Inside Jermaine Jenas' life after football with BBC scandal, wife secrets and TV return hint
After more than 450 senior professional appearances across two divisions, five teams, and a briefly established England career, Jermaine Jenas has taken his life to new levels since retirement. Not content with slipping into the shadows after retirement in 2016, he has become a mainstream public figure.
Jenas claimed, in 2014, that he was both happy to have achieved what he did in his playing days and also frustrated not to get to a higher level having been tipped for even greater things during his youth. With over 200 matches played for Tottenham, including in their only major trophy win of the past 30 years for the club, Jenas was a Premier League regular.
He featured almost 300 times in the top division for Spurs, Newcastle, and Aston Villa, picking up 21 England caps along the way. Injury and the death of Bobby Robson left him struggling though.
It wasn't long before Jenas got back into the game though. Even in his days as a player he moved to become pundit in 2014 where he joined BT Sport (now TNT Sports) on the Europa League coverage.
From there, Jenas continued his ascent into broadcasting, taking on a number of roles outside of football. First, in 2015, he was part of Channel 4's Time Crashers reality TV show. This put celebrities into positions to live during different historical eras.
He then presented a BBC Three documentary two years later about knife crime. Set in Nottingham, where he was born, Jenas recalled being the victim of an attack and robbery during 'Teenage Knife Wars.
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In 2020 he hit the big time, being added to the presenting group of 'The One Show' alongside Alex Jones. Shortly after he was added as a permanent host, doing the role alongside football analysis and coverage for Match of the Day and TNT's European and Premier League coverage.
Things took a recent twist though with the BBC sacking him following allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Jenas would go on to admit that he cheated on his wife, but denying anything "physical ever happened."
"I'm not proud of what I wrote and what I said," he confessed earlier this year. "This is all on me and I fully accept there is a level of responsibility that needs to be upheld when you're a member of the BBC."
He went on to add that he did "nothing illegal"and that the message were with "two consenting adults", one of whom "made it clear she was interested." He continued: "I have let myself down, my family, friends and colleagues down, and I owe everyone an apology - especially the women with whom I was messaging. I am so, so sorry."
Jenas went on: "I think it would be fair to say I have a problem. I know I self-sabotage and have a self-destructive streak when it comes to my relationship especially, and I know I need help. And I am getting help.
"I have made a lot of mistakes, and I am asking myself a lot of questions at the moment. I know there's a lot of work that needs to be done, and it will be hard."
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The 41-year-old also lied to his wife about the incidents, having been fired on a video call whilst away with his family. "You're having to sit there and listen to what you've said," he explained.
"I'm not proud of anything. It's embarrassing, and obviously there's four people there on a Zoom call, basically, just listening to all of this, and reading out my messages." Jenas has also claimed that there are "two sides" to the story, with news breaking of his sacking during a shift for radio station talkSPORT.
He is still believed to be with his wife, Ellie Penfold, despite the controversy. The pair have been married for over 12 years and have three children (two daughters and a son) together, with Jenas also having another daughter from another marriage. She lives with her mother.
Penfold is described in her Instagram page as being a 'Cosmetic Tattoo Specialist'. She is Australian. The duo announced their engagement in 2009 after meeting during Jenas' time ar Tottenham.
Although her personal online account is private, Jenas did speak about Penfold in 2021. "She actually made me get rid of the car because it was too noisy!" he said of his wife's views on a new Ferrari. "She's told me she thought when we first met that I was a bit of an over-confident idiot, but I won her over finally."
He added: "She's been a rock keeping the family going through tough times." Their children are named Geneva, Olivia, and Jacob. Jenas' oldest daughter is Sancha.
Unfortunately for Jenas, the BBC scandal is not the only high-profile incident in his personal life. In 2022 he was fined over £2,000 for using his phone in two hands whilst driving on the M25. He was banned for six months for speeding as well.
He was also in hot water in 2023 after calling referee Rob Jones a "complete s***house" online, claiming that all officials are ruining football. He was challenged by a referring charity due to his status and platform, eventually apologising.
Jenas has set up a foundation to offer football tickets to disadvantaged students though. If kids in Nottingham and London hit 100% attendance, Jenas' Aquinas Foundation offers reward for their work.
He could be back on TV screens sooner rather than later though. Taking to Instagram to update his followers, he wrote: "I just thought it was important for me to jump on here actually and just talk to you lot and say thank you for the level of support that you've shown me.
"It's clearly been a difficult period for me but one I will definitely grow from. We're human beings, it is what it is, you'll learn from it. Become a better person. I think those are the things that are important in life."
He finished: "There's some exciting stuff that I've been working on so hopefully you'll all have that to look forward to very soon. And also hopefully I'll just be back talking about what I love really which is football."