Jeff Stelling has announced that he will be taking a break from hosting his talkSPORT show.
The legendary presenter, who left Sky Sports in 2023, will step away from hosting the 6-10am breakfast show between Monday and Wednesday for an ‘extended break’, as talkSPORT put it.
Listeners will be without their favourite presenter for two to three weeks – though they have been reassured that the 70-year-old’s absence is nothing to do with his health.
‘We’ve had so many texts [on today’s show] that I’m going to have to take a break, which is what I’m going to do for the next two or three weeks,’ he said on Tuesday’s show.
‘I’m just going to chill out for a bit of rest and relaxation. I’ll see you when I’m back.’
Daily Mail Sport exclusively interviewed Stelling a few weeks ago and he spoke of how he intends to carry on presenting for many years.
He will soon be launching a new podcast with OLBG, hosting that alongside his work with talkSPORT.
He told us: ‘I love it. I feel exactly the same as I did when I was in my mid-30s, my mid-40s, my mid-50s. I don’t see any reason to stop. As long as people ask me to do it, I’m going to carry on.
Jeff Stelling will be taking a break from hosting his talkSPORT show for two to three weeks
‘People will tell me, “you’re an old fart, you’re out of touch with modern views,” and sometimes they do now! Sometimes I get called a dinosaur – a pet hate, by the way. If anybody texts me, do not call me a dinosaur! It doesn’t matter if I’m 70 and you’re 17. Our opinions have got equal merit.’
He added: ‘It was an opportunity to do a podcast which wasn’t just sports-based but to find out a little bit about people’s lives.
‘It will be people from the world of sport but we may not concentrate on which games and trophies they’ve won. I’d like to hear their back story. In this day and age, they’re so managed that we hear their answers about that game, that race, that match, but we don’t necessarily know them as human beings.’
Stelling’s alarm goes off at 4.30am for his morning show with talkSPORT but he has lost none of his energy or enthusiasm.
Last month, Alan Brazil was forced to miss two weeks of work due to illness, but came back sprightly.
Upon his return, Brazil joked: ‘I’m still alive. The big news this morning is I’m alive and kicking.
‘I’ve never had so many texts and emails asking, “Are you alright? Are you dead? Are you dying?” Give us a break. Honestly.
‘It was my ears. I had a big infection in my right ear and my left ear was blocked. I was sat here thinking I was going to fall off my chair.
‘It’s the worst I have been, terrible. These lights (in the studio) don’t help. I have said to them to turn the lights down but do they listen? It’s stupid.’
