Richard Osman penned an ominous message on his official X account as he reacted to an anecdote shared by Gary Lineker.
Speaking to The Rest is Football co-hosts Micah Richards and Alan Shearer on Thursday, the former footballer recalled a humiliating experience he faced last week, while travelling on the tube, which may make him think twice about his regular trips on public transport.
The story began as Alan playfully teased Gary by asking him about his latest outing on the tube, to which the latter responded with an embarrassed chuckle. He then explained: “I get public transport all the time, I live near the train station. I walk there and get trains into London. I get the tube everywhere and I was on the tube one day last week and it was absolutely jam packed.”
While he was standing, the broadcaster spotted “a young lady” sitting near him. But when she noticed him back, their exchange left him reeling in shock. “I couldn’t move and there was a young lady sitting on her seat and she looked up at me and she went ‘would you like a seat'”, Gary added, as Alan and Micah lost their composure, letting laughter take hold.
A shocked Gary declined the young woman’s offer as discreetly as he could but the damage was unfortunately done – several passengers had heard the exchange and were discreetly chuckling around him. “I’m not that old, am I?”, he sighed. But as the 63-year-old is reaching the state pension age, which will earn him a buss pass for free travel, Gary made a drastic decision: “I get free travel on buses and stuff, I’m not going to claim that either!”
Once he stumbled upon the anecdote while scouring social media, a 53-year-old Richard replied, grimly (but playfully) penning: “It’s coming for us all.” Unfortunately for Gary, he failed to find support in the comment section as one of the presenter’s followers quipped: “Someone should tell him he’s been eligible for an oldies Oyster card these last 3 years.”
The pair of men have enjoyed a long-lasting bond, with Richard often tweeting at his pal on X. But last year, the host of House of Games took a stand for his friend when Gary was forced to step back from his presenting duties on Match of the Day.
Gary came under fire when he used his own X profile to criticise the British government’s asylum policy, which he branded “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”
Following a wave of backlash from Conservative figures, his political views landed him in trouble with the BBC as the broadcaster perceived his social media activity to be “a breach of (its) guidelines.”
Gary was forced out of the spotlight until “an agreed and clear position on his use of social media” had been worked out. And a fuming Richard stormed over to X to slam his own employers in Gary’s defence. “This is pathetic for so many reasons”, he wrote, as multiple BBC colleagues in the likes of Mark Chapman, Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas also pulled out of their respective roles in solidarity.
TikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.