Gary Lineker unshackled himself from the BBC – and immediately wasted his freedom ...Middle East

It’s all our fault, of course, “us”, the viewers. We seem to like our game shows, and so television avails us with so very many of them, on our screens day and night. So obsessed have “we” become with the format that ITV now has its own specialist channel, ITV Quiz, essentially umpteen hours of Bradley Walsh a day, with an amouse bouche of Stephen Mulhern every so often.

And now here comes Gary Lineker, recent ITV star signing, and immediately appointed his own big fat Saturday night game show, The Box. According to reports, the former presenter of Match of the Day – recently ousted from his position after posting a pro-Palestine video on Instagram featuring a rat emoji, which was considered to be an anti-Semitic slur – will now morph magically into Ant & Dec. The Box, we hear, will “feature 12 celebrities, each placed in separate boxes, where they must complete a series of terrifying challenges”. To which the only reasonable viewer response is: “Kill me now”.

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Gary Lineker's 'hero's farewell' sparks anger inside BBC

One of the more intriguing spectator sports of recent times was watching Lineker test just how long his particular piece of rope at the BBC really was. The Beeb had been increasingly incensed with their highest-paid presenter for having An Opinion, specifically on Israel’s actions in Gaza, and then Voicing It. But Lineker, whose confidence has burgeoned in tandem with his Goalhanger podcast empire’s success, refused to be silenced.

It was, then, only a matter of when, not if, that rope was cut.

Lineker is a big loss for the BBC at a time when the station would do well to keep hold of those presenters not currently being probed by the police for all manner of unpleasantness. The former footballer is a brilliant presenter, knowledgeable and relatable, even in his pants. And while talent is always replaceable, Match of the Day’s loss will be ITV’s gain.

But perhaps not just yet, not while they’ve got him hosting naff gameshows.

Undoubtedly a versatile presenter, Lineker might nevertheless come quickly to rue his new position when, on a Saturday night very soon, he finds himself dashing from box to box, on The Box, while attempting to keep buoyant the otherwise flagging momentum of its C-list celebrities, who only agreed to take part in the first place for the fee. 

Game shows are a very particular televisual beast, and require very particular personality types: either those with the winning silliness of an Ant and Dec, or else the sober gravitas of a Chris Tarrant. Tarrant, who hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire between 1998 and 2014, boasted a demeanour perfectly suited to asking contestants questions whose answers were worth up to one million pounds. By comparison, Jeremy Clarkson, his replacement, always looks like he’d rather be in Diddly Squat.

Lineker’s expulsion from the BBC brought him his freedom. He could have gone anywhere, done anything – and might still do: panel show, talk show, yet another creaking travelogue. But how about, just sometimes, we allow our presenters to stay comfortably in their lanes, where they excel? Gary Lineker is part of football’s televisual furniture; the upholstery remains admirably robust. Do we really want to watch him to now channel his inner Joel Dommett by way of Cilla Black? Does he?

It’s early days yet. After Robbie Williams left Take That in 1996, and before he found his own voice, he convinced himself that the only way he could announce his independence was by singing someone else’s song (George Michael’s “Freedom!”). That was a misstep. Lineker’s forthcoming stint on The Box might well prove a misstep, too.

“ITV have long been sniffing around Gary, and just needed to find the right format for him,” a source said. “They’re confident they’ve found that now.”

Yes, but confidence is so often built on a pillar of sand, so let’s reconvene after it’s gone out, shall we? Because, right now, it feels that Lineker needs to re-enter the transfer market, and quick.

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