The CBS Sports expert panel have won over the hearts of football fans all around the world because of their brilliant chemistry. In the day and age of monotonous, boring analytics shows, CBS Sports seem to stand out as something authentic and not robotic.
Unlike BT Sport, which has dominated the Champions League punditry scene since the 1990s, CBS Sports has brought a modern change to how these post or pre-match shows are perceived. CBS Sports, which is originally a USA-based channel, has started to grow into a more worldwide product in recent years and introduced figures better known around the world of football.
Host Kate Abdo has won over praise for her ability to form a close bond with the pundits and coming off as a confident, knowledgeable host that can hold her own among the ‘experts’. The ones accompanying her are France legend Thierry Henry, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and ex-Manchester City man Micah Richards.
Out of this, Carragher and Richards can also be seen working as pundits for Sky Sports or even Match of the Day at times – with the former having a lucrative deal with Sky. However, when it comes to the UEFA Champions League – the two are aligned with CBS Sport rather than joining BT Sport.
Needless to say, the four members of the CBS Sports show seem to get along with each other really, really well.
Apart from just analyzing matches or giving opinions on players or instances, they often play innovative little mini-games where the footballing IQ of the pundits are often put to the test.
Not just that, but CBS has also given the pundits enough freedom to discuss serious topics like racism in football or refereeing issues too.
The brilliant banter and chemistry shared between the four have attracted a lot of eyes to the CBS Sports product.
With that being said, it appears that a few members of the show could be getting along a bit too well.
There have been a few instances of Thierry Henry trying to discreetly flirt with Abdo in the last few weeks. A slight hint of that happened just before the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between AC Milan and Inter Milan recently.
A scrapped outtake of Kate Abdo botching her introduction monologue for the start of the show was posted just ahead of the game as well. While the presenter tried her best to do the introduction, something got in her throat which caused her to start coughing – ruining the entire thing.
Carragher was quick to come to her rescue by bringing a water bottle to help her get rid of the cough before the camera panned to Henry giving her a rather flirtatious glare. The ex-Arsenal forward kept staring at her in admiration, which got a lot of fans to start believing that Henry had a huge crush on the English presenter.
It’s just the way that the Frenchman stared at her and tried comforting her which started getting people talking about whether there’s something more to their relationship as colleagues.
This was further amplified in the post-match show that took place on the Etihad Stadium pitch after Manchester City’s stunning 4-0 win over Real Madrid which took them to the Champions League final.
A lot of things happened in the post-match show. Manchester United legend Patrice Evra hijacked the show out of nowhere and revealed that he was harassed by a City staff member for claiming they ‘s**t it’ last year. Peter Schmeichel also joined the show and got into a debate with Carragher and Richards over City’s chances of doing a European treble this season.
While most of the attention was on those four, some eagle-eyed viewers got a glimpse of what was happening between Abdo and Henry. The two seemed to be blushing like kids talking to their crush in a classroom and sharing a little conversation that wasn’t exactly picked up by the mic.
This sweet little moment between the two further solidified the theories that there might be a romantic relationship between the duo – which they’re trying to keep under wraps in front of the camera. The reality, however, could be a bitter pill for those trying to make their relationship a thing.
Kate Abdo, originally named Kate Giles, has been married to German businessman Ramtin Abdo since 2010. Ramtin is reportedly worth around £10 million and is a very well-to-do businessman – who likes to keep himself out of his wife’s line of work.
She’s done a good job at keeping her marriage private but is still quite loyal to her husband. Henry, of course, is divorced after separating from his ex-wife Nicole Merry in 2008. He does share a child with his ex-wife named ‘Tea’, to whom he dedicated a goal he scored against Newcastle United soon after her birth in May 2005.
Henry is single at the moment and seems to be more focused on progressing his career in management or football punditry over trying to get re-married. Just because the two have been a little bit giddy with each other and appear to have gotten closer doesn’t equate to them being romantically involved.
The closeness developed between Abdo, Henry, Carragher and Richards sees them almost act like good friends during the CBS shows – which has helped bring a breath of fresh air into the entire punditry scene and make these pre-match or post-match shows much less boring.
