Rugby World Cup presenter Jill Douglas fumed at Olympic legend during interview

14 September 2023 , 13:48

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Jill Douglas is part of the ITV team at the Rugby World Cup (Image: Neal Simpson/REX/Shutterstock)

Rugby union fanatics will be more than familiar with presenter Jill Douglas as she helps front ITV's coverage of the World Cup tournament in France.

Douglas, 53, has carved out a reputation for being an accomplished presenter ever since she started working on BBC Scotland's rugby coverage on Sportscene back in 1997. She's since gone on to work for Sky Sports, BT Sport, and ITV, excelling in a range of sports.

But despite coming across personable and composed on television, she also wasn't afraid to deal with an Olympic legend live on air back at the Rio games in 2016. And that hasn't proved her only flashpoint at high-profile sporting events.

The Games in Brazil represented the last for Sir Bradley Wiggins, and the cycling icon signed off by winning his fifth Olympic gold medal in the team pursuit event. It equalled the marker of rower Sir Steve Redgrave, who was co-presenting with Douglas at the time.

And it was the Scotswoman who had begun conducting the interview with Wiggins when Redgrave, who himself retired after the 2002 Sydney Olympics, steamed in to takeover. He hugged his compatriot on the side of the velodrome, prompting a snap response from Douglas.

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"Let me do this," she told Redgrave, 61. It briefly made for uncomfortable television, although she later played down any talk of spat, later tweeting a picture of the pair smiling with the caption: "As you can see, Sir Steve in furious..."

Douglas also hit the headlines in February, having been on the receiving end of a seemingly unjust outburst from snooker star Shaun Murphy. Working for ITV at the Players Championship, she questioned the 'Magician' over the notion he was guilty of lapses in concentration.

Jill Douglas is a veteran when it comes to presenting at the Olympics (BBC)

Murphy responded with a somewhat bizarre rant about "lazy journalism." He also implied the view was "ridiculous," although would later perform a u-turn and apologise for his actions.

Indeed, he proceeded to deliver a bottle of wine and a card to Douglas by way of apology, and conceded he was wrong for “leaping down her throat." And relations between the pair appeared fine thereafter as Murpy went on to capture the championship.

Douglas, who received an MBE last year, is also renowned for her work with the 'My Name'5 Doddie' Foundation. She became CEO of the group in 2017 amid her friendship with Doddie Weir, who died in November last year having been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Fraser Watson