Inside Kate Abdo’s rise from job at Greggs and kiss behind bins to host of CBS and joking about her breasts with pundits
GORGEOUS presenter Kate Abdo is as relatable as she is likeable.
The 42-year-old beauty is now starring on CBS Sports in the US, where she hosts their Champions League coverage.
And she has become firm buddies with pundits Thierry Henry, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher, who she has built an instant rapport with.
But, despite being brilliant on TV, Kate couldn’t hold down a job at Greggs when she was a youngster.
Amusingly, she was sacked after getting her tongue-pierced, which meant she struggled to talk to the customers.
The cheeky Mancunian also revealed on air that her first kiss was behind the bins at school.
While, she has also been very honest about her boobs.
Rising star
Bilingual Abdo has been a rising star in broadcasting since her first job in 2005.
She worked for Germans Deutsche Welle, before scoring a job at Goal! The Bundesliga Magazine.
Eventually she scored a presenting job with DW in 2009, hosting coverage in German and English.
After a stint at CNN, Adbo left for Sky Sports Germany where she appeared on pay per view boxing events, European football coverage, transfer deadline day and Sky Sports News shows.
She worked in the US for Fox Sports, but it’s with CBS Sports she has become a household name in the States.
She works for the American TV channel’s Champions League output, and constantly shares banter with the show’s pundits.
Micah Richards, Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry clearly enjoy working with Kate, who they are happy to have a laugh with.
Working at Greggs
Case in point, her outrageous Greggs reveal.
During coverage of Newcastle vs PSG, the Manchester United fan confessed she once worked at the famous British bakery.
Abdo, who loves boxing as a workout, was an employee in the Stretford branch of Greggs before becoming an esteemed broadcaster.
The revelation left Carragher and Richards in stitches as they could not believe it.
Abdo added: “I wasn’t dripping Louis Vuitton quite as much back then.”
But before she could explain any more about her time in the role, the producers put up a photoshopped picture of her in Greggs attire.
To which she brilliantly replied: “My breasts have never been that big.”
That caused much laughter pitch side from her peers, who couldn’t believe what she said.
First kiss
Personal revelations have always been part of Kate’s reportoire.
Just ask a lad by the name of Matthew Barker.
Abdo was pressured to reveal her first kiss after being grilled on live TV by Henry, Carragher and Richards.
The show’s Champions League coverage regularly features a segment called “In The Mixer” where Abdo quizzes the three ex-players with controversial questions about football and their own personal lives.
And Abdo was set to begin another edition of the game when the tables were turned on her.
As she prepared to start, Richards interrupted as he pulled out his own cards – with Henry and Carragher following suit.
And the trio went on to ask Abdo a series of questions, most shockingly about when she had her first kiss.
When asked, Abdo put her head on the desk in embarrassment, before saying: “But my mum and dad are watching! Oh no!”
She then went on to add: “It was behind the bins at school. It was private. It was classy and I was keeping it secret!”
Henry, Carragher and Richards, falling about laughing, then pressed Abdo on what the man’s name was.
To which she reluctantly replied: “His name was Matthew Barker.”
She speaks three languages fluently
Although she spent her young years in Manchester, by 17 she moved to Spain.
She became fluent in Spanish, attending the University of Malaga and studying Translating and Interpreting.
Well travelled Abdo also spent time living in France and Germany, continuing her studies at the University of Salford with a first-class B.A. (Hons) in European Languages.
Because of her experiences abroad, Kate is fluent in Spanish, French and German, as well as her natural tongue.
That makes interviews with the cream of European football a cinch for the talented presenter.
No wonder Abdo is becoming as in-demand as her counterpart Laura Woods.