On the eve of his carefully choreographed return to British airwaves, Jermaine Jenas was eager to illustrate that he was back on top and loving life.

Forrest Frank’s God is Good was his music choice on a day of Instagram story updates beginning with footage of a dog walk in the early morning mist. Later on Saturday, he was running the line for his daughter’s football team. “Girls have been brilliant,” he said alongside footage of their mud-caked pitch. “Oh I love this version of football.”

Wholesome images to demonstrate the Jenas of old was back. The cosy BBC prime-time version, the 2024 “Women’s Football Ally Of The Year”, before it all came crashing down.

As he later swaggered off to the Derek Chisora fight, smiling and tucking into a burger ring side, the mood among his employers at Talksport towers was significantly less carefree.

The married father-of-four, sacked by the BBC last August over sexually offensive texts sent to colleagues, resumed microphone duties on Sunday as his former club Tottenham travelled to Aston Villa.

But in recent days even colleagues had been unclear who would be joining him on coverage amid alleged fury in some corners of the station over a perceived lack of consultation.

Majority of staff ‘did not want him back’

Those behind the scenes at the main commercial rival to BBC Radio 5 Live say they have never known a week so tense at the HQ in the shadow of the Shard. The first WhatsApp messages speculating Jenas could be returning were shared among the rank and file around 10 days ago. At around the same time, those involved in the football team were said to have been asked “hypothetically” by station executives whether they would welcome Jenas’s return. The answer, among the majority of those asked, was a “hard no”.

But executives paid little notice, it is alleged, as, by the Monday, it was known Jenas was returning regardless. Several Talksport colleagues immediately vowed they would refuse to work alongside him. By Tuesday, boycotter numbers had grown by several more – men and women – as news of Jenas’s imminent return was leaked to The Daily Mail.

Supporters of Jenas, who had already made sporadic appearances on foreign television networks in recent months, felt the 41-year-old “had done his time”. Jenas has acknowledged he sent “inappropriate messages”, telling The Sun last year he felt “ashamed” and had “let everybody down”.

But several figures at lower levels at Talksport had been in direct contact with counterparts at the BBC’s The One Show since the furore erupted. And given the protests taking place in private, a mood of paranoia has taken hold that Jenas’s return had been pre-determined regardless of colleagues’ concern.

‘Those who raised complaints now feel vulnerable’

One member of staff pointed to a headline initially appearing that same day on the website of The Sun – Talksport’s News UK stablemate – saying Jenas’s return “bucks the cancel-culture trend”. “The message, as far as we were concerned, is that Jenas is back whether we like it or not,” said one figure involved. “Those who raised complaints around Jenas now feel vulnerable.”

Other sources speak of a feeling that “this all looked very planned”, describing a mood where staff felt their opinion was irrelevant and the decision was a “fait accompli”.

Such descriptions of unrest – and claims of a lack of dialogue with staff – are rejected by senior figures at the company. “The Talksport team has been consulted, as you would expect,” said a Talksport source.

However, others maintain discontent internally and externally has only been exacerbated since Thursday as Alan Brazil, the station’s big-beast host, ranted that “people around the world are not bothered” about Manchester United’s women’s team. Colleague Shebahn Aherne snapped back in viral on-air scenes that Brazil was being a “proper dinosaur”.

Aherne had every reason to be fired up on such topics, having already interviewed Jenas for a package that would be broadcast on Friday. “The last six, nearly seven months, have been extremely tough for myself and my family,” Jenas had told her. “But it’s also been a really good opportunity to take stock, have a good look at why you find yourself in these kinds of situations, and start to have some honest conversations with yourself.”

Colleagues feared the interview would be received badly and they were proved right. By the Saturday, Telegraph Sport was being made aware of staff and freelancers complaining of feeling “unsafe or morally compromised to take a shift” with Jenas.

Yvonne Harrison, chief executive of Women in Football, said: “Jermaine Jenas’s apology seems to have fallen short of what’s required. His regret for the impacts of his past behaviour appears to be centred less on the women he was working with than on himself, his family and his own career. This isn’t ‘cancel culture’; this is about talented and dedicated people denied work because their employer has failed in its duty of care.”

Carrie Brown, an experienced football presenter for beIN Sports, who has also worked for Eurosport and ITN, had already echoed similar sentiments. She posted on X: “The Jermaine Jenas apology once again missing the whole point. How can anyone agree to do the interview without insisting they discuss if he appreciates the impact on those he worked with? Or was it edited out? A key reason there has been such upset for those asked to work with him this week. It’s so sad. It’s not just about Jermaine and his family. A missed opportunity.”

Yet Jenas, who earned between £190,000 and £194,999 at the BBC, gets his reprieve nevertheless. “[Jenas] has a proven track record as a footballer-turned-pundit,” said head of Talksport Liam Fisher. “We look forward to his expert commentary on Sunday as part of our coverage of 11 FA Cup commentaries across the weekend on the network.”

TNT Sports ‘could offer work’

Any lingering hopes of a return to the BBC, where he was once being lined up as an eventual replacement for Gary Lineker, appear dead. His sacking by the corporation – which was revealed while he appeared on air on TalkSport Drivetime – remains “definitive”, a BBC source insisted on Sunday.

But having weathered the storm this week, the expectation is that TNT Sports could eventually offer him work again, having repeatedly declined to comment on plans to bring him back.

For now, however, as he describes “looking inwards” and says he can “get back on [the] path” of being a role model, his colleagues may take some winning over.