British tennis legend Andy Murray has revealed he turned down BBC punditry work at Wimbledon because of the broadcaster’s ‘down-the-middle’ coverage – and plans to become a YouTuber instead.
Murray, 39, is launching a new podcast with his brother Jamie called The Set, created by the same production team that conceived Gary Neville’s The Overlap, which airs its first episode at 5pm on Friday.
During The Set‘s debut, the brothers will try to teach social media influencer and Dagenham & Redbridge owner KSI how to improve his backhand game, while later episodes are set to show the Scottish siblings playing tennis with a series of household objects such as chopping boards, bin lids and a copy of their mother Judy’s biography.
In an interview with the Telegraph about his new project, Murray revealed why he is snubbing the BBC for YouTube, admitting their coverage fails to interest or excite him.
‘I just have always found tennis commentary and coverage to be quite down the middle,’ he said.
‘I don’t necessarily find it that interesting or that insightful. It’s not something that I really fancy doing, unless it was done in a very different way, and I don’t necessarily think that that would happen at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray (pictured in 2018) says the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage is ‘down the middle’
He says he will not work for the network because their coverage isn’t ‘interesting or insightful’
Murray is launching a new tennis podcast on YouTube called The Set with his brother
‘Whereas, with The Set, we have total flexibility about when we film stuff, we know which hours we work, and there’s no restrictions on what we can and can’t do.
‘If I’m doing an interview in front of the camera, I’ve never really enjoyed it that much, but the YouTube stuff I’ve done – whether it be with [golf influencers] the Fore Bros, or Ian Poulter, or Kevin Pietersen – has been fun.’
Despite diving into his new YouTube project, Murray has made deliberate efforts to limit the amount of time he is personally spending on social media.
‘I’ve got rid of social media on my phone,’ he told the newspaper. ‘I was wasting too much time. I got given one of these things called a brick, one of those devices.
‘(You can just) make phone calls, and then, yeah, just basically disable the apps and websites on the phone, so hopefully being a little bit more productive.’
The two-time Wimbledon champion went on to reveal that he is in full support of the Government’s social media ban for under-16s, with YouTube among the platforms that are set to be banned from Spring 2027 alongside Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Insisting it ‘removes the difficult part of parenting,’ he added: ‘My kids don’t really watch YouTube and stuff. We try and keep them off screens as much as we can, try and keep them outside, running around, playing sports and being active.
‘They all like different stuff. Some of them do a bit of athletics, and they do all the school sports, like hockey, netball, cricket, a bit of football.’
Murray has also been coaching British tennis star Jack Draper ahead of Wimbledon next week
Alongside his new YouTube venture, Murray has been coaching British tennis star Jack Draper, who is set to make his return at Wimbledon next week after being kept on the sidelines since April with a knee injury.
Draper, who won his first competitive match in months by defeating American Marcos Giron 6-4 7-6 (7-5) at Eastbourne on Monday, said: ‘I’m really grateful to Andy that he’s chosen to help me and wants to help me.
‘Today was a performance a bit like what he used to do – winning ugly.’
Murray’s decision to snub the BBC comes after Andrew Castle revealed that this year will be his last as a commentator at Wimbledon, following more than two decades with the mic.
Castle, 62, labelled his role as the ‘best gig in sports broadcasting as he told The Times: ‘It’s been a hell of a journey. I can’t say I have enjoyed every minute because there have been moments of pressure and controversy, but it has been a huge privilege.
‘To be honest, when I got the job 23 years ago, a lot of the more experienced commentators felt that they should have been first in line. Their noses were put out of joint. So, in the wider scheme of things, I am lucky that I had the best gig in sports broadcasting for so long, during the greatest age of men’s tennis.’
