Expert lip reader reveals what Simon Jordan said to Eni Aluko in furious ad-break bust up during talkSPORT showdown

An expert lip reader has revealed what Simon Jordan told Eni Aluko during their furious bust-up in a talkSport advert break on Tuesday.

Aluko, 38, and Jordan, 58, clashed on air as they discussed her reigniting her feud with ex-England and Arsenal international Ian Wright this week.

As the programme returned from an ad break, Jordan – who had launched a blistering attack during a fiery show – could be seen angrily gesticulating towards Aluko, who appeared to pull a face before turning her head away from the former Crystal Palace chairman.

And expert lip reader Jeremy Freeman told Daily Mail Sport what Jordan had said to Aluko. 

Jordan says: ‘But nobody cares, drop this. It’s definitely you. I know it. I know.’ It is not clear what Aluko said in response.

Aluko hit the headlines again after calling for women’s football to be ‘gatekept’, reiterating her view that male pundits, such as Wright, are blocking opportunities in the game.

Aluko appeared on the show to clarify her comments on Ian Wright and women’s football

Aluko has previously accused Wright of blocking opportunities for women in football 

Former England and Chelsea women’s star Aluko sparked controversy last April when she claimed Wright needed to be aware of ‘how much he’s doing in the women’s game’.

Despite apologising for her comments 10 months ago, which Wright rejected, Aluko reignited her war of words with Wright on the 90s Baby Show podcast.

Her major issue appeared to be that Wright and Nedum Onuoha were two of the six pundits across ITV and the BBC during the Women’s Euros final last summer, while herself and fellow Lionesses legend Fara Williams were not involved.

On Tuesday, she appeared on talkSPORT with Jim White and Jordan to defend her position.

Before the break, Jordan had launched a brutal attack on Aluko, branding her not ‘particularly enlightening, illuminating, engaging or charismatic’. 

He added that he didn’t feel Aluko ‘comes across as particularly likeable’.

Jordan, the former Crystal Palace owner, later explained: ‘The language that you use is, to me, it’s steeped in the sense of entitlement.

‘The sheer weight of the entitlement you seem to believe you have would sink the weight of the Titanic. I think you have been quite fortuitous. 

Aluko came back into the spotlight over the weekend after calling for women’s football to be ‘gatekept’, reigniting her feud with the hugely popular Wright

‘I think because of initiatives like diversity, equity and inclusion, they’ve allowed people to be put into positions in the men’s game that I don’t think they’ve merited.’ 

Speaking at the start of her appearance on the show, Aluko said: ‘I think it’s more about clarifying and saying look, I think 270 caps (the number shared between Aluko and Williams) represent experience and the insight you can bring to the game. 

‘What I wasn’t saying is that 270 caps justifies an instant pick, of course, you need a skillset to be a pundit.

‘The point I was trying to make is, that in women’s football, my opinion is that where there’s a choice, I want to see that level of experience on the main panel for women’s football.

‘That’s not at the exclusion of Nedum Onuoha or Ian Wright. I’m saying can we have a situation where women are the main faces of women’s sport and then the men play more of a supporting role?

‘Ian Wright could do 10-minute hits before the game, a bit of colour, bit of context, then back to the main studio and bang, you’ve got the faces of the game, whoever the three female pundits are.’

After admitting he understood where she was coming from, Jordan, who was sat next to Aluko, added: ‘I think we live in a society where people don’t have the experience and substance, don’t know what they’re talking about [and are] masquerading as experts.

‘With all due respect to women in men’s football, I think they have zero expertise in men’s football.

Jordan branded Aluko as not ‘particularly enlightening, illuminating, engaging or charismatic’

‘I think they can talk about tactics but the two games are vastly different – the speed, the scale, the pressure, the physicality. They are vastly different games.’ 

He continued: ‘I’ve encountered Eni in short form and long form, we had a conversation about the commerciality of football which I thought Eni talked with no commercial sense. That is my opinion, she probably disagrees.

‘I’ve seen her talking on podcasts where she’s ideologically aligned with a perspective that overrepresentation is on merit and underrepresentation is based on structural racism.

‘I find that a difficult circle to square. As far as expertise is concerned, the times that I’ve listened to her I don’t think that she’s particularly enlightening, illuminating, engaging or charismatic.

‘I don’t think she comes across particularly likeable but that’s my view, but some people have the same view of me.’

Aluko had also aimed a dig at her former colleague Laura Woods, who had criticised Aluko for her comments on Monday after taking to X.  

Woods said: ‘Caps don’t win automatic work and they don’t make a brilliant pundit either. The way you communicate, articulate yourself, do your research, inform your audience, how likeable you are and the chemistry you have with your panel are what makes a brilliant pundit.

‘”The women’s game should be by women for women” is one of the most damaging phrases I’ve heard. It will not only drag women’s sport backwards, it will drag women’s punditry in all forms of the game backwards.

The Lioness star also accused her former ITV colleague Laura Woods of ‘gaslighting’ her 

‘If you want to grow something, you don’t gatekeep it. We want to encourage little boys and men to watch women’s football too, not just little girls and women. And when they see someone like Ian Wright taking it as seriously as he does – they follow suit. That’s how you grow a sport.’

Woods continued in another post: ‘Here’s a picture of our team at ITV. We won best production at the Broadcast Sport Awards 2025 for our coverage of the Women’s Euros. Seb Hutchinson won best commentator too. So I think ITV got it just right.’

When pressed on Woods’s comments, Aluko accused the popular TV host of ‘gaslighting’ her.

‘It’s interesting because Laura is one of the people I would consistently go to, we got on like a house on fire,’ she said. 

‘I would consistently go to her and say, “How do you think it went? What do you think? How did it go?” I’m that sort of person.

‘I had to look at the messages yesterday and think, hold on, I feel a bit gaslit here. Laura consistently said to me, “I think you’re a brilliant broadcaster. I think you’re a brilliant pundit.”

‘So I think there’s a little bit of serving her argument at this point, which I respect. She doesn’t agree, and that’s fine. But I think there’s an insinuation in there that you don’t meet the standard.

‘I’ve worked too hard for people to conclude that because you’re not seeing me on screen, I’m not good enough. That’s not true.’