MATCH of the Day host Mark Chapman has been dating his co-presenter Kelly Cates.
Friends say 52-year-old split from Dubai-based estate agent Clere Collier in April.
It is understood Clere then confronted him with her suspicions he had become close with .
A source said: “Mark admitted the relationship but insisted there was no overlap between the two women and that he hadn’t cheated on her.”
The popular presenter was in a three-year relationship with Clere Collier.
Following their split estate agent Clere confronted Mark with suspicions about him and Kelly who has hosted the BBC1 sports show with him since last year.
Chappers told 43-year-old Clere they were getting close but maintained that he had been faithful.
An associate of the former couple said: “Mark split with Clere out of the blue, without much explanation.
“They had been making plans for the future and their relationship had been going strong.
“They stayed in touch after the split, but Clere soon realised that Mark and Kelly were close and she accused Mark of dating Kelly.
“Mark admitted the relationship, but insisted there was no overlap between the two women and that he hadn’t cheated on her.
“He told her that he had been a single man when he started spending time with Kelly.
“Of course, it left a bad taste in Clere’s mouth, and she didn’t believe him.”
Dubai-based mum-of-two Clere regularly travelled to the UK to see Mark and they were pictured house-hunting last year.
Mark, one of the BBC’s highest paid broadcasters on £335,000 to £340,000 a year, was announced as a new host alongside Kelly and last year.
This July .
Kelly, daughter of Scotland and Liverpool great , split from TV producer husband Tom in 2021. They have two children.
Speaking about working with Mark, Kelly said: “Being on a team with them is genuinely really exciting. I feel like I’m in a great little group.”
He lost his wife of 19 years Sara, 44, to cancer in 2020. They had three children together before she was diagnosed.
At the time, a source told The Sun: “Sadly Sara passed away on June 3.
“Mark and the kids are absolutely devastated. The family was there and it’s just a really sad situation.
“They’re an extremely private family and would appreciate people respecting that.”
Following Sara’s death, Mark, continued his bid to become a prominent voice in sports broadcasting.
Having become a firm fixture on BBC Radio 5 Live and filling in for on Match of the Day, he has also moved away from football to cover rugby league, , and both and golf championships for the Beeb, as well as crossing over to to front its coverage.
He also hosts The Sports Agents podcast with 53-year-old Gabby.
The pair, alongside Kelly, replaced Gary Lineker full time on Match of the Day at the start of the 2025/2026 season after a shake-up instigated by director of BBC Sport Alex Kay-Jelski.
The decision to replace the ex-England striker, who had hosted the BBC’s flagship football show for 26 years, with a rotating trio of presenters was slammed by critics.
Former presenter said he felt Kelly should have got the job on her own as “viewers like consistency”.
He said: “My wish, however, would be to see Kelly Cates become the sole presenter and have her as the face of the programme, exclusive to the BBC.
“It used to be said the audience wanted a man in front of the camera, but I do not go along with that now — times have changed. Kelly is the man for the job, so to speak!”
Kelly praised both Mark and Gabby shortly after the trio were announced as permanent hosts, claiming the lack of egos between them meant job-sharing such a coveted role would be straightforward.
She said: “To be in the mix with Chappers and Gabby, who I really like as people, first of all, but really admire as broadcasters as well . . . it’s just a really lovely group to be in.
“People have this perception that it is a massive ego-filled world, and it is at times. You need a certain sort of ego to feel like you can do the job because you need a certain amount of confidence.
“But you don’t want to be in a position where we’re all trying to scramble over each other.
“The fact we’re all the same age, we’re at the same stage of our careers, we’ve all got other things outside of Match of the Day that we are all passionate about and really invested in, it means none of us are treading on each other and preying on each other’s insecurities.”
Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast, she added: “We’re all really comfortable about who we are and where we are in our careers, so it really works for all of us.
“We’re all at a stage in our lives as well where we want to spend time with our families.
“We have kids of different ages and different things going on in our home lives as well.
“It’s really nice to be able to keep all that in the mix.”
Mark made his name at the Beeb working as a sports reporter on Radio 1, and became a fixture on show, before working alongside shamed DJ Scott Mills.
The Lancashire-born star then bagged his own weekend show alongside Dave Vitty, Chris Moyles’ former sidekick, before progressing up the ranks of Radio 5 Live.
In August, The Sun revealed Kay-Jelski had clashed with members of the MOTD team and that there were fears of an exodus of the show’s top stars.
Some pundits were said to have been tempted to follow Gary Lineker into podcasting — which the BBC denied.
The BBC declined to comment last night. Representatives for Kelly and Mark were asked for comment.
