong and false information is being spread, I do have to kind of defend my space.
“In that particular instance, there was an adult conversation that took place in a bar in London where that person made it very clear that they had an attraction to me. Yes there was alcohol involved but I take full responsibility.
“I feel people don’t know the truth and are forming opinions about me that aren’t accurate. I wasn’t going through some kind of BBC vault trying to get women’s numbers.
“I’m obviously going to say I’m not a sex pest. These were consenting adults I was texting."
Joe Harker