Wayne Rooney brought his BBC show to a halt after outlining his perfect Christmas dinner. The 40-year-old will be free to enjoy the Christmas trimmings over the coming days, having officially hung up his football boots just under five years ago following spells with Manchester United, Everton, DC United and Derby.

Rooney, who bagged 253 goals and 142 assists in 559 matches for the Red Devils, turned his hand to management after retiring from football and previously managed Derby, Birmingham and Plymouth. But he now spends much of his time talking about football matters on The Wayne Rooney Show, which features on the BBC’s platforms. And he was joined by presenter Kelly Somers, ex-United striker Dion Dublin, former England manager Sam Allardyce and comedian Kae Kurd for a festive edition of the show.

Rooney sat at a table with the guests and was dressed in a Christmas jumper that poked fun at his ex-United team-mate Roy Keane.

The jumper had a picture of Keane on the front of it and a slogan that read: “Praising Santa for delivering presents?”

The conversation turned away from football and came to a crushing halt as Rooney was asked by Somers to lay out the food that would make it onto his perfect Christmas dinner plate. And the former England striker opted for mushy peas as his first item.

Somers was astounded by his selection as she exclaimed: “First red flag for me. I’m sorry, mushy peas are with fish and chips.”

Dublin signalled ‘cut’ to the camera, joking that Rooney’s comments warranted the show being halted right there.

But Rooney continued: “There’s mushy peas, there’s sweetcorn, there’s carrot and turnip, turkey. I have new potatoes – I don’t like roast potatoes.”

He was told by Somers that his lack of roast potatoes was “not okay”, with Dublin offering more empathy towards the variation as the Homes Under the Hammer presenter stated: “Okay, yeah, yeah, I get that.”

Rooney then finished by adding broccoli and cauliflower to his dinner plate. And Dublin changed his tune as he told Rooney: “Those first two are weird, man. Mushy peas and corn? That’s awful. That is terrible Wazza.”

The 2008 Champions League winner pushed back as he asked: “Well, do you like mushy peas. Do you like sweetcorn?” And after admitting he loved both of them, Dublin added: “Not with turkey, not with gravy.”

Kurd then waded into the debate as he exclaimed: “If you’re just having things you love, you might as well have a curry then.”

Rooney then declared he doesn’t put gravy on his Christmas dinner and instead uses the juices from the vegetables to ensure the food isn’t dry. And Allardyce chimed in: “Try Wayne Rooney’s veggie juice for Christmas.”