Gabby Logan was forced to leave Match Of The Day early on Wednesday night due to having a family emergency.
The TV presenter, 52, was replaced mid-show by Mark Chapman, who dashed over from his radio programme to take her place as the show’s anchor.
He had also been at the BBC studios, presenting on Radio 5 Live at the time, when he was called over last-minute to replace Gabby, 20 minutes into the episode.
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Seamlessly taking up the hosting reins, Mark told viewers: ‘So we’ll talk about that game in a moment. Sadly Gabby has got a family emergency that she’s had to rush off and deal with.
‘So she’s gone to do that and I’ve come from the radio to finish the show.’
It is not yet clear what Gabby had to deal with off air. Daily Mail have contacted her representatives for comment.
Match Of The Day viewers have since rushed to social media to wish Gabby well and commend Mark on his ability to take over at a moment’s notice.
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Gabby Logan was forced to leave Match Of The Day early on Wednesday night due to having a family emergency (seen earlier in the show)
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The TV presenter, 52, was replaced mid-show by Mark Chapman (pictured), who dashed over from his radio programme to take her place as the show’s anchor
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They said: ‘Hope Gabby Logan’s family emergency is ok. Chappers is such a talent how many people could jump off radio and straight onto MOTD’;
‘Thoughts with Gabby Logan with whatever’s happened there. Mark Chapman out of breath running from the radio to take over is crazy. Peak professionalism’;
‘Hope Gabby Logan’s family emergency isn’t too serious. Never seen a host have to leave halfway through MOTD before’;
‘Chappers wearing his radio sweatshirt… means Gabby Logan’s emergency is real. Hope all is well.’
‘Brilliant that by Chappers. Proper professional jumping from radio to TV to fill in for Gabby Logan, hope all is well with her. No make-up and dressed for radio is superb. Class act’;
‘Hope Gabby Logan is OK, rare presenter substitution on Match Of The Day tonight, Mark Chapman has taken over’;
‘What’s gaan on with Gabby Logan!? Hopefully nothing too bad’;
‘Hope all is OK with Gabby Logan and her family. Mark Chapman taking over at such short notice just highlights his professionalism. One of the very best.’
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Match Of The Day viewers have since rushed to social media to wish Gabby well and commend Mark on his ability to take over at a moment’s notice
Gabby opened the show before setting up the first highlights package, which was Bournemouth vs Tottenham.
She was joined by Danny Murphy and Stephen Warnock for the opening as they watched and then discussed Tottenham’s 3-2 loss at Bournemouth.
She referenced the tragic passing of Martin Chivers while presenting the highlights of the latest Premier League action.
After analysing Spurs’ defeat, Gabby then previewed highlights of Man City’s 1-1 draw with Brighton by saying: ‘Let’s move on. Back-to-back draws had left Manchester City six points behind Arsenal, who play Liverpool tomorrow.
‘Opponents Brighton have never won at the Etihad. Your commentator is Mark Scott…’
However, by the end of the highlights Gabby had unexpectedly left her post, with the camera returning to the studio to reveal Mark in her place.
The former rhythmic gymnast is mother to twins Reuben and Lois, 20, with her husband and former Scotland rugby player Kenny Logan, 53.
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The former rhythmic gymnast is mother to twins Reuben and Lois, 20, with her husband and former Scotland rugby player Kenny Logan, 53 (pictured together)
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The couple have spoken publicly about having a difficult time in recent years, after Kenny was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022 (seen together in June last year)
The couple have spoken publicly about having a difficult time in recent years, after Kenny was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2022.
He was inspired to go for a general check up after hearing guests on Gabby’s podcast discuss having their hormones tested, and was shown to have a high level of PSA – prostate-specific antigen.
Gabby and Kenny have said that the sportsman was ‘extremely lucky’ they caught it early, which afforded him options regarding treatment.
After undergoing a successful operation to remove his prostate, he received the all-clear in 2023, but has been candid about the after-effects, explaining how treatment left him ‘black and blue downstairs’ and struggling with erectile dysfunction.
Gabby previously broke down in tears as she recalled some of the ‘really invasive’ treatments her husband had to have, including six stab wounds in his torso.
‘It’s horrible to see him in the pain he was afterwards, it’s a horrible thing to go through but he’s doing really really well now,’ she said during an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2022.
She added: ‘He’s just great, I’m very lucky. He’s a great man and I couldn’t ever wish for anybody to have shared my life with, who is better.’
Gabby has previously suffered great tragedy in her family, after the tragic death of her younger brother Daniel, when he was just 15 years old.
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Gabby previously broke down in tears as she recalled some of the ‘really invasive’ treatments her husband had to have, including six stab wounds in his torso
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Gabby has previously suffered great tragedy in her family, after the tragic death of her younger brother Daniel, when he was just 15 years old (pictured together with their sister Louise)
The aspiring footballer suddenly collapsed and died in 1992 after playing football in the garden with their father, former Leeds United star Terry Yorath.
Daniel – who was four years younger than Gabby – was later revealed to have died without warning as a result of an undiagnosed heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – where the heart becomes thickened without an obvious cause.
Gabby has spoke openly about how the devastating loss ‘defined her youth’ and that even more than three decades later she and her family are still coming to terms with the ‘ramifications’.
‘It was absolutely cataclysmic. It was like a sledgehammer coming down and shattering the family into a million pieces,’ she told The Game Changers podcast.
She continued: ‘Even if someone dies suddenly at 78 it feels young but they are 78, when a child dies so young obviously there is such a fallout among the whole family.
‘It defined the rest of our youth and has defined how the family has gone on from those years and it leaves its mark in many ways.
‘It was a really hard time for everybody and to this day the ramifications are still there.’
After welcoming her own children, Gabby also revealed how her brother’s sudden passing at 15 caused her to worry for her son Reuben, in the lead-up to his 16th birthday, because she had ‘a fear I was going to repeat history.’
She added: ‘Even a few years afterwards I could find myself sobbing. When I started working in football I used to be obsessed with dates of players’ births because they would be Daniel’s age. And I knew he might be playing in that match.
‘You wonder, “What kind of player would he have been?” I wonder if he’d have had a girlfriend by now, or met somebody he wanted to marry, or now I wonder if he’d have children.’
