Clare Balding is irritating AIBU?

[Vera87]

Clare Balding can we have one sporting event without this woman. Wimbledon we ended up with her and now the bloody Winter Olympics have her. Next thing is she will be presenting Match of the Day. She pretends she knows literally everything annoyingly about tennis and now about skiing. Bore off. BBC can’t get anymore talent.
This woman came from horse racing commentating now she’s bloody everywhere not just sports. Highly irritating

YABU I know Claire because my late mum played golf with her and Alice and they are absolutely the warmest loveliest people. They were so kind when my mum passed away.

I think she’s very, very good at what she does

I find her very inoffensive to be honest

You are not BU.. Can't stand the woman.Her background and knowledge is horses ..she should stick to that
I was watching the Winter Olympics wondering if she'd appear.

🥇for the best subtly patronising put down of the season.🤣

Sport is so boring it's irredeemable. I listened to about 20 mins of some woman, not CB, boring'on and on about people sledging down a mountain or skiing down a slope and flinging themselves into the air.

How are these things invented? And don't get me started on that ice hockey game where they knock-a stone around and sort of scrub at the ice. At least that one is some sort of ancient sport.

Good presenter but looking at her background does this support more working class women being able to get senior presenting roles 🤷

That's not irrational

She has ruined Wimbledon for me, she is a total embarrassment when talking to players, she knows nothing about tennis.

She was totally fawning during the Olympics when the New Zealand man was competing in the women's weightlifting.

Totally agree, she is r on Ramblings on Radio 4, almost all sports programs, award shows, even turned up at the World cycling championships, a sport she clearly knows zilch about.

FFS she was even on the Traitors after show!!

She is also very highly paid, the BBC have real talent but so long as they keep giving these anchor roles to CB, they'll never get the chance.

I think it's easy to underestimate how valuable a safe pair of hands is to the BBC (and indeed TV in general). Someone who is reliable, turns up and can steer a ship is a real talent. When it goes wrong, it's very obvious.
'Talent' means the go-to person who won't fuck it up (or, in the words of Arthur Ransome: better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown).

Clare may be ubiquitous, but she is neither fuck-up nor duffer.

I actually don’t want ex players fronting everything. Her mum is Lady Emma Balding and her dad, Ian Balding, has just died and trained racehorses. As does her brother, Andrew. Clare is bright and a safe pair of hands. Does her homework (went to Cambridge) and is a wholly reliable broadcaster and easy to listen to.

listening to many ex sports people on radio 5, they are ignorant about many things outside sport. Clare is so much more than that and gets work accordingly. The bbc has always had general sports presenters - Gaby Logan? Was a gymnast and dad a footballer but she’s got a broad portfolio. They are not specialist commentators - they are anchors.

She’s irritating and seems to be everywhere at the moment. Even a bloody advert for something. 🙄

DH does a minority sport that's on TV once a year. Claire Balding presents the programme and will interview competitors but Jim Rosenthal does the commentary. Both have researched it thoroughly and always speak to competitors beforehand so they know a bit about them.

I have no particular beef with her other than she’s a bit boring.

I do hate how it’s the same presenters on everything though. If Holly gets the strictly gig I am done with it.

Yea I get it - recently I heard her advertising her book on the radio and I thought ffs she’s everywhere! Still not as bad as Holly W tho 🥴 - not her I find mega irritating.

I think she is really good.

"I can do that Producer Sue"

Its a joke in our house. We love that Clare does everything. A jack of all trades.
Dont you all remember Tracey Ullmans impression of her.

I reckon she quickly reads a manual the night before on any given sport so that she can do the commentary the next day

”I don’t dislike Balding”

I think you do

I really like her, and she’s clearly a lot better at it than the other people presenting the olympics. The new MOTD presenters absolutely suck and CB would be an improvement.

How very dare her be a woman, middle aged and a lesbian. And wear sensible clothes. What right has she got to be on the telly?

I could imagine people who can commentate on/ present any sport are few and far between.

she’s the presenter though not the expert so she’s not exactly an Annabelle Croft, they have a sportsperson on to explain the strategy etc so lizzy yarnold was explaining luge assume as its skeleton adjacent. And Steve cram was with someone who really understood curling. Suppose at the Winter Olympics it’s harder to get British competitors on as we aren’t competing in that many events. See chemmy Alcott who I am sure is a lovely woman but gets wheeled out any time a ski touches the snow.

Nail on head there.... 😅

Its a bit like having the same (former favourite) meal every single evening, never a change... it would just be nice to have a few sports events that she isn't hosting.

Who would you suggest instead of her?

I thought I didn’t like him, but saw him on Richard Osman’s House of Games recently and he actually came across as a nice guy.