British Bangladeshi journalist Reshmin Chowdhury is a contender to replace Gary Lineker as Match of the Day host.Lineker is scheduled to leave the position at the end of the 2024–2025 season after more than 25 years as the head of the BBC's Premier League football highlights show. His successor has been the subject of conjecture as a result, with Gabby Logan, Alex Scott, and Mark Chapman all being floated as possible candidates.TNT Sports anchor Chowdhury is also believed to be under consideration for the iconic role. The 46-year-old broadcaster, who has previously worked with beIN SPORTS, talkSPORT and Discovery Plus, joined the BBC Sport team in 2010 and has past experience in presenting Match of the Day 2.But even with her credentials, Chowdhury has spoken out about facing ethnic and gender prejudice during her time at the BBC. She told The Sun in August: "Being British Asian... I think I had to convince a lot of people that I knew about football. That was the most frustrating part... I mean, is it a surprise?

"I started off working in news, no one questioned me then. I have a politics degree, so it was quite normal. But when you come into sport, people look at you and they are thinking: 'Does she know what she is really talking about?'"

Chowdhury opened up about one particular incident at the BBC where two male colleagues seemed to be putting her sports knowledge to the test with an in-depth question about Real Madrid.

She explained: "I can remember when I was at the BBC a couple of guys asked me a question about a specific Real Madrid player. I knew they were testing me. And maybe this is the case for other women, and not just about colour - but they wouldn't do that to another guy."

She got her big break as the face of Real Madrid TV in 2008 and shot to fame thanks to her exclusive interview with Cristiano Ronaldo following his then-record transfer from Manchester United to the Spanish giants in 2009. Chowdhury has since worked with some of the most high-profile media outlets across the globe and hosted major events such as The Best FIFA Football Awards.

She has spoken in the past about how difficult it was breaking into sports journalism, stating that her ethnicity held her back. "It shouldn't be as hard as it was for me for someone getting into sports broadcasting now," she said.

"I believe it would have been 100 per cent easier if I had an 'in'. The barriers to entry were everywhere. I didn't have a famous sporting person in my family, or know anyone in TV. We need more representation [in the industry]... It's something I am passionate about. In the last five or six years, the doors have opened for women in sport. But that hasn't always been the case."

Chowdhury, who hails from a British and Bangladeshi background, was born in London into an "open-minded, progressive Bengali Muslim" family. She has become a beacon of inspiration for young British Asian girls aspiring to emulate her success in sports journalism.

"I get Bengali parents who come up to me and tell me their daughters want to become sports journalists because they saw me," she added. "I can't tell you how much that means to me. Every time I hear that my heart skips a beat."Chowdhury spent much of her extra-curricular time as a vocalist. She has worked alongside musician Nitin Sawhney. She was the lead singer in the UK touring theatre production of The Mahabharata and recorded vocals on the 2006 film The Namesake.Reshmin Chowdhury's parents are Morjina and Shahabuddin Chowdhury. Shahabuddin was a collector of newspapers that covered the 1971 war in Bangladesh. He passed away in 2021, and Reshmin and her mother worked on completing his tasks, including compiling his newspaper collections into a book.