Gary Lineker claims to have no regrets about publicly criticising the former government's stance on immigration - although he is still pained by the 'damage' it did to the BBC. A row over Lineker's duty to be impartial erupted in 2023 after he called an asylum policy 'immeasurably cruel' on social media and likened the language used in a promotional video to 'Germany in the 30s'.

The former England international, who has hosted the broadcaster's flagship football highlights show Match of the Day since 1999, was temporarily told to step back until an agreement was reached over his social media use. Alan Shearer and Ian Wright boycotted the show out of solidarity, and one episode was aired without pundits in May 2023.

Reflecting on his comments in an interview with the BBC, Lineker said: "I don't regret saying them publicly, because I was right - what I said, it was accurate - so not at all in that sense.

"Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No I wouldn't, because of all the nonsense that came with it... It was a ridiculous overreaction that was just a reply to someone that was being very rude. And I wasn't particularly rude back.

"But I wouldn't do it again because of all the kerfuffle that followed, and I love the BBC, and I didn't like the damage that it did to the BBC... But do I regret it and do I think it was the wrong thing to do? No."

Lineker's suspension reopened a debate on whether the BBC's impartiality rules should apply to all employees, or only those working in certain roles. The 64-year-old thinks it should be the latter.

"[The rules] were for people in news and current affairs," he explained. "They have subsequently changed. But that left people like me, who has always given his honest opinions about things, then they suddenly changed them and you have to go, 'Oh, I've got to be impartial now'. It doesn't make any sense.

"I've always been strong on humanitarian issues and always will be, and that's me. The goalposts were massively moved because it was never an issue until, suddenly, this point."

It was announced in November that Lineker will leave Match of the Day at the end of this season, which will mean the end of a 26-year stint at the helm. The BBC are replacing him with Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan on a rotating basis.

The planned change came as a shock to many, and Lineker has suggested that he wasn't the only driving force behind the final call.

He explained: "In the end, I think there was a feeling that, because it was a new rights period, it was a chance to change the programme. I think it was their preference that I didn't do Match of the Day for one more year, so they could bring in new people."