Gary Lineker disagreed with BBC apology after Wolves vs Liverpool interrupted by sex noises

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The BBC was once forced to issue an apology after a sex noise prank disrupted its FA Cup coverage, leaving Gary Lineker in disagreement. Wolves host Liverpool at their ground on Friday evening in the fifth round of the FA Cup , following the same fixture at Molineux in the Premier League earlier this week.

Wolves also played host to Liverpool in an FA Cup third round replay back in January 2023. The BBC will be hoping its coverage of the FA Cup fixture runs smoothly this time after a shocking incident occurred last time round .

Prior to the fixture three years ago, which finished 1-0 in Liverpool's favour, then-host Lineker and pundits Paul Ince and Danny Murphy tried to discuss the match before kick-off. Suddenly, loud moaning sounds of a sexual nature started blaring out at full volume in the background.

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It was initially unclear where the noises were coming from as Lineker and the pundits did their best to remain professional and carry on their analysis with straight faces. Lineker couldn't resist chuckling and made light of the circumstances despite the relentless interruptions playing on a loop.

The noises were picked up by viewers while the broadcaster cut away from the studio for a discussion with co-commentator Alan Shearer in the gantry. Lineker revealed shortly after kick-off on X that the cause of the noises was a hidden mobile phone .

He wrote: "Well, we found this taped to the back of the set," he tweeted alongside a picture of the phone in question. "As sabotage goes it was quite amusing."

The BBC later apologised to viewers who were offended by what occurred and pledged to investigate the incident thoroughly. Yet, Lineker, who left his long-standing role at the BBC last year, saw the funny side as he tweeted a picture of the viral incident and joked: "Nothing to moan about, I guess."

He made light of the incident several more times, including during the half-time segment and after the final whistle, saying: "Harvey Elliott's goal was a screamer... which was not the only one we've had tonight."

When interviewed by Newsnight after the match, Lineker adopted a light-hearted stance on the incident and questioned the need to apologise. He said: "If you had told me this morning that tonight I would be on Newsnight talking about a * scandal, I would have been terrified.

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"But thankfully it was just something that happened in the studio. When it started, I did recognise that sound, I think we've all been done with that. You might open a WhatsApp and somebody has sent it as a trick, or something. It was quite difficult to deal with during the pre-match build-up.

"I thought maybe it had gone to one of the pundits' phones but then we worked out that it was a prank. It was so loud that I could hardly hear what the pundits were saying. I have to say, I think it's funny.

"The BBC have issued some sort of apology - I know not why. We've certainly got nothing to apologise for."

Lineker and Shearer recalled the incident several months later. Lineker said: "I was interviewing Alan when it was actually going on," as Shearer added: "Yeah, I was on the co-coms [co-commentary]. So I was inside the stadium. I could hear it and there was a part of me thinking it was my phone!"

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Lineker then interjected: "It's the * he was listening to the night before!" Shearer admitted he had been pranked by the moaning noise before and was originally left stunned, believing his phone had played the audio out loud by accident.

He continued: "I'd been tricked by people sending me that video so many times and I'm thinking, 'Has it gone off on my phone, in my pocket?' I tried to be professional and ignore it; I only started laughing when you [Lineker] started laughing!"

Later revealed to be behind the stunt was notorious prankster Dan Jarvis, known as Jarvo69 or BMWJarvo, who had simply walked into Molineux unchallenged by security to hide the phone. Jarvis posted a video on YouTube live streaming from his living room showing exactly how it was executed with the help of accomplices.