A new episode of the BBC Sounds series "Karel Prince: Lie Detector" has turned its attention to football folklore, inviting Soccer AM favourite and broadcaster John Fendley — better known to fans as Fenners — to share three tales from his career for scrutiny.
The episode, part of Radio 5 Live's programming, aired on 5 August 2026 and runs for roughly 25 minutes. It sees Fendley present three separate anecdotes, each more outlandish than the last, for hosts Karel Prince and Anita Abayomi to pick apart.
Among the claims up for debate is whether Lionel Messi once walked away from an interview with Fendley after being beaten by him in a FIFA video game match, supposedly scrapping the planned segment altogether. Another story asks listeners to believe that Fendley was responsible for scoring the very first goal at the redeveloped Wembley Stadium, netting it during a test event staged ahead of the venue's official opening.
The most eyebrow-raising tale, however, involves Brazilian football icon and Ballon d'Or winner Rivaldo. According to Fendley's account, the World Cup winner vanished just before a scheduled filming session, only to later be discovered relieving himself in a nearby bush.
To help determine fact from fiction, presenters Prince and Abayomi are equipped with photographic evidence and their own football knowledge, applying a healthy dose of scepticism as they interrogate each story in turn. The format, which has become a hallmark of the series, challenges guests to hold up their most memorable — and often hard-to-believe — moments to detailed cross-examination before the truth is finally revealed at the episode's conclusion.
Fendley, a familiar face and voice to football fans through his work on Soccer AM, brings a career's worth of behind-the-scenes access to the table, having crossed paths with some of the sport's biggest names over the years. Whether it's genuine encounters with global superstars like Messi and Rivaldo, or embellished versions of real events, the episode promises listeners a mixture of entertainment and football trivia as the hosts work to separate genuine memories from tall tales.
"Karel Prince: Lie Detector" is produced by Sport Social Studios for BBC Sounds, with Matt Tasker serving as series producer and Tom Hinckley as technical producer. Jim Salveson is credited as executive producer, while Tom Barker handled photography for the episode and James Mobbs contributed artwork. The original theme music was composed by WIZZFX. On the commissioning side, Stevie Middleton served as Commissioning Executive for the BBC, with Steve Trenchard as Assistant Commissioner, and Jade Burns and Stuart Birch providing commissioning and digital support.
The episode adds to a growing archive of content from the podcast, which has built a reputation for blending football nostalgia with a game-show style format, appealing to fans keen to test their own knowledge of the sport's more unusual off-field moments. Listeners are left to decide for themselves how much of Fendley's account holds up before the reveal at the end of the show settles the matter definitively.
The full episode is available now on BBC Sounds, alongside other instalments of the series available for streaming for over a year after release.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport Football.