Gary Lineker has said BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year show is the only programme he “never really enjoyed” hosting after breaking his silence on his exit after 23 years.

The departing Match of the Day presenter admitted he had not even watched Tuesday night’s Spoty ceremony and did not know who had won the top prize after being photographed that same evening having dinner with ex-wife Danielle Bux.

Speaking on the first edition of The Rest is Football to be recorded in front of a live audience, Lineker said it had been his decision to stop co-hosting Spoty and that doing so was unrelated to his impending MotD exit.

“People are starting to assume that it was part of my kind of termination or forthcoming termination with the BBC,” he said. “But, just to make it clear, what happened with Sports Personality of the Year is that it went to an independent production company and it was granted at the start of the year. Now, I saw that as an opportunity to get out of presenting Sports Personality. It’s a great show, but it’s the one TV gig that I never really enjoyed.

“I think I share that with Des Lynam, who did it for many years as well. It’s a very strange show to do. Also, it’s the one thing where every single word that you say on it has to be agreed by all parties at the BBC. Every single interview you do, you have to say what questions you’re going to ask. I mean, I like to ad lib, I like to go off piste. You can’t do it [on] Sports Personality, not in recent times. Every nominee had to have exactly the same time of interviewing, so as to be impartial and fair.

“It was purely that. So, it was February, and it’s nothing to do with my recent announcement. There were four presenters, and four presenters is too many for that show anyway. There you have it.”

Lineker’s exit meant the programme had an all-female presenting line-up for the first time in its history, with Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott sharing hosting duties.

After admitting he had not watched Tuesday’s show and did not know who won, Lineker said Keely Hodgkinson had “deservedly” taken the top prize when informed she had done so.

Lineker, who has long been both the BBC’s highest-paid presenter and one of its biggest headaches due to his controversial posts on X, will stand down from MotD after 26 years at the end of the season.

He is expected to leave the corporation altogether after the 2026 World Cup, the television rights for which were this week jointly awarded to the BBC and ITV.