The BBC have come to release their new football and Premier League related TV show which has been added to their sport output. MOTDx is the new programme on the block, which looks into lifestyle stories in the Premier League, while exploring and delving into the worlds of fashion, culture and music and why it relates to football.
While being broadcasted on the BBC iPlayer and on BBC Two, MOTDx is hosted by former Spurs man, Jermaine Jenas, and features Chelcee Grimes, Craig Mitch and BBC Radio 1Xtra’s very own Reece Parkinson.
With the first episode airing last week on the 12th September, we sat down with musical guru and Fulham FC supporter, Reece Parkinson to get the low down on what to expect in the coming episodes, and also why Reece decided to get involved.
“Really, it’s just to talk about football and what happened at the weekend… It’s more than just a football show you know, it’s a lifestyle show as well,” Reece said. “We go into the elements of music and fashion and it’s something that is a lot more relatable for the younger audience, and also the wider audience who are followers of football as well.
“The best way to summarise it, it’s a show that is something you would do with your mates, we treat it as something like that. We don’t delve right into the analysis of the football games, we talk about the weekend’s football like you would when you’re playing FIFA with your mates, or when you’re down the pub.”
The first episode of MOTDx saw Chelcee Grimes being joined by stylist and art director, Jay Hines, who was brought onto the show to rate the Premier League kits for the current campaign. We also saw a segment of Craig Mitch chatting to Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp, while Reece sat down with England international and West Ham midfielder, Declan Rice about the music he’s listening to, “We got Declan to create his own music playlist,” Reece adds.
“And then within that segment we can work with the edit, so we have Don Strapzy who sends him a recorded message. This show is something where we can merge together the different cultures, and we can build those relationships with the likes of Declan and Strapzy.
“That’s why I would say this show is different because in comparison to other shows, we are much more in the culture, and much more for the younger audience, so we can bring our culture to the footballers and the footballers can bring theirs to us.”
With the urban music scene having such an impact on the mainstream media today, it may be thought that the way that people are consuming media is beginning to change, “Music is so prevalent nowadays in our culture”, Continued Reece.
“It’s always been big, but it was always US based, so we didn’t have the access to be able to get the big stars all the time. Jay-Z would come over once a year for example. Whereas, Yxng Bane is in London, Fredo is in London, Bugzy Malone is in Manchester, which is where BBC Sport is based.
“And all these artists are the biggest artists that the kids in mainstream culture are listening to now. They’re all from England, and the UK! So, being able to have that makes programmes go from playing them on the radio, seeing them, interviewing them, getting them on the show!
“The show that (DJ) Target has got with The Rap Game, and even Greg James, who I massively look up to, who did Sounds Like Friday Night with Dotty, so it’s obviously proven that these artists who are blowing up in the UK, are being able to be brought over to TV.”
MOTDx will be airing for nine episodes which will be going up to November, before being picked back up again next year when it will be running until the end of the Premier League season.
Stars who will be involved are the likes of Manchester United man, Jesse Lingard, as well as Billy Sharp and former Burnley man, Sam Vokes, “It’s just so good to have some of the players from some of the smaller clubs being involved, it’s not every day you get to see Billy Sharp have a full segment on a TV show,” Reece says.
“But coming up in the future, we have one with Jack Grealish, one with Son from Spurs, where we will be speaking to him about his music, and just loads of stuff with loads of the big players! The good thing about this show is that it can change week in, week out, so if something big happens on the weekend, we can go there and interview a player and get it on the show.”
However, Reece does show his gratitude to be involved in the show, while describing it as a “whole new world”, “I haven’t done a sports show on this level ever, I’ve come from a music, radio and entertainments background, and sports is something that I’ve always loved, and football is something that I’ve grown up on, but being able to do this on TV, as my first proper TV gig, its just been so fun.
“And being able to go to all these stadiums and all these training grounds, while meeting all these players and building actual friendships with them has been really fun, and I’m super grateful.”
Check out MOTDx on BBC Two on Thursdays at 7pm, or be sure to catch all the episodes on the BBC iPlayer.