Previous podcast episode player always at the bottom of the screen

In looking for answers to my question, I found this post from a while ago. That exactly explains my question:

”Hey folks,

I’m wanting to remove the media player bar at the bottom of the screen on the Apple Podcast App on my IPhone.

To clarify further, I’m referring to the bar that displays the previous episode of a podcast you’ve listened to and when you swipe up on it, it will show you the full media player with the podcast art.

It seems to be an overlay, which leads me to believe you can get rid of it, but I have tried everything including deleting my entire library. Now when I open the app the bar is still there, but says “not playing”

I’m not sure if I’m alone here but I find it incredibly annoying when trying to browse through the app. I’m constantly accidentally swiping it up and it blocks a lot of screen space.

Please help lol.”

Does anyone have a solution?