Gabby Logan has worked for the BBC for almost 20 years (Image: Getty)
Gabby Logan revealed how she and her fellow new co-hosts of Match of the Day managed to solve their hosting predictament. From the start of next season, the ‘s flagship Premier League highlights programme will move forward without for the first time in 25 years, following the announcement of his exit from the show last November.
It was later revealed that Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman would replace the the ex-England striker and jointly host the show from this coming August. With just several months left until the trio takes over the football highlights show, Logan, who has worked for the broadcasting giants since 2007, admitted that she had discussed with her co-hosts the obvious issue of how they would each manage hosting MOTD on top of their other work commitments.
In addition to his new role for the 2025/26 season, Chapman is the chief rugby league presenter for Sports, the host of MOTD 2, and of 5 Live’s Sports Report, the world’s longest-running sports radio programme.
Cates regularly presents live Premier League football on Sky Sports, while Logan is one of Sport’s premier presenters, having hosted the Paris 2024 Olympics, the 2022 World Cup, and the Sports Personality of the Year award for over a decade.
During her chat on Kate Thornton’s White Wine podcast, Logan revealed that the discussion with Chapman and Cates regarding sharing duties was positive, as they all held mutual respect for each other’s external commitments to MOTD.
“We had a kind of chat about this being potentially a job that could be shared and that made me feel so much more comfortable and happy with the decision, actually, because it’s a lot and we all have great passions in other areas,” the broadcasting veteran expressed.
Gabby Logan will be sharing hosting duties of MOTD with Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman (Image: BBC)
The 51-year-old highlighted her desire to maintain her involvement in various sports without sacrificing personal time. “Mark would never want to give up his radio. And I love doing the rugby, but I also love doing things like the Olympics. And if you do football, it’s a lot of the year. So if you’re going to carry on doing the other things, you’re not going to have any time off. So I wanted to be able to keep doing the other sports that I love. So that felt like a perfect balance between us.”
Logan reassured followers on the that despite Lineker’s exit, the show’s core remains unchanged. “Nobody wants to throw the baby out with the bath water. It’s a football highlights show, we’ve got the same kind of pundits… and it’s all about the football.”