BBC pundit Chris Sutton joked suggestively about his colleagues Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates on live radio, amid reports that the Match of the Day co-hosts are dating.
Cates, 51, and Chapman, 52, have been stars of the BBC show’s three-person presenter panel alongside Gabby Logan since the start of last season following Gary Lineker’s departure.
The pair have become public figures on our TV screens over recent years – but have grown close in private, with reports emerging on Sunday that the BBC stars have been dating.
Chapman also serves as the regular host of BBC Radio 5Live’s Monday Night Club, which typically wraps up the weekend’s football.
He was absent for the show on Monday night and Cates – an occasional stand-in host – also did not feature.
Chapman’s absence prompted regular guest Sutton to poke fun at the expense of the duo at the start of the show, after being introduced by stand-in presenter Alistair Bruce-Ball.
Match of the Day co-hosts Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates are reportedly dating each other
Cates and Chapman have been on the three-person presenter panel since Gary Lineker’s exit
Chris Sutton questioned the absence of host Chapman on the Monday Night Club live on radio amid the reports. Pictured: Sutton and Chapman on the show in 2025
‘Chris Sutton has got a rather mischievous look on his face this evening, which worries me slightly,’ Bruce-Ball said.
Sutton responded: ‘I just wondered where our leader is this evening, where’s Mark?’ with Bruce-Ball replying: ‘Mark Chapman… Not here this evening.’
‘So then normally second in charge is Kelly Cates… where’s Kelly Cates this evening?’ Sutton questioned.
Bruce-Ball replied: ‘I don’t know Chris, otherwise engaged I think. If they are not listening to the show, whatever they are up to, it is available to listen by the podcast, if that is what they want to do.’
Cates was instead hosting the Legends of Football awards, which saw Thierry Henry and Karen Carney honoured on the night.
Chapman split with estate agent Clere Collier earlier this year, who accused him of starting the relationship with Cates while they were still together, an allegation he denies.
Chapman and Cates became the main co-presenters for Match of the Day alongside Gabby Logan last season after Gary Lineker left.
While their shifts presenting the show do not overlap, Chapman and Cates did appear on Celebrity Gogglebox on the same sofa together in July.
Chapman, a highly respected broadcaster paid between £335,000 and £340,000 a year by the BBC, was already heavily involved with the show as Match of the Day 2 presenter before his promotion.
Cates was hosting the Legends of Football awards, which honoured Thierry Henry and Karen Carney
Clere Collier accused Chapman of starting the relationship with Cates while they were together, which he denies
He was married to his wife Sara, the mother of their three children, for 19 years until she died aged 44 in 2020 after a battle with cancer.
It was revealed in 2024 that he had started dating again after entering a relationship with estate agent and socialite Collier.
They appeared to be in a good place, with Collier, who is based in Dubai, regularly making trips over to the UK to visit Chapman – and they were even pictured walking hand-in-hand through the streets of Altrincham together.
She shared several gushing social media tributes towards Chapman, including one that labelled him as her ‘one love’ and ‘devilishly handsome’ after he turned 51, before they split in April this year.
Meanwhile, Cates, daughter of Liverpool icon Sir Kenny Dalglish, was married to TV producer Tom Cates from 2007 until their divorce in 2021.
The pair have two children together and lived in Chiswick in south-west London.
