'Even my dog is disappointed': Jermaine Jenas says wife is 'raging' and not speaking to him amid sexting scandal

24 August 2024, 14:41 | Updated: 24 August 2024, 15:01

'Even my dog is disappointed': Jermaine Jenas says wife is 'raging' and not speaking to him amid sexting scandal
'Even my dog is disappointed': Jermaine Jenas says wife is 'raging' and not speaking to him amid sexting scandal. Picture: Alamy/Social media

By Christian Oliver

Jermaine Jenas has said his wife is 'absolutely raging' and even his dog is disappointed in him after he was sacked for sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The now-fired The One Show and Match Of The Day presenter said he was “ashamed” and “let everybody down” after a female colleague raised concerns about unsolicited messages.

Jenas, 41, apologised on Friday but strongly denied any criminality. He argued nothing physical ever occurred and said none of the messages sent included sexual pictures or videos.

He has also revealed that his wife of 13 years, model Ellie Penfold, has been left "absolutely raging" over the scandal and that she has kicked him out of their bedroom at the home they share with their children in Hertfordshire.

“We’ve not really spoken properly since,” Jenas told The Sun. “She’s absolutely raging.”

Jermaine Jenas and Ellie Penfold  attend day three of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships
Jermaine Jenas and Ellie Penfold attend day three of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Picture: Getty

Read More: Sacked Match of the Day presenter Jermaine Jenas ‘ashamed’ after ‘letting everybody down’ with 'inappropriate messages'

Read More: Match of the Day pundit and One Show presenter Jermaine Jenas sacked over complaints of 'inappropriate behaviour'

Jenas said he initially lied to his wife after hoping he would only be suspended by the BBC over the scandal.

“I had to tell her by Monday evening because I knew then that I’d been fired.

“I just said: ‘I’ve been sacked from the BBC.’ She said: ‘What for?’ and I said: ‘For sending text messages that weren’t appropriate to two girls.’”

Jenas continued: “Ellie is absolutely raging. She’s human. When I see her now, she is just making sure the children are okay.”

Jenas said he had also had “difficult conversations” with his two eldest children. "They’re obviously of an age where they’re aware of social media. That’s been hard.

“I’ve let everyone down. Even my dog looked at me disappointed.”

The former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder was tipped by many to succeed Gary Lineker as presenter of the broadcaster's flagship football programme Match Of The Day.

He said he made a "huge error of judgement" and is "deeply sorry" to the women involved, his wife and his children.

He told the paper: “I feel so ashamed. I’ve let everybody down - my colleagues, my friends and, most importantly, I’ve let my family down."

“I am so, so sorry.

“I am sorry for what I have put them through."

Jenas added: “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.

“Before any of this became ­public, I saw my private doctor and after a long discussion, booked in for therapy to try and address these issues, where they stem from, and why I have been doing this and hurting the people I love.

Jermaine Jenas during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United
Jermaine Jenas during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United. Picture: Getty

“I’m not proud of what I wrote and what I said. And I do consider it cheating, yes, although nothing physical ever happened.

“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.”

Jenas told the newspaper: "These were two consenting adults I was speaking to. With one she made it clear she was interested. I don't want to start going down the 'who pursued who' road, but when people are saying things that are wrong and false information is being spread, I do have to kind of defend my space.

"In that particular instance, there was an adult conversation that took place in a bar in London where that person made it very clear that they had an attraction to me. Yes there was alcohol involved but I take full responsibility.

"I feel people don't know the truth and are forming opinions about me that aren't accurate. I wasn't going through some kind of BBC vault trying to get women's numbers. I'm obviously going to say I'm not a sex pest. These were consenting adults I was texting."

Jermaine Jenas and Ellie Penfold arrive for the Pride of Britain Awards, October 8, 2023
Jermaine Jenas and Ellie Penfold arrive for the Pride of Britain Awards, October 8, 2023. Picture: Alamy

Speaking yesterday, the ex-footballer claimed "there are two sides to every story."

Speaking to Times Radio on Thursday evening, Jenas said: "I can't really talk about it. As you can probably see, I'm not happy about it.

But currently as it stands I'm going to have to let the lawyers deal with it.

"There's two sides... that's all I can say now."

He added: "I'm not happy about this situation. I'm going to be speaking to my lawyers about it, is all I can say right now."

One source has reportedly said: "It all came as a massive shock but his colleagues have now been told the news and he won't be back.

"His colleagues are stunned, they didn't see it coming at all. They were kept in the dark to start with. They couldn't believe it when they found out."

Another source said: "This is a categorical nightmare for the BBC.

"After some immediate routine enquiries the decision was taken to take him off air, and terminate his contract."

Jenas earned £190,000 - £194,999 at the BBC for his work on the FA Cup, Match of the Day and the World Cup.

His work on The One Show was for BBC Studios, the BBC's commercial production company, so his salary is not in the public domain.

Jenas is also employed by TNT Sports who told the BBC they were not making any comment.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Starmer, Trump and Putin.

'Once in a generation moment': Starmer warns against Europe-US division amid Russia-Ukraine peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and United States President Donald Trump (right).

US officials heading to Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia

Police in  Villach, Austria.

Boy, 14, killed and five injured after Syrian asylum seeker goes on knife rampage in Austrian town

Julie Buckley, 54, from the village of Christchurch in Cambridgeshire, has not been seen since late January.

Missing woman at centre of Cambridgeshire murder investigation named

Police at the scene after the car crashed into protesters.

Mother and her two-year-old daughter die after Munich attack where man ploughed car into crowd

Thousands attend the Pro-Palestinian demonstration held in London

Man arrested as thousands march to protest Trump's 'Riviera of the Middle East' Gaza plan

Partial lunar eclipse rising over Stonehenge, UK, on July 16th 2019

Rare 'blood moon' lunar eclipse is coming to the UK - here's how to see it

Ukraine war is the ‘front line’ for Europe and UK will up defence spending, Lammy says as Zelensky calls for European army

Ukraine war is ‘front line’ for Europe and UK will up defence spending, Lammy says as Zelensky calls for 'army of Europe'

Flag of the United Kingdom with surveillance camera and barbed wire

UK spending millions on ad campaign painting gloomy picture of Britain to deter Albanian immigrants

Flack, who was also known for presenting ITV's Love Island, took her own life on February 15 2020 at the age of 40.

Laura Whitmore shares heartbreaking final messages from Caroline Flack five years on from star's death

Exclusive
The former Deputy Foreign Secretary said: “Many countries in Europe are simply not spending anywhere near, in percentage terms, what America is spending.

UK needs to ‘spend less on welfare and more on defence’ to support Ukraine, former Shadow Foreign Secretary tells LBC

Craig and Lindsay Foreman

British couple on motorbike adventure held in Iran pictured for the first time as family break silence

The Jet2 plane was forced to divert.

Jet2 plane bound for UK makes emergency landing after passenger dies on board

he Philadelphia Eagles celebrate in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art during the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl Championship Parade on February 14, 2025

Two women shot and injured during Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl victory parade, police say

Social media footage showed a man being kicked on the ground by his knife-wielding attacker.

Two charged by police after shock footage shows man kicked and spat at by knifeman after ‘burning Koran’ in London

Jannik Sinner

World tennis number one Jannik Sinner handed three-month ban for doping