Gary Lineker has broken his silence over his Match of The Day exit as the BBC launched a new reality show on TikTok to find the next football social media star.

The winner of the BBC show will be offered a job making content for shows such as Football Focus in a bid to win over a younger Gen Z audience.

Lineker will step down as host of the football highlights programme at the end of the season but will continue to present coverage of the FA Cup in 2025/26 and the World Cup in 2026, the BBC previously confirmed.

The sports broadcaster said hosting Match Of The Day for more than two decades was 'an absolute joy and privilege', but that it is 'the right time' for him to exit and 'someone else to take the helm' as the BBC looks to make changes to the programme. 

'It has been an absolute joy and privilege to present such an iconic show for the BBC, but all things have to come to an end,' Lineker said on his podcast, The Rest Is Football.

'It came at a point where really the BBC and Match Of The Day, they've got the rights for another three years, the cycle starts from next season so it felt like if I just do one more year it would be a bit weird.'

The 63-year-old former England striker later added: 'I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time.

'I think the next contract they're looking to do Match Of The Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.'

A TikTok reality show will now look for the next football expert who can appeal to younger viewers.

The scheme's site said: 'We are looking for talented football obsessives who are as comfortable explaining the latest tactical innovations to fan culture to interviewing top players.

'All shortlisted candidates will have an on-screen opportunity as well as receiving training and upskilling as part of the scheme.

'After completion of the series, the competition winner will be also offered a paid opportunity as a BBC Sport contributor.

'The window for applications will open in December 2024 and full details will be available on this page in the coming weeks.'

Lineker refused to speculate who would be taking his place, as rumours grew around Mark Chapman, the regular Match Of The Day 2 presenter, Football Focus host Alex Scott, and BBC sports coverage presenter Gabby Logan.

After his departure was announced he also spoke to MPs about prostate cancer, joining them in calls for a national screening programme for prostate cancer.

'Obviously I don't know who it'll be, and I would never tell publicly my preference, I don't think that'd be the right thing to do - but whoever it is, I would say be yourself,' he said.

'I had to fill the ginormous shoes of certain Des Lynam.

'I would say just be yourself and enjoy it, it's a wonderful programme to be a part of. It was brilliant before I took over, and it will be brilliant after I leave.'

Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and will have presented the show for more than a quarter of a century when he leaves in May 2025.

'I look back and it's been an amazing experience, and I feel incredibly fortunate,' he said, before confirming he will still watch Match Of The Day.

Lineker said it was nice to be leaving the show in 'really good shape', describing the viewing figures as 'still really competitive on a Saturday night'.

'I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time.

'It's the flagship BBC Sports programme, hopefully, it always will be.'

Last year, Lineker was briefly suspended from hosting Match Of The Day after his tweet about the British government's asylum policy sparked a row about the corporation's presenters expressing political views on social media.

'I've had a lot of chaos over the last couple of years in many ways,' Lineker joked, saying he was on 'first-name terms with some of the people that stand outside my front door'.

He added that he was surprised by 'the amount of love' he has received since news of his departure broke, which he described as 'a bit bonkers'.

'I didn't think it would be quite the big deal that it was - it's just a guy that has done a TV show for a long time, it's nothing more than,' he said.

Lineker will continue with the MOTD Top Ten podcast alongside his The Rest Is Football podcast, which also features BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Richards described it as a 'sad day' to learn of Lineker leaving Match Of The Day.

'You've been in the game for 25 years at the highest level, people don't do that, and you've done that for 25 years,' he said on the podcast.

'It is a sad day, not just for us, but for people who have watched you over the years, because you are a great of broadcasting.

'Yes, you're not leaving yet, but in terms of Match Of The Day, I just want to thank you so much for everything you've done, not just for me, but for everyone associated and who has watched you over the years.'

Shearer described Lineker as an 'unbelievable player, playing at the highest level for years and years and years' and an 'unbelievable presenter for years and years and years'.

Lineker has been the BBC's highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35 million in the year 2023/24, according to the corporation's annual report published in July.

The BBC said future plans for Match Of The Day would be 'announced in due course'.

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.