Carragher's wife said he crossed a line with his joke about Richards' haircut

Jamie Carragher revealed that his wife Nicola said he went 'too far' with his brutal on-air jibe at Micah Richards' new haircut as they co-hosted Champions League coverage.

On Tuesday night, the quartet of Carragher, Richards, Thierry Henry and Kate Scott presented CBS' coverage of the Champions League.

It was the first show of the year as Liverpool took on Lille in the league phase, with their 2-1 win meaning they have now qualified for the last-16.

But the focus wasn't just on football on CBS' show. Almost immediately, Richards' look was called into question as the crew addressed the elephant in the room.

And Carragher wasn't willing to hold back in his analysis of the look, issuing a brutal rating and leaving his co-pundit in stitches as he told Richards his haircut was 'awful'.

While Carragher and his co-hosts laughed at Richards' expense, just one day later, the former Liverpool defender revealed how his wife disapproved of his jokes.

Speaking on CBS Sports, Richards said: 'You ruined my confidence yesterday Jamie!' Carragher then responded: 'Can I say something? My wife Nicola told me last night [that] I went too far.'

'Is that what she said?!,' Richards said in disbelief. Carragher responded with a nod before shaking hands with the former Man City defender.

'Thank you Nicola, I love you!,' Richards jokingly declared.

Carragher, Scott and Henry had all teased Richards for debuting his new look.

'New you, who dis?' Abdo asked Richards on the show. 'I look fantastic, don't I? ' he responded. Carragher then butted in: 'It doesn't suit you. I'm saying that as a friend.'

Richards burst into laugher, shocked by Carragher's input, and added: 'Could you not say that off air?'

After Carragher asked why Richards changed his look, the ex-Manchester City man explained: 'I just, you know. New year, new me.'

Abdo explained that she was a fan of the look, describing it as 'nice and crispy'.

The broadcast then cut to a photo of Richards' former look alongside his new one, and Carragher said: 'Honestly, you look awful. You look so cool on the other one. Not cool. Why did you do that?'

After Carragher branded him an 'act' for wearing contact lenses instead of glasses, Richards said he is 'more than happy' with the look and that he has not put a vote out to find out what the general reaction was.

Abdo questioned whether he had had a hair transplant, to which Richards replied: 'I have not been to Turkey, not a chance.'

In a poll asking CBS followers on X whether they preferred 'Old Meeks' or 'New Meeks', 79 per cent of 6,714 votes voted for Richards' former look.

After Carragher continued to insist Richards had had a transplant, they reacted to the poll, with Richards saying: 'Way to kill someone's confidence. I tried it, didn't work, did it?'

Carragher then pulled out a measuring tape, insisting: 'Something is not right.' He measured two-and-a-half inches between Richards' eyebrows and his hairline, insisting he will measure again at a later date.