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

Fair enough. I agree it was rude and not her finest tv moment.

How many men are also commentating on numerous different sports without comments like this?

You ve made my point, she was ON the Traitors show.... hence she is then on the follow up show.... why?

@saltandvinegarchipsticks Male presenters are not given the range of sports and programs (often unrelated to sport) that CB is given.

I agree with this. I like her, I think there’s nothing offensive about her, she is a good sports presenter who does her research and is professional so why not have her anchoring the big sporting events - there are plenty of men who present many different sporting events despite only knowing about [insert one specific sport - probably football].

Incidentally does anyone else play the game Balding with their partner? - whenever Claire Balding appears on the TV the first person to shout “Balding” wins! (Literally no idea where this game came from / why DH and I started playing it…).

If you want irritating, the two guys commentating on the snowboarding are beyond irritating. What exactly is goofy? Are we supposed to know?

Because they have comments from the people who take part

Oh gosh yeah - it’s like they are in a bar watching it on tv and having a private conversation - all the whooping and I can’t look

I really like Clare Balding but do wish she’d brush that fringe back a bit. I think she needs a hair restyle

Maybe it’s a horsey thing - Camilla the same!

I love her.

@Applecharlotte2 It’s been annoying to say the least. They are just broadcasting to a narrow group who understand what they are on about. When we don’t see events on tv very often, we need a bit more of an explanation.

As for fringes being horsey? Ludicrous! These are top class equestrian ladies - no fringe in sight.

Balding has been presenting the winter olympics since 2002. She has presented the Olympics since 2004. She also presented the commonwealth games since 2006. She has presented the Paralympics, the America’s cup, women’s football and WTA competitions. She has fully proven her credentials to present in sport, regardless of the fact she hasn’t ever played them. Just like Andrew Cotter can do the same for many sports. Just like when Sue Barker commentated on the Olympics. Just like Des Lynam commentating on football, boxing, tennis, the Olympics, the grand national etc etc.

They are commentators, not pundits. They sit side by side with ex players who bring the professional knowledge.

Its fine not to like her and complain she is everywhere all at once (then also complain about her salary) but to suggest she doesn’t have the credentials for presenting a multitude of different sports is just wrong.

Old school with fringes!

We could definitely do without her at Wimbledon

It was a joke comment btw!

It's hard to think of someone else when no one gets a look in! She is doing everything though. Like Mr Tumble or Justin in everything on cbbs

Was she really a professional jockey?

That’s exactly it - if you use the same person
for everything you get the same flavour

I just wish they’d mix it up a bit

I like Clare, she clearly does her homework. However I LOVE Hazel, she’s much cooler and less labrador-like. Chemmy is a pet but her over-emotional fangirling over Lindsay Vonn and others gets a bit much. On the snow Ed Leigh totally creeps me out. A 50 something bloke crushing over very young female snowboarders gives a massive ick factor. He’s just as bad on Ski Sunday.

Its always the same with the BBC, they get a 'pet' female presenter and then over-expose them. Nadiya Hussain, Claudia Winkleman, Claire Balding, the list goes on... I think, had she not been so tragically murdered, Jill Dando would have ended up presenting EVERYTHING

Was the episode Manchester-based? I completely agree with you.

Gah yeah Claudia overdose too

Ahh I love that she still has lady di hair from 1983

No she didn't. She worked in sports news broadcasting on the radio before she moved into TV.

I understand that but she often has zero knowledge of the sport in question.

Its fine to have a single anchor man or woman for something like the Olympics but when its a single sporting championship, of which she knows nothing, its embarrassing.
The questions she asks are sometimes ludicrous or they are so general as to be pointless.
There are female and male presenters out there for most individual championships.

This only makes me like her more