Soccer AM legend admits he 'cringes' when watching iconic segment 'no longer suitable'

Soccer AM legend Tim Lovejoy has confessed he now feels embarrassed by the programme's 'Soccerettes' segment. The show, a favourite on Sky for almost three decades, saw Lovejoy and co-host Helen Chamberlain become fixtures of Saturday morning television in the early noughties, engaging audiences with popular features. In the segment in question, a young female fan modelled a football shirt and participated in an interview with Lovejoy.

During the interview, she disclosed her relationship status and age to either cheers or jeers from the audience. The woman also walked down a makeshift catwalk with Lovejoy and a fan of the week. He now reflects with discomfort on some elements of the show , as he said: "We would never do it now.



I cringe sometimes when I look back at some of them because they're not really suitable for today's world." Despite Lovejoy's feelings, co-hosts Tubes and Chamberlain have defended the feature, citing the eager participation of the women involved. They also claimed that some girls even sought an appearance on the show by sending letters in.

Tubes, real name Peter Dale, said: "The girls enjoyed it. They loved coming on." Chamberlain added: "That's the key for me, they all applied.

" Lovejoy and Chamberlain both agreed, however, that the segment's success hinged on the women, with the host and fan merely providing comic relief. Lovejoy said: "You'd get them up, watching men walk up and down. Why can't men walk up and down the catwalk!? That was the funny bit, I thought, watching these guys trying their hardest to catwalk.

" Chamberlain added: "That was also the nice bit about having a Soccerette in the middle of you two because if it had just been you and a fan it would have been really ugly to watch every week!" After leaving Soccer AM in 2007, Lovejoy was succeeded by Andy Goldstein and later Max Rushden, while Chamberlain remained until 2017 as one of the show's original faces. Soccer AM was eventually cancelled in 2023, with their final episode airing on Saturday, May 27..