'Don't bring that up...' - Tim Lovejoy 'cringes' when asked about Soccer AM segment he regrets during live interview
Former Soccer AM presenter Tim Lovejoy has opened up about the "cringe" segment which he regrets doing.
Lovejoy fronted the former Sky Sports show between 1996 and 2007 and spent a chunk of it hosting alongside Helen Chamberlain.
Soccer AM was immensely popular in its heyday and one of its most recognisable sections was the 'Soccerette' segment.
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A woman wearing a football shirt would be introduced and interviewed by Lovejoy or future presenters.
The segment included a catwalk strut to 'Jean Knight's Mr Big Stuff' and a series of questions about the soccerette's age and relationship status, leading to gags like "Great age!" and "It'll never last!" when they disclosed how old they were and if they were single or not.
Past soccerettes include Gemma Atkinson and Natalie Sawyer, though the part of the show was dropped in 2015.
And Lovejoy has admitted that doesn't look back at the segment with particular fondness.
"Don’t bring that up, I cringe about that," the 56-year-old said on talkSPORT, as per The Sun.
"But it was a different time and we were told to push the boundaries.
"We were just doing different stuff and people had a laugh and a joke with it."
However one feature which Lovejoy enjoyed was 'Showboat' - which saw the best bits of skills from players from the previous week in one compilation set to music.
In the early days though, managers were not big fans of their players being praised for perceived showboating and complained to Soccer AM chiefs.
He added: "When we started Showboat we loved it but after three or four weeks I got called in by one of the bosses, who was brilliant by the way, but he said a couple of the managers have complained about you putting their players on Showboat.
"In the 90s it was percentage football, ‘We’re not showboating ponies and we’re here to win a match and be dedicated to the fans’. They hated it for two or three years but every player was trying to get on."
Lovejoy left Soccer AM in 2007 following a pay dispute and was replaced by Max Rushden.
The show was last presented by John 'Fenners' Fendley and Jimmy Bullard prior to being taken off the air last year.
Josh Lawless