Gabby Logan has been a mainstay on our TV screens for the best part of two decades, and she’ll be front and centre at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Thursday
Gabby Logan will host BBC Sports Personality Of The Year(Image: Getty)
Gabby Logan was once told to “go home and don’t come back” by a former ITV boss after being removed from World Cup hosting duties. Now 52, Logan is set to host the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards again on Thursday evening.
Logan’s experience as a presenter is extensive, having covered events such as the Olympics, the Six Nations and the Euros. She has been a consistent presence fronting the BBC’s SPOTY coverage and will rejoin Clare Balding and Alex Scott this year.
However, before her illustrious career with the BBC began, she feared it was over when she was dropped from covering a World Cup at ITV by a boss who didn’t take a liking to her.
“I think I had a rough ride in my early 30s in my career, and I can’t believe that’s nearly 20 years ago,” Logan revealed on the White Wine Question Time podcast. “At the time, I thought it was going to be the end of my career.
“I was leaving ITV and given another chance by the BBC… because even in my early 30s, I felt I’d already had this really long career and I’d done loads of great stuff. I’d started off at Sky, moved to ITV and did loads of brilliant things.
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“But I kind of felt I was maybe going to have to shift and do something completely different, because I had a boss that wasn’t really into me and wanted to slightly demote me. He took me off a World Cup in 2006.
“My kids were a year old and I was flying off to Germany, leaving my babies behind, going to the World Cup. [But] in the middle of the World Cup, he kind of sidelined me, and I came home with my tail between my legs.
Logan used to work for ITV(Image: Getty)
“I was due to do so many knockout games and he said [not to come back] basically. Go home and don’t come back because I was due to go home for a few days.
“In between the end of the group stages and the knockout stages, there’s always a couple of days off and I was going to go home because it was only Germany and the kids were a year old.”
Logan subsequently departed ITV for another opportunity at the BBC, where she has remained ever since. This year marked another milestone in her career when she was appointed as one of three new hosts for Match of the Day.
Logan hosts Match of the Day and alternates with two others(Image: BBC)
The 52-year-old presented her inaugural programme this Premier League season, sharing presenting responsibilities with Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates. She admitted to feeling considerable relief after her debut passed without incident.
Logan said: “The weird thing is, of all the programmes I’ve ever done, that first moment where you say hello to the guests and you link into the first VT , there is kind of this shoulders down moment. You go, ‘Okay, we’re up and running and now it’s just a TV show.’
“That moment from when the titles are rolling, Match of the Day music, the music’s just finished and you’re saying hello to your guests – and no matter how many times you rehearse a link like that, just saying it without tripping up is always a triumph.”
