Soccer AM legend Helen Chamberlain reveals most famous guest refused to set alarm and turned up whenever he wanted
HELEN Chamberlain has revealed one celebrity guest regularly caused carnage on Soccer AM – because they refused to get out of bed.
The former Sky Sports host presented the popular morning show alongside Tim Lovejoy from 1996 to 2007.
Chamberlain and Lovejoy recently announced they are getting the cast back together for a new podcast.
The pair launched Soccer A-Z earlier this month, looking back at football fan culture and their time on the iconic Saturday morning program.
Discussing evasive guests during a recent episode, Chamberlain namedropped former boxer David Haye.
She laughed: “David Haye, the boxer, he didn’t not show up.
“But we would book him and would say ‘Your call time is 7.30am’.
“And he’d say ‘No, my call time is when I wake up and get there’.”
Haye unified the cruiserweight world title in 2008 and later became a heavyweight world champion.
But the now 43-year-old‘s timekeeping proved a huge issue with the Soccer AM production staff.
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Chamberlain continued: “His interview used to be just floating.
“So it would be whenever he arrives, [production] would just go, right David Haye is here, and we go to a commercial break and then he’d be there.
“Sometimes he would be first guest, sometimes he would be last guest, and we never argued with him.
“He said ‘I will get there when I get there, I refuse to set my alarm’.”
Lovejoy laughed in response and pointed out: “Who is going to argue with him?”
The pair’s co-star Peter Dale – known as Tubes – was more scathing, adding: “Yeah, I’m not really having that. I don’t like that.”
Chamberlain left Soccer AM in 2017, a decade after Lovejoy departed the show.
It ran for another six years, before ending for good last May.
Chamberlain was excited for a trip down memory lane on Soccer A-Z, which has already topped the Apple podcast charts.
She explained: “I’m really looking forward to reminding Tim of all the absolute nonsense he thought up, and made us do during the Soccer AM days.
“I’m sure he’s forgotten most of it – luckily, the rest of us haven’t.
“We all have endless stories about putting that show together, and it’s going to be so good to catch up with some of the old crew and hear their best memories from both behind the scenes and in front of camera.”