Gary Lineker ready to strip if Leicester win the league

With Leicester City on the verge of winning the Premier League, football fans are braced for the downside of a Foxes triumph - the sight of Gary Lineker presenting Match of the Day in his underpants.

In December, when his old team unexpectedly found themselves at the top of the table, the 55-year-old pundit tweeted that he would do the show "in just my undies" if they took home the title.

At the time, nobody expected Claudio Ranieri's side to maintain their challenge, but now they need just one win from their final three matches to win the league.

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And as a result, Lineker has been given the all clear by BBC bosses to make good on his promise. "The conversation's been had," he told the Radio Times.

However, he seemed to be having cold feet. "I've told them many times, 'Please tell me I can't do it.'

"When I sent the tweet in December I categorically knew there was zero chance that (Leicester) would win. I'm in good shape. For an old b******. I'll probably work out for the two weeks beforehand very, very hard," he added.

However, there is a silver lining for football fans as Lineker pointed out to The Independent that he was not obliged to present the entire programme in his pants. "I just hope I have to... [but] I certainly never said anywhere in that Tweet that I would do the whole show," he said.

But as the Leicester Mercury notes, Lineker isn't the only person to have made themselves a hostage to Leicester's fortunes.

"Right back to the early days of the season, fans suggested they'd cut their hair off, pose without clothes and a variety of other daft acts, should the Foxes win the title," notes the paper, before reprinting some of the most embarrassing pledges.