Olympics 2016: Mark Foster pours cold water on Rebecca Adlington touching his knee

Frenzy: Rebecca Adlington touches Mark Foster’s leg during the broadcast in Rio
BBC

Mark Foster today spoke out about Rebecca Adlington touching his leg during a live Rio Olympics broadcast, saying the gold medallist simply did it to get his attention on air.

At the weekend, TV viewers spotted Adlington, 27, touching the former world champion’s leg while the pair were hosting the swimming coverage with presenter Helen Skelton.

Viewers took to Twitter to remark on the relationship between the pair, with user Jennifer B remarking: “Watching the Olympics highlights! It couldn’t be more obvious that there’s something going on between Rebecca Adlington & Mark Foster!” In his Evening Standard column today Foster, 46, wrote: “It’s been funny the attention we’ve been getting at the BBC with people remarking on Becky touching my leg.

“But the reality is that Becky does that simply to get my attention either when she has something to say or else she wants me to butt in.”

Referring to Adam Peaty’s gold medal victory yesterday in the 100m breaststroke, Foster added: “I joked to camera when Becky was crying after Adam’s win that it was because I’d just proposed to her! Anyway, it’s just a bit of fun.”

Adlington, a mother of one, has been single since she split from her husband, swimmer Harry Needs, in March. Little is known about Foster’s private life. Yesterday, Skelton, 33, made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the matter by posting an image of Foster and Adlington smiling and hugging and her standing a small distance away with the caption “#Thirdwheel”.

Foster and Adlington, who won gold in the 400m and 800m freestyle at Beijing 2008, have posted several pictures of themselves together online, including one of them at a restaurant with co-host Sharron Davies. Posting photos of herself, Foster, and the team on Twitter, Adlington wrote: “Good to be in Rio with these lovely people!”

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