Eamonn Holmes: BBC colleagues saved me from getting the boot...and being replaced by Gary Lineker

The veteran Irish presenter made the revelation during a discussion on GB News which reflected on remarks from Des Lynam, who said Match of the Day presenter Gary should stick to sport and not air political opinions.

Eamonn said: “He was very complimentary about Gary, says he liked him as a broadcaster.

“Des is the doyen, Des is the Pope of broadcasting. He is the one if you were any good you wanted to be like because he was the best.

"See, Gary Lineker actually changed the way sports representation happened after that because prior to that, there were anchors, people like David Coleman, Frank Bough, Dickie Davies, Des Lynam.

"After Des, it was sports hosts who anchored all the programmes. You had to have competed at some level or been involved in sport."

Asked if he agreed that this shift in presenting was a good idea, Eamonn replied: "I don't think it's a good idea, particularly on football.

"I think it's very good to have someone who has an interest…in the game and be asked somewhat naive or silly questions at some stage but have the passion of a fan.

"You don't always have to be an expert to present certain stuff."

Recalling how this almost saw him left snookered himself, the GB News presenter added: "I used to host snooker for the BBC. And I was being replaced - they wanted to replace me with Gary Lineker."

However, he revealed that those involved with the show Pot Black stepped in to ensure it didn't happen.

He continued: "I was lucky that the snooker players (a bit) like a union got together and said, 'No, no, we like Eamonn'.

"And actually it's a tremendous tribute to me that they said, 'No, we want Eamonn to stay,' and they had that power that meant I stayed on hosting snooker which was a great compliment."

The GB News star went on to praise Lineker as being a "top man" and host.