A Norwich-born TV presenter is set to take over from Jeff Stelling on Sky Sports' popular football show Soccer Saturday.
Simon Thomas, a former Blue Peter presenter, is being widely reported as the choice to replace Stelling, who has built a cult following as a passionate presenter in the last 30 years.
Other names said to be in the running were Caroline Barker and Jules Warren but Thomas, 50, will reportedly be announced as the new host next week.
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Thomas, who grew up in Cromer, initially stepped away from his career in 2017 after his wife Gemma died aged 40, just four days after receiving an acute myeloid leukaemia diagnosis.
However, the Norwich City supporter has returned to sports broadcasting in recent years, fronting Amazon's Premier League coverage and being regularly involved with Sky.
In 2021 he remarried at Norwich Cathedral, but kept festivities private after wanting "to enjoy the joy of being engaged without everybody else knowing".
Thomas and his wife, Derrina, have since had a baby daughter.
He has spoken openly about suffering from grief and has raised money for research into myeloid leukaemia, becoming president of blood cancer charity Blood Cancer UK.
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