'It's exciting, isn't it?' - Jeff Stelling looks forward to hosting talkSPORT Breakfast

Virgin Radio

1 Dec 2023, 11:18

Ahead of taking his place in the talkSPORT lineup, Jeff Stelling told Chris Evans how pleased he is to be joining the team.

The former Soccer Saturday presenter called in to the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch to talk about hosting talkSPORT Breakfast every Monday and Tuesday from 4th December. “It's exciting, isn't it? I had 30 years, nearly, at Sky, so it is stepping out into the unknown a bit. But I did radio many years ago, so I'm looking forward to it,” he told Chris. 

Jeff will be hosting alongside former Scotland and Rangers striker Ally McCoist. “He’s brilliant,” the presenter enthused. “He makes everybody look good. I didn't mean that as any disrespect to Andy Townsend, who's been brilliant when he's been doing the show recently, as well.” 

For the rest of the week, Ally McCoist and Alan Brazil will host Wednesday together, followed by Alan and Gabby Agbonlahor on Thursdays and Alan and Ray Parlour on Fridays. 

The talkSPORT studios are just along the corridor from Virgin’s at the top of the tower, and Jeff is already loving the atmosphere. “One of the things that struck me is it's such a vibrant place and everybody seems genuinely nice!” he said.

“I'm really looking forward to getting started and I’m also looking forward to putting to bed some of the stories about my retirement. Everywhere I go, people say ‘Have a great retirement, Jeff’. I'm not retiring. That's for older people!”

Hartlepool fan Jeff presented Gillette Soccer Saturday for Sky Sports from 1994 until earlier this year. On hosting talkSPORT Breakfast, he said: “Sport is fun. It's meant to be fun. I know people's livelihoods depend on it as well, so there is a serious element there, of course, but sport is meant to be entertainment. It's no use approaching it being po-faced. You've got to have a bit of fun. That's why we used to have Chris Kamara on Soccer Saturday, because he made everybody's face light up.”

He continued: “I mean, 25 years ago, whatever it was, when Chris Kamara first came on and the first time he said to me ‘Unbelievable, Jeff’ you couldn't have imagined that 25 years later, it would become a part of the English language. I walk down the street and the first thing that everybody shouts at me is ‘Unbelievable Jeff.’ And it is unbelievable.”

The ex-Countdown host told Chris: “I'm not used to getting up, recently, early in the morning, but coming in a couple of times to talkSPORT in the last few weeks, and you see people's faces on the train and on the underground and nobody's smiling, everybody looks down and miserable and ready for another day's work. Well, like you, we want to put a smile on their face and send them into their offices happy.”

On what listeners can expect next week, Jeff said: “A few of my mates are going to be coming on. Phil Thompson will be on because the England group for the Euros is named at the weekend and Thommo’s an ex-England captain, so he can come on and talk about that. And Tim Sherwood, ex-Tottenham player and manager, he'll be on to talk about Man City against Tottenham. So it'll make me feel at home.”

Jeff Stelling hosts Talksport Breakfast every Monday and Tuesday Morning from 6am, starting on Monday 4th December.

Listen For Free on the Talksport App, Online, on your Smart Speaker, via Dab Digital Radio, and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.