Hollywood star Julia Roberts was in attendance at Old Trafford for Soccer Aid 2025, which sees an England team take on Soccer Aid World XI FC in a charity football match
Dermot O’Leary delivered a “profuse apology” to ITV audiences after Tyson Fury, the heavyweight champion, let slip some colourful language during a pre-match pep talk live on air for England’s Soccer Aid 2025 team.
The star-studded charity event at Old Trafford also saw silver screen icon Julia Roberts mingling with football legend Wayne Rooney during the annual fundraiser that pits an England squad against Soccer Aid World XI FC, all in support of Unicef.
In the throes of motivation, Fury, who took on the role of manager for the England team, couldn’t contain his passion in the dressing room speech as he dropped the seven-letter swear. He said live on ITV:
“Let them know how good we are. We are England. We are f****** Spartans. We are Spartans.”
Following the raw moment, presenters Alex Scott and Dermot O’Leary swiftly offered their apologies to viewers, with Scott commenting:
“What can I say about Tyson Fury? We do apologise for the swearing, but it is Tyson Fury, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
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Adding to Scott’s sentiment, O’Leary stated: “We do profusely apologise.”
However, some viewers remained angry that Fury had used the language in the first place, with some even demanding that he should not appear on our screen again. Taking their outrage over the pre-watershed moment to X, one user said: “Why bother getting Tyson Fury on #SoccerAid2025? Of course he’s going to swear constantly on TV.”
Noting that lots of people were getting angry about his use of the F-word, @brikka49 took the mick, saying: “Hi ITV… it’s totally disgusting that uneducated idiot Tyson Fury was allowed to swear at 18:25 in the evening on the lord’s day.
“He should never appear on TV again!”
And some were just outraged that other people were outraged. @96_mikeys said: “God forbid Tyson Fury swearing on Soccer Aid, and people moaning and groaning already! Because at no point in your sad little cretin lives have you ever heard someone swear before.
“Grow up”
Adding a Hollywood shine to Old Trafford was ‘Pretty Woman’ actress Roberts, a self-proclaimed Manchester United enthusiast, captured taking pictures and sharing a smile with Rooney, who not long after dazzled the crowd by netting England’s opening goal.
Other notable names wearing the England kit included ex-One Direction star Louis Tomlinson and celebrated Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah.
This year’s England team also welcomed Last of Us star Bella Ramsey, comedian Paddy McGuinness, ex-Manchester United player Gary Neville and singer Tom Grennan.
Last year saw England triumph with a 6-3 victory, marking the Three Lions’ first win in six years.
Soccer Aid was jointly established in 2006 by Robbie Williams to fundraise for children’s aid organisation Unicef. Since its inception nearly two decades ago, the charity match has raised over £106 million.