Eni Aluko was involved in a heated studio discussion with Simon Jordan over her ongoing feud with Ian Wright and Laura Woods.
Former Lioness Aluko appeared on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan Show on Tuesday to address backlash over her most recent comments about male pundits in women’s football.
Aluko reignited the debate over the weekend by commenting on the punditry choices for the Women’s Euros final last summer.
She questioned why she and Fara Williams – who earned a record 172 caps for England – were not chosen by either the BBC or ITV.
This also saw Aluko reignite her feud with Ian Wright, as she highlighted how he and ex-Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha took two of the six available pundit spots.
It came almost a year after she had accused Wright of ‘blocking opportunities’ for female broadcasters in April 2025.
Aluko’s comments sparked huge debate, with former talkSPORT host Laura Woods warning against gatekeeping the sport and claiming ‘caps don’t win automatic work’.
Clarifying
Joining Jim White and Simon Jordan in the talkSPORT studios, Aluko claimed her recent comments had been about advocating for more female faces in punditry, but dismissed suggestions of entitlement.
She began: “I think it’s more about clarifying and saying look, I think 270 caps 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.”
Laura Woods publicly criticised Aluko’s assessment of male pundits in women’s football, including her comments on Ian Wright[/caption]
Explaining the representation she would like to see, Aluko continued: “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?
“That might be… 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.”
Jordan accuses Aluko of ‘sense of entitlement’
In an explosive interview, talkSPORT host Jordan agreed with Aluko that the main pundit roles in women’s football should go to women.
But he then questioned Aluko’s ability as a pundit, and accused her of having a sense of entitlement over her comments on Wright not using his influence at ITV to help her land roles.
Addressing Aluko directly, the ex-Crystal Palace chairman said: “I don’t think you are particularly enlightening, illuminating, engaging or charismatic.”
He continued: “The language that you use is, to me, it’s steeped in a 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.
“I think because of initiatives like DEI, they’ve allowed people to be put into positions in the men’s game that I don’t think they have merited.
“I listened to your observations about Ian Wright, and I’ve known Ian for 25 years – Ian is not in any shape or form obligated to provide any support structure for you, or give you a sense of entitlement.”
‘I’ve been good enough for 11 years’
Fighting her case, Aluko cited her 11-year punditry career as proof she is considered strong in her field, having been the first female pundit to appear on Match of the Day in 2014.
She said: “It’s an opinion, which we’re all entitled to. I put value on them, everybody has them.”
Aluko then continued: “I listen to the professional, the people who have hired me for the last 11 years, the biggest broadcasters in the world.”
“By default, if I’m working with the people who are considered brilliant broadcasters. If I’m next to them, then by default I’m considered also a brilliant broadcaster.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, but in reality, I’ve been good enough for 11 years.
“And as I said, I’m the person to go and seek out feedback, for someone to go: ‘I think you’re struggling’…it’s never happened.”
Aluko addresses punditry absence
Aluko later shut down Jordan’s suggestion that major broadcasters were no longer considering her for punditry roles.
The ex-Chelsea forward hit back: “Hold on, the reason people aren’t booking me is because I’ve taken myself out of the firing line.
“My last conversation with ITV was ‘I’m taking a break from broadcasting’.”
She continued: “There was two conversations with ITV. There was the conversation after the men’s Euros, which was the end of my contract.
“I asked about ‘are we going to renew?’ And they said: ‘No, we’re sort of cutting budgets, and we’re prioritising Ian Wright and Karen Carney.’ That was a conversation back in the summer of 2024.
“I was off screen for nine months. We agreed that I would then do the (women’s) Euros.
“That was after the comments about Ian Wright, we had a conversation, and at that point I’d already decided ‘I’m taking a break from this environment, this is no longer something that I think is serviceable.’