Bosses at talkSPORT had a decision to make – and not much time in which to do so. Moments before he was due to go on air, to front a drivetime show last August, Jermaine Jenas informed them that he had been sacked from his £190,000-a-year job as host of The One Show by the BBC. With the clock ticking, they elected to allow him to take the chair. What followed was a couple of hours of almost surreal airtime, with the story breaking online that he had been fired amid allegations of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards a female employee not long into his stint.

Four minutes later BBC Director of Sport, Alex Kay-Jelski, sent an all-staff message saying simply: ‘Hi all, I wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas is no longer working for the BBC.’. The elephant was not so much in the room, but in the passenger seat of white vans up and down the country as Jenas and co-presenter Jermaine Pennant discussed everything but the story on everyone else’s lips.

Jermaine Jenas was sacked from his £190,000-a-year BBC job last August amid allegations of 'inappropriate behaviour'. Jenas was a rising star at the BBC, presenting the One Show - seen here with Alex Jones. BBC insiders saw Jenas as the future replacement of Gary Lineker on Match of the Day. At one point, a reporter from one of News UK’s stable of newspapers, based in the same London Bridge building, turned up outside the studio’s glass windows on the hunt for a quote.

Jenas did eventually address the issue. In a short interview after the show which left more questions than answers he claimed that there were ‘two sides to every story’ before repeatedly claiming he could not comment further until he had spoken to his lawyer. More details of his abrupt departure from the Beeb, where many believed he was being lined up to replace Gary Lineker as Match of the Day host, emerged.

His dismissal was understood to relate to the sending of explicit texts to two female employees at the broadcaster. The 41-year-old subsequently made a public apology and referred to ‘self sabotage and a self-destructive streak’. He admitted sending the texts but insisted that they were between consenting adults and added that he had done nothing illegal. His wife, with whom he shares three children, kicked him out of the bedroom they shared at their £1million family home and was, in his words ‘absolutely raging’.

TalkSPORT said they had no immediate plans to use him again, while insiders at TNT Sports, for whom the former England, Newcastle and Tottenham midfielder also worked, sounded a similar line. Jenas' wife Ellie Penfold kicked him out of their marital bed in their £1million home. Penfold was said to be 'absolutely raging' - in her husband's words - about Jenas' conduct. Jenas had effectively been cancelled, and not heard of on the airwaves or TV until this week.

At BBC HQ in Salford, a Match of the Day mural featuring the 41-year-old was swiftly taken down. He was promptly removed from the One Show’s Facebook photo and airbrushed from the website of the M&C Saatchi Merlin agency, his bio page returning a ‘page not found' error message. Jenas had, effectively, been cancelled, and not heard of on the airwaves or on television since. That was until earlier this week.

Mail Sport understands that the first most staff at talkSPORT knew of his planned return, to provide colour commentary for Sunday’s clash between two of his former clubs Villa and Spurs as we revealed yesterday, was when it was dropped on them as a fait accompli in a planning meeting on Monday. No consultation had been carried out. The decision is thought to have been made by Liam Fisher, the station’s head.

Immediately, those within the room are known to have raised objections. Word spread around the department and a number of employees, both male and female, made it clear that they would not feel comfortable working with Jenas. Indeed, it can be reported that the three people who were due to work on the game at Villa Park refused point blank. Jenas is set to return to talkSPORT on Sunday to commentate on two of his old clubs, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.

Jenas told talkSPORT bosses just moments before he went live on air of his BBC sacking. Senior staff also raised concerns while alternative plans had to be made. Others are set to step in as replacements with the broadcaster in apparent turmoil. One insider, close to the situation, explained: ‘This is a decision that appears to have been forced on the staff. 'There’s a lot of shock that there was no consultation with female employees. Would you not at least check their views?’.

There is some semblance of a plan. Jenas is first expected to be a guest on Friday’s morning show. Presenter Alex Crook and Jenas’s fellow former pro Troy Deeney will also be on air, instead of regulars Jim White and Simon Jordan, which many will see as a lost opportunity for a proper grilling. Some are also viewing it as an attempt to pave the way and soften the blow ahead of Sunday’s broadcast.