Gary Lineker before vanishing on the BBC. (Image: BBC)
won’t be disappearing from the just yet despite appearing to vanish live on air this afternoon. At the end of the season, the 64-year-old will be scaling back his role with the Beeb and will be replaced as the presenter of .
He was on duty for at Old Trafford though, and took time out from discussing the game at half-time to preview the new season of . The second edition will return to television screens on April 12 this year.
Lineker picked up a mysterious device with a button on his desk and said: “Something has made its way onto our desk. I wonder what this does.”
He then proceeded to press the button and briefly disappeared from the live coverage as a short advert for Doctor Who was played. Once the clip finished, the former striker made a joke at his own expense.
“So that’s what it does, makes me disappear, that’ll please a few,” he said. “Don’t worry, I haven’t regenerated just yet; stick around after the match for a first look at the trailer about a brand new series of Doctor Who which will air at 6.45pm on 1.
Gary Lineker will still present the BBC’s FA Cup coverage thos season. (Image: Getty)
“That’s providing this match doesn’t go to extra time of course. But surely Doctor Who would know that because he can flick back in time, or forward in time, whatever you do.”
Ironically, viewers were then made to wait to see the trailer. The last-16 tie went all the way to penalties before .
Lineker appeared in jovial mode all afternoon, frequently ribbing colleague over ’s earlier defeat to . Shearer’s former side lost 2-1 in a tie that also went to extra time.
Despite his impending exit from MOTD, Lineker will continue to present FA Cup games for the in the 2025/56 campaign. His new deal takes him through to the , where he will anchor the coverage from Mexico, Canada and the US.
Until then, he will also continue with the MOTD Top Ten podcast. The Beeb will also continue to host his The Rest is Football podcast on Sounds.