Gary Lineker's Match of the Day replacements speak out about replacing him on BBC

Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates took over from Gary Lineker as the hosts of Match of the Day at the start of the 2025/26 Premier League season

Mark Chapman admits he felt nothing but relief when his first episode of Match of the Day finally wrapped up. Sharing the role with Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates, Chapman took on the position that had long been held by Gary Lineker - becoming the first new face to front the show in over a quarter of a century.

At 52, Chapman wasn't exactly thrown in at the deep end. He'd fronted Match of the Day 2 for a long time and occasionally filled in for Lineker on the main show. Still, when he officially took charge on the opening weekend of the new season in August, the nerves lingered until the final credits appeared.

"My favourite moment of Match of the Day so far was the music going at the end of that first [show] on the Saturday night," Chapman said on The Sports Agents podcast. "I'm thinking, 'Thank god that's over. Everyone can calm down.'

"I said goodbye, the music went, thank god that's over. We're fine, we've done it, nothing went wrong, I can go home and have a beer."

Lineker revealed in November last year that he would step down as Match of the Day host once the 2024/25 Premier League campaign ended. A couple of months later, the BBC announced that Chapman, Logan, and Cates would collectively replace him as presenters.

Like Chapman, Logan is a veteran of live broadcasting and had previously filled in for Lineker on Match of the Day. Nonetheless, she admitted experiencing the same wave of relief Chapman felt once her first broadcast went off without a hitch.

"The weird thing is, of all the programmes I've ever done, that first moment where you say hello to the guests and you link into the first VT [video tape], there is kind of this shoulders down moment where you go, 'Okay, we're up and running and now it's just a TV show,'" Logan, also 52, said.

"That moment from when the titles are rolling, Match of the Day music, the music's just finished and you're saying hello to your guests - and no matter how many times you rehearse a link like that, just saying it without tripping up is always a triumph."

Chuckling, Chapman replied. "And also, it's not the hardest link in the world, is it? Hello. Five games on the way. These two are winners. Here's the first one... where can you go wrong? It's so simple."

Both Logan and Chapman have been familiar figures at the BBC for years, but their new colleague Kelly Cates came over from Sky Sports. The 50-year-old has an extensive broadcasting background, with previous stints at ESPN, Channel 5 and talkSPORT.

Lineker's departure marked the end of one of British television's most iconic sports eras. Having fronted Match of the Day since 1999, the ex-England striker became inseparable from the show's identity.

His last few years at the BBC, however, were marred by controversy. In 2023, he was briefly taken off air after likening the government's immigration stance to "1930s Germany" in a social media post - an incident that ignited fierce public debate over bias and freedom of expression.

As one of the BBC's most prominent presenters, Lineker was contractually obliged to stay politically neutral online. His suspension, however, led to an unprecedented boycott by BBC Sport staff, forcing the corporation to revisit its social media rules and later reinstate him.

Though Lineker returned, his relationship with the broadcaster remained strained. In May 2025, he was permanently dismissed following another online controversy - this time over a post that included antisemitic imagery.

He had shared a video called "Zionism explained in two minutes," originally uploaded by Palestine Lobby, which featured a rat image - a figure long associated with antisemitic propaganda. Lineker issued a full apology, saying he hadn't noticed the offensive content and would never intentionally promote such material.

By then, the damage was irreversible. Within days, the BBC confirmed that Lineker - who had been slated to lead its 2026 World Cup coverage - would part ways with the corporation permanently.