BBC's Gabby Logan shares impact of brutal ITV axe after fearing career was 'all gone'
Gabby Logan has spoken out on what it felt like to be axed from her World Cup presenting role and replaced by Steve Rider - and how it's defined her career since.
Gabby Logan has vowed she won't be stepping away from the sport reporting scene any time soon, having moved on from her ITV axe back in 2006. The hard-working pundit switched to the BBC after she was replaced as host of the World Cup Games in a brutal reshuffle she hadn't been anticipating.
Looking back on the tough time she had 18 years later, she confided: "I left ITV under something of a cloud. I felt it was all gone." She continued: "Maybe if that hadn't happened, I wouldn't be as appreciative and as hard working now. When I stop, I want it to be on my terms."
Gabby added in a new interview for Saga Magazine that entering her 50s hasn't changed her determination to excel. That's in spite of it sometimes proving tough to navigate the typically male-dominated environment of sport.
Pointing out that Hazel Irvine is presenting the upcoming Olympics this year as a woman almost a decade older than her, she admitted she was feeling inspired. "She’s a broadcaster par excellence - the benchmark for me. If Hazel’s still there, I’m still there!" she declared.
Meanwhile, she's not just determined to report on sporting pursuits - she wants to participate too, nodding to her earlier background as a gymnast. In fact, Gabby can even still do the splits.
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"I don’t want to decline. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do them at that age!" she exclaimed defiantly.
Gabby has come a long way in confidence since those early days when she was sacked by ITV at the age of 33.
The axe followed a string of negative reviews about her performance, with one publication cruelly claiming she'd been "dressed as if she had come straight from her day job as a dental receptionist and, with that dark eye shadow, was on the way to the Rocky Horror Show".
However, her replacement, Steve switched from the BBC, which is the channel she'd ultimately end up presenting for instead.
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Within a couple of years, she'd bounced back from the cruel commentary completely, even presenting her first ever Olympics in 2008.
She also became the much-appreciated commentator for Wimbledon and Match of the Day.
Although she went on to struggle with the onset of the menopause, even fearing that she had "early onset dementia", she has been open and honest about the brain fog she experienced and has come through it.
Now more comfortable and determined about the future, it seems there's no limit to where she's headed next.
