Jermaine Jenas has admitted he is “ashamed” of his actions after being sacked by the BBC for inappropriate behaviour, but insists “false information” is being spread.
The former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder was sacked by the BBC following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, including sending unsolicited text messages to female co-stars on The One Show.
Jenas was working live on talkSPORT when the news broke and told the radio station he could not talk about the matter and it was in the hands of lawyers.
But in a long interview with The Sun released on Friday, Jenas hurt and offered a public apology to his family, friends and colleagues.
Jermaine Jenas speaks out after BBC sacking
“I’m embarrassed and deeply sorry,” Jenas said.
“I have let myself, my family, friends and colleagues down, and I apologize to everyone, especially the women I was texting with. I am very, very sorry.
“I’m sorry for what I put them through.
“I think it would be fair to say I have a problem. I know I’m self-sabotaging and I have a self-destructive streak when it comes to my relationship especially, and I know I need help. And I’m getting help.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes and at the moment I’m asking myself a lot of questions. I know there is a lot of work to be done and it will be difficult.
“Before all of this became public I saw my private doctor and after a long discussion I booked therapy to try and address these issues, where they are coming from and why I have been doing this and hurting myself the people i love
“I am not proud of what I wrote and what I said. And I do consider it cheating, yes, even though nothing physical has ever happened.
“This is all down to me and I fully accept that there is a level of responsibility that must be maintained when you are a member of the BBC.
“And I fell below those standards. I have to take responsibility.
“They gave me an incredible opportunity and I know it’s up to me because right now I feel like I’ve lost everything. I feel like people are judging me and I’m the number one target right now in the country.”
Jenas has denied claims that the texts he sent his colleagues were unsolicited, insisting the interactions were between “consenting adults”.
“They were two consenting adults I was talking to,” Jenas continued. “With one she made it clear that she was interested. I don’t want to start going down the road of “who stalked who”, but when people say things that are wrong and false information is spread, I have to stand up for my space.
“In this particular case, there was an adult conversation that took place in a bar in London where that person made it very clear that he had an attraction to me. Yes, there was alcohol involved, but I take full responsibility.
“I feel like people don’t know the truth and are forming opinions about me that aren’t accurate.
“I wasn’t going through any BBC hoops trying to get women’s numbers. I’ll obviously say I’m not a sex pest.
“These were consenting adults I was texting.”
The former England international also denied sending inappropriate images or videos, insisting “that was not the case”.
Jenas was on holiday with his wife and children when he was fired by the BBC over a video call.
“It was just a sad situation. You have to sit there and listen to what you said. I’m not proud of anything,” Jenas recalled.
“It’s embarrassing and obviously there’s four people on a Zoom call basically just hearing all this and reading my messages. I think I was in shock at the time, it was a lot to process.
“But I’m the married one, I’m to blame, and I was playing this blame game in my head.
“The main panic by a mile was that I might lose my family.
“There is something in me that is praying that there is some level of mercy or understanding of the fact that we are human beings and we all make mistakes, some bigger than others and mine is a big mistake.
“But that didn’t happen, and yeah, the whole situation was pretty hellish, and right now I’m not entirely sure what I’m feeling, but I don’t think I’ve ever been lower.”
