Gary Lineker emotional as he discusses son's cancer battle 'he wasn't given much chance'

Gary Lineker has candidly opened up about his son's cancer battle, revealing he initially "wasn't given much chance", during an interview on ITV's The Assembly.

The ex-footballer, 64, is one of the celebrities appearing in the new four-part series of The Assembly, which sees stars quizzed by a group of interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent or learning disabled, with no topics off the table.

Gary was asked about how he felt when his eldest son George was diagnosed with cancer as a baby, with the dad-of-four becoming emotional as he reflected on the extremely difficult time.

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“That was really tough - it changes you,” he admitted. “He was only two months old. We got told he had leukaemia, he wasn’t given much chance."

"It was really awful. We were in the hospital for around seven months with him," Gary went on to add. "But we were the lucky ones, because there were other parents in there that lost their kids so we felt quite fortunate in the end. It was really scary.”

Gary shares four sons, George, Tobias, Harry and Angus, with his ex-wife Michelle, who he split from in 2006 after 20 years of marriage.

The pundit reflected on the ways in which he and ex Michelle coped with George's cancer diagnosis, also adding: “I felt I needed to talk about it. Michelle, she would bottle things up. But ultimately we got a good ending.”

Elsewhere in The Assembly, Gary spoke about his suspension from the BBC in 2023, admitting that the media frenzy that followed "upset" him at the time, but the support he received from colleagues was "beautiful".

"It was a crazy week and it upset me," he added. "I had all the press outside my house every minute of the day, for about five/six days. It got a bit silly but it was actually also lovely because the backing I got from the people I work with was beautiful."

Gary was temporarily removed from Match of The Day in 2023 after being accused of breaching impartiality guidelines, due to a tweet he shared criticising the UK government's immigration policy.

Fellow pundits including Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards all stood in solidarity with Gary and said they would not be appearing on MOTD in the wake of his suspension.

After several days, the dispute was resolved with Gary back on MOTD. Tim Davie, BBC's Director General, released a public statement at the time, saying the BBC has a "commitment to impartiality" as well as "freedom of expression".

The Assembly: Gary Lineker airs Sunday 11th May at 10pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player