Wayne Lineker has shared a deeply personal health update, revealing he has been left unable to walk after being rushed into intensive care with what doctors described as “extremely dangerous pneumonia”.
The 63-year-old O Beach Ibiza owner explained on Instagram that he initially believed he had caught Covid during a flight from Mauritius to Dubai for a work event. He said the illness “completely wiped me out”, and by the time he finally returned home, things took a terrifying turn.
According to Wayne, he woke at 3am unable to stand, adding that he genuinely thought he was having a heart attack. “I called my daughter Tia, and she was in great despair. She called her mum, and they got me into an ambulance,” he said, recalling the frantic moment that led to him being rushed to hospital.
Doctors diagnosed chronic pneumonia, and Wayne was moved straight into intensive care, where he spent ten days. He admitted he delayed announcing his condition because “I knew how much love I’d receive and I always feel guilty not being able to respond to everyone”.
Now on a respiratory ward, Wayne says he’s finally confident enough to speak about what happened. “Catching pneumonia at my age is extremely dangerous. I’m out of the danger zone, out of intensive care, but I still cannot walk at all. I have about two months of rehabilitation and physio ahead of me.”
He added that he has been “speaking and having visits from family and close friends”, which has kept his spirits up as he faces a long recovery.
Meanwhile, his brother Gary Lineker, 65, is preparing to debut on Netflix with a lucrative deal that will take The Rest Is Football podcast to the streaming platform during next year’s World Cup. The move comes after Gary exited the BBC in May, following controversy surrounding a reposted image he later described as an “error”.
Despite the setback, the Netflix partnership is expected to “catapult the show’s profile again”, giving Gary a major new chapter in his broadcasting career.
For Wayne, the focus now is regaining the ability to walk — a journey he admits will take time but one he says he is finally ready to confront.
