The courier who went viral in one of Jeremy Vine's cycling videos last week has been suspended from work while his employer investigates after being seen swearing at the presenter as he cycled past.
The 50-year-old man, named as Tony in an interview with the Daily Mail, was filmed crossing the road in front of Vine — as the broadcaster rounded a van stopped in a bike lane — in a clip that has since been viewed more than 5.5 million times on Twitter.
As Vine passed, continuing his ride through Hammersmith in London, the man turns around, saying "Vine you p****" before some other inaudible dialogue.
I see the gentleman who shouted abuse at me in the street last week has now emerged in the Daily Mail, bizarrely, claiming it was necessary because I “rode my bike at him” in a way that caused him to panic.
Luckily I managed to find new footage of the incident on another camera. pic.twitter.com/bpziAJNw0C— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) April 29, 2023
The warehouse worker said he does not regret anything and "called him a p**** because he was acting like one".
"He called me an Amazon driver when I don't even work for them and I was on foot — and he nearly cycled into me," Tony claimed. "He'd cycled around a white van which had pulled out of the junction and was trying to eye-ball the driver as he came past and so wasn't concentrating on where he was going.
"I thought he was going to crash straight into me and I hurried up a bit over the road. On his video he only highlights the word "f***" but for some reason the audio of what I actually said to him is distorted — and what I really told him was 'because you nearly f***ing hit me'.
"His face was covered with a scarf and he was wearing glasses but I knew immediately it was Jeremy Vine because he's the only cyclist around here who has a giant camera poking out his head looking like some sort of Teletubby."
The father of two explained that he has been suspended while his employers investigate the incident and received an email from work when the video went viral.
"I'd obviously been recognised and the email said my behaviour was not befitting of the company. It doesn't look good to be honest," he continued. "I've had that job for a couple of years and like it.
"I'm a private person, really, I don't seek attention. I was going about my day minding my own business and he nearly careers into me at speed on his bike but acts like I'm the one with the problem.
"He'll no doubt turn his attentions to the next motorist or pedestrian who winds him up but for me I could lose my livelihood on the back of all this. Ironically most of the comments people left were critical of him and not me and many said I actually had the right of way."
In March, Vine criticised a London bus driver for making a right turn in front of him, forcing him to brake to avoid a collision. The footage, shared on the BBC and Channel 5 presenter's social media, attracted similar attention to last week's.
A month earlier Vine slammed a "garbage" Telegraph article that claimed cycling injuries have surged since a bike lane had been installed.