“Match of the Day” presenter Gary Lineker has admitted he’s no longer a fan of X, formerly known as Twitter, due to the changes Elon Musk has made to the platform since taking over.
He said he was “very uncomfortable now” and that posting his thoughts was no longer a “pleasurable experience.”
“I don’t post my thoughts as much now because I find it’s not such a fun experience anymore. Before I was able to have a little chat with people there and joke around.
“Now it’s not possible anymore. Before I could chat to people I followed or who had the blue tick mark, but now they all have the blue tick mark so it doesn’t work anymore,” the 63-year-old told The Independent in an interview.
“I’m getting a bit bored. It’s a very unpleasant world and Musk is obviously a very strange guy,” he added.
Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, months after backing out of a deal. He wrote about the acquisition on his Twitter page to his 107.9 million followers, revealing plans for the platform to eventually become “the app for everything.”
“The Twitter acquisition will accelerate the development of our all-things app ‘X,'” he wrote, claiming that the site will help accelerate his new app proposal by “3-5 years.”
Gary has previously caused controversy with his posts on the platform, and despite hosting Match of the Day for 25 years, his position was called into question in November 2023 when he used X to criticise the UK government’s refugee policy.
His posts were condemned by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, after which the BBC announced that the former England forward had been temporarily sacked.
Gary has been removed as Match of the Day presenter after it was determined his “recent social media activity has breached our guidelines”.
As a result, several of his colleagues have also resigned from their roles at BBC programmes in solidarity.
In an unprecedented development, Match of the Day was broadcast without commentary or analysis and the BBC quickly reversed their decision and reinstated Lineker.
The company then announced an immediate review of its social media policies and procedures.