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Skip Bayless appeared on the South Beach Sessions podcast with Dan Le Batard, and opened up about his career with ESPN, First Take, Stephen A. Smith, FS1, and Undisputed.
During the podcast, Le Batard admitted he had been highly critical of Bayless and former partner Stephen A. Smith. Bayless admitted he had heard all of the things that the former ESPN host had said about him.
Le Batard then noted that Bayless was essentially the creator of conflict television, which ESPN branded as “Embrace Debate.” But Skip Bayless was adamant that it wasn’t something he was actively attempting to pull off.
“Not consciously,” Bayless said after Le Batard said he “basically birthed the idea” of the television style. “Just organically. It’s just who I am. So I started actually being me. I don’t play a character. I play me on TV, and if you know me off-camera, I can be a little shy and less gregarious than others in our business.”
Skip Bayless then credited his mother — who forced him in third grade — for taking public speaking lessons that ultimately led to him feeling comfortable debating a co-host on television.
“I had that gear in me that when the light turns on, I can go,” said Bayless. “It’s not fake, it’s actually the realest part of me.”
