Millie Bright and Rachel Daly’s podcast issues apology over use of Lauren James picture | OneFootball

Millie Bright and Rachel Daly’s podcast, Daly Brightness, has issued an apology after using an image of Bright’s Chelsea team-mate Lauren James being sent off against Nigeria at the Women’s World Cup as an episode thumbnail.

In the episode, former Lionesses players Bright and Daly discussed the most memorable games of their England careers and brought up the last-16 victory against Nigeria at the 2023 tournament. England progressed on penalties, having been reduced to 10 players after James was sent off for stamping on the back of an opponent in the second half. Daly said the match was the “hardest game” she had been involved in as an England player.

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The thumbnail of the episode feature an image of Lauren James being sent off (Rest is Football: Daly Brightness)

Fans of the podcast criticised the inclusion of James’s red card in the episode thumbnail, however, after the forward, who was 21 years old at the time, was on the receiving end of abuse following the match. The Daly Brightness production team said Bright, who is James’s captain at Chelsea, and Daly had no involvement in the selection of the photo, which has subsequently been removed and changed to another image.

“The Daly Brightness production team would like to apologise for the image used on one of today’s episode thumbnails,” a comment on its YouTube channel said.

“We’ve seen the feedback in the comments, and we acknowledge that we got this wrong. We always aim to consider the full context of the content we share, but we missed the mark on this occasion and are sorry for the upset caused. This was a production decision and not something Millie and Rachel had any control over. We have removed the thumbnail across all platforms.”

Daly Brightness is owned by Gary Lineker’s podcast company Goalhanger, which produces several shows at the top of the podcast charts including The Rest is Football, The Rest is Politics and the Rest is History. Lineker hosts the Rest is Football along with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. The Rest is Football has a deal with Netflix ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Bright and Daly previously refused to speak about the saga involving former team-mates Mary Earps and Hannah Hampton. Daly said the Daly Brightness was “not here to gossip” following the publication of Earps’s autobiography, which criticised Sarina Wiegman’s decision to recall Hampton to the England squad. Bright is also Hampton’s captain at Chelsea.