There were plenty of stories to come from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards on Tuesday night but, in all truth, we've been fully captivated by - of all things - Michael Owen's red carpet interviews.
The former Liverpool and Manchester United striker was among those in attendance at the event, and there were plenty of UK media along the red carpet getting vox pops from some of the biggest names in British sport.
Owen has gained something of a reputation for his eccentric admissions on social media in recent years. Perhaps the most iconic was his big reveal that he despises films, and claimed in 2014 to have only ever seen eight in his entire life.
Films I've been forced to watch:
Rocky
Heat
Ghost
Jurassic Park
Cool Runnings
Seabiscuit
Karate Kid
Forest Gump— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) October 14, 2014
Just this month, Owen made a similarly bizarre claim when appearing on Jake Humphrey's High Performance Podcast. The ex-England striker told a strange story about riling up his mam by throwing apple cores at the bin as a child, and about the motivation it gave him to kick on as a footballer.
Michael Owen here, telling a truly amazing story about an apple and a bin.
Enjoy 😉👍#THFC #COYS 🤍💙❤️🩹 #TOTNEWpic.twitter.com/rnTFqsWUTb— Football Confidential 🌐 (@footballconfid1) December 11, 2023
We would nearly go so far as to say the combined antics across all of his interviews on Tuesday night might just trump the sheer ridiculousness of his previous claims.
When asked to make a "Christmas confession," Owen motored straight into a surreal story about accidentally wedging a dart in someone's leg years ago.
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Michael Owen tells bizarre darts story at BBC SPOTY
Michael Owen is one interview away from claiming to have thrown a copper kettle over a pub pic.twitter.com/rbkGP46O1O
— Evan Fanning (@evanfanning) December 20, 2023
We couldn't believe what we were hearing when Michael Owen began recounting his darts story and, the more it goes on, the more bizarre it gets.
When asked for his "Christmas confession," Owen went down a path just about nobody could have expected, explaining in great detail how he had once accidentally thrown a dart in a stranger's leg:
I remember throwing a dart in somebody's leg before.
[I was] thinking, 'they're just gonna move out of the way.' Just joking around, I was about 20 metres away and thought, 'yeah, I'll just lob this one towards said person.'
They seemed to just watch it and watch it and watch it and it went plonk right in their leg. I was like, 'you're supposed to move! I didn't do it too hard!'
I wasn't going to announce that to the world but, as you've asked.
Following on from his famed movie confession, perhaps the most on-brand Owen moment of the night came when he was again asked to tell a secret to the BBC Sport team. He chose a different revelation this time - that he has never had a cup of tea or coffee.
Michael Owen is basically a Steve Coogan creation at this point.
pic.twitter.com/8NRVMKGotp— HLTCO (@HLTCO) December 20, 2023
Sure, Michael. Sure.
If you thought that the night of eclectic answers ended there, then you were sorely mistaken.
The BBC's social media team asked a string of sporting figures, including Alex Scott and eventual winner Mary Earps, to recognise Beenie Man's 'Who Am I (Sim Simma)' from the opening lyrics.
After several of the guests nail the lyrics, the smash cut to a clueless Michael Owen is one of the funniest shots we've seen on sports TV of late.
Michael Owen genuinely has no idea how funny he is does he?! 😅😆
Wait for it...#BBCSPOTY #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/IPp6l0pU8M— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 20, 2023
And yes, he did indeed mistake the famous 1990s track for 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' from Mary Poppins - begging the question of whether his list of watched movies has now climbed to nine.
It's fair to say that nobody is doing sports interviews quite like Michael Owen these days.
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