'Barefaced lying!' - Kelly Cates reacts to landing Match of the Day gig & filling the shoes of ex-England international Gary Lineker

Sky Sports presenter Cates, who is the daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, has been confirmed as one of three anchors that will be sharing the responsibility of succeeding ex-England international Gary Lineker in the MOTD chair.

She will be working with Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan, who have also had to keep news of their respective appointments secret as the long-running selection process was completed. Cates admits that she found it hard to keep quiet.

Cates told The Sports Agents podcast: "I have learnt about myself that I could never have a second life. I could never be – I mean, it was never on the cards for me – but I could never be, for example, a spy. That was never going to be an option for me!"

She went on to say: "I’ve just been barefaced lying to friends, it’s been horrendous. It wasn't that I couldn't trust them. I only told my mum, and that was because for a lot of the time I just didn't want extra noise. I just wanted it to be very quiet outside of that kind of conversation."

Cates said of how she reacted to being handed the prestigious Match of the Day gig: "When it was first kind of made official, I was on a call with Alex [Kay-Jelski] who is the head of BBC Sport, and I just kept saying to him, ‘I’m so excited, I’m so excited!’ And then I realised that he had me on loudspeaker, and several really quite important people where listening to me sounding like a 13-year-old!"

That enthusiasm has helped Cates to land a notable role, with Lineker – after 25 years as the face of Match of the Day – set to step down and pass on the presenting baton when the 2024-25 Premier League campaign comes to a close.