Jermaine Jenas insists he’s been ‘punished heavily’ in interview about BBC sacking

Jermaine Jenas insists he’s been ‘punished heavily’ in an interview with Good Morning Britain about his sacking from the BBC.

The 43 year old has previously admitted to the past terrible inappropriate mistakes of his and issued an apology for his behaviour in interviews he has appeared in since his dismissal from the BBC due to allegations of inappropriate conduct involving explicit messages sent to female colleagues.

Jenas said in an interview with talkSPORT that he is to learn from it and come back as a “better person”, issuing a public apology, including to those directly affected by his actions.

Kate: Jermaine, it’s strange because you were everywhere for so long, weren’t you and your
career looked like it was flourishing a whole new career post football and then suddenly nothing. So why have you decided to come and speak now? What what do you want to say?

Jermaine: I think that m you know I’ve reached a point recently where there was a lot of uncertainty in my life, a lot of fear in terms of the direction, in terms of where it was going. It’s been a tough two-year period that that kind of in particular my family have been through. I don’t know, I just got to this point where I was like, I feel like I need to just start speaking to whether it was like my own personal community on my social media just to see if there was anybody else out there that felt how I felt. And I don’t know whether it was the level of kind of vulnerability that I shown or just the honesty that I that I’d shown in the post because it was true. I was in a place where I was like, I don’t know what’s next currently. And then there was this kind of flourish of people saying that’s exactly how I feel. And it was interesting.

Kate: And how I mean, you know, you were sacked by the BBC for inappropriate behaviour. I’m sure you’ve had two years, if not longer, to soul search over that, to think about that, to think about, you know, what you should or shouldn’t have done differently, what you might have done differently. I mean, where is your head at in terms of, I guess, your responsibility for where you are?

Jermaine: I think my feelings kind of aside because I think with a lot of the criticism that I’ve received the punishment you know I’ve lost everything essentially you know my job, my family everything was kind of taken away from me and that’s kind of not for me to decide the punishments but that’s exactly what happened what I had to face but my feelings aside I was more thinking about my children, I was more thinking about um Ellie and what I put her through what I put my mother through, Ellie my wife and what I put her through and it was it was so hard. It was hard for them and it has been hard for them and it continues to be hard for them and I think that’s where I had to put most of my attention at that particular time to try and do what I could to to help protect them.

Ranvir: But I notice you don’t mention the women who you were texting and who accused you of sending unsolicited perhaps even videos or text messages you know that they did not want and did not expect from you. Do you have an apology to them?

Jermaine: I’ve always apologised. I don’t think that’s something that I’ve never done. I’ve always apologised to everybody that was involved in it, whether it was kind of the women who I was messaging and that was messaging me. I don’t think in terms of being able to sit in front of them, I wasn’t given the opportunity to sit in front of anybody and and really apologise to anybody and that’s fine. You know, he’s there’s a duty of care around the whole situation.

Ranvir: But do you recognise that you were in the wrong?

Jermaine: 100%. Yeah.

Ranvir: In what way?

Jermaine: Well, in the way that I was in a position of power in my in my role, in my job, and it was something that I shouldn’t have been doing, but also this was a marital thing also more than anything. I I needed to apologise to my wife over everything. I think the people that was affected at work as I said, I’ve I’ve apologised on numerous occasions. I really have. And it’s one of those things where as you go through this process, you really do learn a lot about yourself and you don’t it’s not like a… I’m not here because I want to I’m begging for a job or I’m working on I want to be back in television. That’s not where I’m at. I’m here because this is a learning curve in my life. People make mistakes and I think the mistakes that I made have been um heavily criticised, heavily publicised and I think I’ve been punished heavily. But I’d also like the opportunity, I think, to…

Ranvir: Heavily or or do you mean disproportionately? I’m wondering why you’re using the word heavily.

Jermaine: Disproportionately.

Ranvir: You mean disproportionately?

Jermaine: Well, it’s not really for me to decide the level of punishment, but what I’m trying to explain is I think the level of punishment in terms of what was taken away from me is what it is. And I’ve had to deal with that. And I think that the facts are are we in a society now where we don’t allow people to learn from their mistakes and move forward in life? Because that’s where it feels like I’ve been for the last couple of years.

Kate: I suppose well it would be interesting to know what you’ve learned because um about yourself and about the situation because I suppose there’s always going to be people that look at you identify with you and empathise and there’s always going to be people that think well what are you regretting here? Are you regretting the loss of the life? Are you regretting your actions? You know what what have what have you learned?

Jermaine: It’s definitely not the loss of the life, you know, I think to say I was kind of happy in the industry that I was in is probably an overstatement. Also, I think there was some learning in all of that. I don’t think, you know, when it comes to kind of what have you learned, Kate, I think that’s a very specific thing to try and put your finger on.

Kate: Yeah.

Jermaine: I think it’s probably a little bit of an unfair question just to find that one thing. I think you go through lives, you make mistakes and there are there are things that maybe are happening on the outside of work that was affecting my behaviour also, but all I can do..

Ranvir: What is your advice to other men then, I mean, I find this interesting because you you’re sort of sort of skirting around what you’ve learned, but you’ve mentioned about the fact that you were in a position of power and that for for some reason you thought this was consensual, but clearly these women did not want to receive what you were sending them, which…

Jermaine: I’m not skirting around anything. I’m more than happy to have the conversation, which is why I’m here. I’m not here to be defending myself in any way, shape, or form. I know what I did was wrong and I accept those punishments so that nobody’s skirting around the responsibility of what I did. I know what I did and I know what I did was wrong, so I don’t understand where that line of question is coming from.

Ranvir: So in a sense I suppose um what’s your advice to other men who are in positions of power in any industry and who think that they’re just flirting with women at work who you know what is your advice to other people then who might be learning from what what you from your mistakes?

Jermaine: Well, I think they can look at what happened to me and make their own assumptions about what they have to do with their own lives. I’m not here to preach to other people about what they should do with their lives. I’m here to explain to people my own experiences of what I’ve been through on what I’ve done and the impact that it’s had on everybody in my life. And I think that is, you know, I’m not here to dictate to people in terms of what they want to do. And I understand why you have to come at me with this line of questioning and it’s completely fine, and if you feel like I’ve not been punished enough, then go ahead and keep…

Ranvir: No, I’m not saying that. I just find it’s interesting because of course, you know…

Jermaine: But you’ve accused me of skirting around the issue.

Ranvir: No no, what I’m saying is, for example, is that you’re saying what’s been taken away from me, but people might say you put yourself in that position.

Jermaine: Oh 100%.

Ranvir: You risked it all by doing what you did.

Jermaine: I did put myself in that position and I’m not sat here begging and pleading for my job back. I’m fully accepting of what has been taken away from me. I put myself in that position and that’s where the learning comes from and that’s where I have to now look forward as to what it is I’m going to be doing next and that’s where the post came from.

Kate: Yes. And you reached out to to share that and and and sharing that is helpful. We know that that you know that that there is a difficulty for men sometimes to share and to share their mistakes and so that will be helpful to people. You mentioned that you weren’t entirely happy with maybe overstating to say everything was rosy in your job in television. Are you talking about where you were yourself in your head or are you talking about where you wanted to be in life? I guess I’m trying to pick out what the learning is and what you want next. Do you know what I mean?

Jermaine: I think so.

Kate: Sorry that was a very long question. I guess are you saying that you know you you have learned more about yourself and what would that be and where do you want to go with that that thing?

Jermaine: It’s impossible to not learn a lot about yourself when you were put in a position that I put myself into you you have to take stock you have to kind of look around yourself and you have to look at your own behaviour and realise that things have to change. And I’ve I’ve done that, you know, over a period of time where I realised, you know what, it’s been it’s been very tricky. Granted, I put myself in that position, but the learning from it doesn’t always have to be negative. I think in this industry, we’re so obsessed with everything being, oh, he’s been cancelled. It has to be negative. It’s like, hang on a minute. I’m a person that’s learned a lot from my mistakes. I’m a person that also spent 10, 12 years in this industry and, you know, had a brilliant career and really enjoyed my time on television, but there is a lot for me to give back. And I’m not saying on television. It could be in any different platform where I know a lot of people feel how I feel. I’m a human being. We make mistakes. You two can’t sit in front of me and tell me you’ve never made a mistake in your life.

Kate: Absolutely not.

Jermaine: We all make mistakes. We live in the public eye. I live in the public eye. And everything, every mistake I made decided to be, well, it was made public. And I had to handle that as a man. And that’s exactly what I decided. you know, that’s exactly what I did. So, I think the thing now is moving forward. It’s about kind of what am I going to do next? And and currently, I’m not sure.

Ranvir: It must be bittersweet in a way that the World Cup has kicked off last night. And of course, you were front facing of all of the football coverage for the BBC in many ways. How do you feel this morning seeing all your colleagues enjoying this huge moment?

Jermaine: I’m delighted for them. I’m absolutely delighted for them.

Ranvir: Is it bittersweet in a way? Can you enjoy the football knowing you’re not part of the team?

Jermaine: I’m a footballer at heart. You know, I grew up as a footballer. I think people sometimes forget that that because I was I came straight into television and this was a job that I really enjoyed, but I’m a footballer. I grew up on Italia 90, you know, and and watching England get to the semi-finals. So, watching my colleagues or my former colleagues out in America doing what they what they do, yeah, I’m delighted for them. There’s no bittersweet about it at all.

Kate: And how is your relationship? You mentioned your focus on your children. How is your relationship with your children and and with your friends outside of the world of football and television?

Jermaine: With my children, it’s been good. It’s been up and down also. You know, it’s been a very very tricky spell. I’ve got an 18 year old and a 13 year old that are very aware of social media and everything that’s going on. So having some very open and honest conversations with them as a father was very very difficult. and then at the same time you’re then trying to protect the nine and the four year old. So, it’s it’s been a fine balance. I think it’s where Ellie has been absolutely incredible during the whole process and in just maintaining a consistency in their lives and uh I’ll always be grateful to her for that.

Ranvir: A BBC spokesperson said, “We do not comment on individuals, but we will always look at any issues raised with us and take the action as appropriate.”

Kate: And let us know what you think as well because breaking your silence and speaking out was brave in one way and others might have views on that”

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