I’m worried my kids will be bullied because of my antics – they keep asking heartbreaking question, says Jermaine Jenas
JERMAINE Jenas has voiced fears over his kids being bullied because of his inappropriate behaviour – and says they keep asking the same question.
The former England footballer turned presenter, 41, was fired by the BBC after sending “inappropriate texts” to two female colleagues.
Emotional Jenas is now trying to claw back his relationship with ex-model wife Ellie, whom he wed in 2011 when he was on loan at Aston Villa.
While Jenas has been referred to a therapist by his doctor, he fears his two eldest daughters — who are 11 and 16 — may fall victim to bullying because of his antics.
Jenas said: “There have been difficult conversations to have with my 16-year-old and my 11-year-old.
“They’re obviously of an age where they’re aware of social media and other bits and pieces. That’s been hard.
“I’ve let everyone down. When you’ve got kids, man. Even my dog looked at me disappointed.
“But with the kids, I think this is where I’m hoping the help will go a long way for me.
“There are certain moments where I’m doing certain things where it’s just a complete, almost like a blackout of what I’m doing and I can’t be behaving like that.
“I can’t be taking so many risks with my own life, essentially.”
Praising Ellie as an “amazing mother”, he said she was solely focused on the care of their two daughters and young son.
Jenas explained: “It’s just about the children right now. It’s the school holidays and they’re trapped in the house because photographers are outside my house.
“They’re like, ‘What’s going on, Daddy?’. It’s tough.”
He added: “I’ve got to take responsibility and I’ve apologised to all of them.
“I don’t know what to say about that, to be honest with you.
“It’s just hard at home for the kids right now. My wife’s a real one.
“My wife is solid and she’s amazing. She is kind. She just needs some time.”
After being sacked by the BBC, Jenas — in an excruciating online meeting with HR and senior corporation execs — was shown a string of X-rated messages he had sent two colleagues on The One Show.
However, the defiant former footie star, who is considering suing the BBC for their handling of the crisis, insists: “I did nothing illegal — these were inappropriate messages between two consenting adults.”
Jenas, who also has a teenage daughter from a previous relationship, said Ellie has kicked him out of the bedroom the couple share at their £1million home in Hertfordshire.
He added: “I was obviously hoping that I maybe would have got a suspension of some sort.
“I had to tell [Ellie] by Monday evening because I knew then that I’d been fired.
“I just said, ‘I’ve been sacked from the BBC’.
“She said, ‘What for?’, and I said, ‘For sending text messages that weren’t appropriate to two girls’.
“Ellie is absolutely raging. She’s human.
“We’ve not really spoken properly since. She’s absolutely raging.”
The ex-Tottenham man denied sending any sexual pictures or videos.
But he apologised if he made the women he had messaged feel uncomfortable.
Jenas said: “It’s embarrassing, and obviously there’s four people there on a Zoom call, basically, just listening to all of this, and reading out my messages. I think I was in shock at the time, there was a lot to process.
“But I’m the married one, I’m at fault, and I was sort of playing this blame game in my head.
“The overriding panic by a mile was that I could lose my family.”
Jenas revealed he was sacked by the BBC on Monday, five days after the initial HR consultation process began.
The BBC’s Director of Sport Alex Kay-Jelski informed all staff of the former Spurs star’s sudden dismissal only after The Sun had broken the story online.
While former colleagues, both on and off screen, have been advised not to contact him due to the legal situation, he says several well-known faces and production staff have offered their support.
Jenas says he knows one of the women involved through work and she gave him her mobile number at a boozy work event.
They then “frantically” sexted over 24 hours but he claims it ended amicably.