Wayne Lineker, the owner of O Beach in Ibiza, recently faced a distressing incident at Crouchfest, a live podcast recording event at the OVO Arena Wembley. Lineker was brought on stage as one of the live guests for ‘The Peter Crouch Podcast,’ hosted by former footballer Peter Crouch. What was meant to be an enjoyable appearance quickly turned sour as Lineker was subjected to offensive slurs from a section of the audience.
The incident occurred when Wayne Lineker walked onto the stage during the live recording. Some members of the audience began shouting derogatory comments towards the 61-year-old, leading to an uncomfortable atmosphere. As he took his seat on stage, the insults escalated, leaving Lineker visibly unimpressed.
In the aftermath of the event, Wayne Lineker, who is the brother of renowned former England striker and Match of the Day host, Gary Lineker, took to Instagram to address the abusive comments he endured. He expressed his bewilderment at the sudden turn of events, highlighting that just moments earlier, many fans had approached him for photos and expressed their admiration. He described the situation as “weird” and painful.
Lineker shared his feelings, saying, “I walk on stage, and a couple of kids are like ‘paedo,’ and the next group were like ‘paedo, paedo, paedo.’ All of a sudden there’s thousands of people calling me a ‘paedo.’ I’m like what the f***, man. Yeah, it wasn’t a nice moment. I just wanted the stage to open up… I wanted to be Gemma Collins. That’s who I wanted to be. I wanted to just fall into that trap door.”
The incident on stage was undoubtedly an awkward moment during the show, prompting the presenters to move on to a different segment to avoid further questions to Lineker. Peter Crouch refrained from addressing the abusive slurs, and the podcast segued to co-host Chris Stark, who presented a segment about the Samrat curry house in Ealing, which is a recurring joke on the podcast.
Wayne Lineker’s public image has sometimes been marred by accusations of having a penchant for dating younger women. He has been in relationships with three women who are significantly younger than him, two of whom became his wives. Additionally, Lineker has faced online trolling in the past.
Notably, he was previously falsely labeled a ‘paedophile’ following a prank engagement announcement with former Geordie Shore star Chloe Ferry. The two shared a photograph together after an appearance on the television show ‘Celebs Go Dating.’ Lineker defended himself against the offensive comments, expressing his love for Chloe Ferry and his indifference to the online abuse. Ferry herself joined in, condemning the hurtful words and expressing her support for Wayne Lineker.
The incident at Crouchfest highlights the challenges that public figures often face in dealing with online abuse and false accusations, as well as the importance of addressing such issues with empathy and support.