Wayne Lineker falsely branded a ‘paedo’ during heated Wembley Arena appearance

Wayne Lineker, who is the brother of footballing pundit Gary Lineker, was falsely branded a “paedo” by members of the crowd when he appeared at Crouchfest last night.

In front of a boisterous 12,000-strong audience, the Ocean Beach owner was brought on stage as a guest, which was a live recording for the hugely popular That Peter Crouch Podcast.

However, things soon turned ugly as Wayne, 61, quickly became the focus of unwarranted abuse, with slurs against him growing louder by the second.

Attempting to deafen the noise, former professional footballer Peter asked: “Wayne, I want to have a chat.”

Peter then asked Wayne about his best experiences with footballers who have attended his club in Ibiza, with Manchester City star Jack Grealish chosen as his favourite visitor.

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But the atmosphere inside the arena continued to intensify, with Wayne avoiding answering any further questions on stage during the painfully awkward segment.

Today, Wayne took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the incident with his 867,000 followers on the platform.

“I know I’m usually a bit of a joker on social media but today doesn’t feel so fun!” he wrote.

“Sooo I was invited by my good friend Peter Crouch and Chris Stark to be a guest on their iconic event Crouchfest at Wembley Arena last night… As you can imagine I was blown away by the invitation to join them onstage and was so excited to be part of it!

“What should have been a bit of fun turned into what I can only describe as a scene of Mob Mentality against me, thousands of people in unison calling me a ‘paedo’ to be exact!

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“Can you imagine that being you, your dad, your son, your brother, your mate or anyone you love and care about having to endure that on stage.”

He added: “Luckily I am thick-skinned and see beyond their words and their actions, however some others are not and this kind of behaviour can affect them mentally and can take lives and has taken lives. I also have a family, children and grandchildren – how do you think this kind of trolling makes them feel?

“My final message on this would be; Remember to be kind it really does not take much effort! #bekind.” (sic)

It is not unfamiliar territory for Wayne, who has had to consistently defend himself against trolls in recent years.

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A post shared by Wayne Lineker (@waynelineker)

In 2021, trolls falsely labelled him as a “paedophile” following a prank in which he announced a fake engagement to Geordie Shore star Chloe Ferry.

Following the duo’s engagement stunt, Wayne was ferociously trolled on social media as furious users urged him to find a woman his own age.

The abuse escalated so much that Chloe stood up for her friend in a series of Instagram Stories where she insisted that Wayne was an “amazing person”.

Just months before his appearance on Celebs Go Dating – where he built up a friendship with Chloe – Wayne discussed his controversial criteria for his future girlfriend on ITV’s This Morning.

Wayne, a dad of three grown-up sons, confessed that he was persuaded by the coaches on the E4 show to “broaden his age bracket” after initially requesting a girlfriend to be around 30 years old.

Then-host Holly Willougby jumped in and asked him: “What’s wrong with women your own age?”

He responded: “I don’t know. I wouldn’t rule it out but everyone has their own attractions, don’t they?”

Express.co.uk has contacted Wayne’s representatives for comment.

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