Dermot O'Leary

Dermot O'Leary
O'Leary at the 2009 auditions of The X Factor in Cardiff
Born	Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary, Jr. (1973-05-24) 24 May 1973 Colchester, Essex, England
Nationality	British-Irish
Occupation	Television presenter, Radio DJ, Comedian
Years active	1999–present
Employer	BBC, ITV, Syco TV
Television	The X Factor (2007–present) National Television Awards (2010–present) Children in Need (2013—present)
Spouse(s)	Dee Koppang (2012–present)

Dermot O'Leary (born Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary, Jr.) (born 24 May 1973) is an English television and radio presenter of Irish descent. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2. He is also notable for being the last person to introduce Michael Jackson in public before his death.

Early life

O'Leary was born in Colchester, Essex, England to parents Sean and Marie, who had moved to England from Wexford, Republic of Ireland. He is "extremely proud" of his Irish roots and holds dual citizenship. He attended primary school in Marks Tey and later St Benedict's Catholic College in Colchester, graduating with two General Certificates of Secondary Education, and Colchester Sixth Form College.

O'Leary studied at Middlesex University, achieving a degree in Media and Television with Politics. He achieved a 2:2.^{[citation needed]} Whilst at Middlesex University he developed an interest in comedy and was involved in various gigs in the students' union. He was also a member of the university's chess society.

Career

Television

O'Leary started as a disc jockey at Essex Radio before becoming a runner on the TV show Light Lunch with Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins and then presenter at Channel 4, part of the original presenting line-up of the channel's T4 strand, before moving on to present Big Brother's Little Brother (the companion show to Big Brother) on E4 from 2001 onwards.

On 27 November 2007, it was announced that Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was to be O'Leary's last series of Big Brother, and that he would not return in summer 2008. After seven years he made his final Big Brother appearance on 28 January 2008.

In August 2006, O'Leary signed a deal to present the game show 1 vs. 100, which aired on Saturday nights on BBC One in combination with the National Lottery draws.

On 29 March 2007, it was announced that O'Leary would replace Kate Thornton as the new host of ITV's The X Factor for at least two series. Speaking after the announcement he said: "I was very flattered to be offered the job to host such a hugely successful show. I'm really looking forward to working with Simon Cowell and the team on the kind of Saturday night entertainment show I grew up watching." While presenting the show he reportedly upset Celine Dion among other things, later saying he "literally had to shut her up".

In March 2009, O'Leary introduced Michael Jackson to an audience of fans at the The O2 in what turned out to be Jackson's final public appearance before his death.

In May 2009, O'Leary became the new host of Matt Lucas and David Walliams' Rock Profile.

In March 2010, O'Leary hosted a spin-off edition of the BBC One show Question Time, which aired on BBC Three, aimed at first time voters. In June 2010 and May 2012, O'Leary hosted Soccer Aid on ITV, in aid of charity Unicef.

Future projects

He has on several occasions expressed interest in hosting the Rose of Tralee, particularly after Ray D'Arcy, a host with whom he has exchanged public banter, vacated the role in 2010.

Radio

O'Leary joined London's Indie rock station XFM in 2001 firstly presenting weekday mid-mornings from 10 am–1 pm, before moving to a Saturday evening show in mid-2002, where he remained until late 2003.

He joined BBC Radio 2 in September 2004, presenting a Saturday afternoon show entitled Dermot's Saturday Club which ran from 2pm to 4pm. Following a number of changes to the length and timing of O'Leary's programme, due in part to the arrival of Chris Evans to Radio 2 and his role as presenter of The X Factor, his show has broadcast between 3pm and 6pm since April 2009.^{[citation needed]}

O'Leary's Radio 2 show focuses on new music and live sessions, and has featured live sessions from the likes of Oasis, Supergrass, the Raconteurs, Massive Attack, Kasabian, the Guillemots, the Zutons, Alesha Dixon, Beck, the Lemonheads, Lily Allen, Foo Fighters, the Go! Team, Bloc Party, Ben Kweller, the Magic Numbers, Mynoni and Friends, Moby and Kate Nash. O'Leary also hosts Radio 2's coverage of the Brit Awards and South by Southwest. He won a Sony Gold Award for Music Programme of the Year in 2008 and again in 2010 and 2013.

Shows hosted

Television

• The Big Breakfast
• T4 (1999–2001)
• The Dogs' Balearics (2000)
• Re:covered
• Big Brother's Little Brother (2001–2008)
• Big Brother Africa (2003)
• Big Brother Around the World (2008)
• Teen Big Brother: The Experiment (2003)
• SAS: Are You Tough Enough? (2002)
• Dermot's Sporting Buddies (2002)
• Some of My Best Friends Are... Catholic (2003)
• SAS Jungle: Are You Tough Enough? (2003)
• Shattered (2004)
• Big Brother's Little Breakfast (2006) (Morning version of BBLB for Celebrity Big Brother UK)
• Morning Glory (2006)
• Big Brother's Big Brain (2006–2007)
• 1 vs. 100 (2006–2007)
• The X Factor (2007–present)
• Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack (2008)
• Never Mind the Buzzcocks (2008 - Guest Team Captain, 2009 - Guest Host)
• The Paul O'Grady Show (2009) (Guest Presenter)
• The National Television Awards 2009 (2010) (Host)
• First Time Voters' Question Time, BBC Three, (2010)
• Dermot Meets...(David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Danny Mulhern and Nick Clegg), BBC Three (2010)
• Soccer Aid (2010) (Host)
• Big Brother's Last Supper (2010) (Host)
• 16th National Television Awards (2010-present)(Host)
• Red Nose Day (2011) (Co-host)
• Live from the Royal Wedding (2011) (Host)
• The Marriage Ref (2011) (Host)

Radio

• XFM Weekday Mid-Mornings - (2001–2002)
• XFM The Weekender Saturday Evenings - (2002–2003)
• BBC Radio 2 Dermot's Saturday Club Saturdays 2-4pm (2004–2005)
• BBC Radio 2 The Dermot O'Leary Show Saturdays 5-7pm (2005–2006), Saturdays 4.30-6.30pm (2006–2007), Saturdays 2-4pm (during The X Factor, Nov-Dec 2007), Saturdays 2-5pm (2008–2009), Saturdays 3-6pm (2009-)

Personal life

O'Leary supports Arsenal F.C., Celtic F.C., London Irish RUFC and politically the Labour Party and he has identified himself as a socialist. He can be heard on the 'Footballistically Arsenal' podcast with his friends and fellow Arsenal fans Dan Baldwin and Boyd Hilton, and on this show it was mentioned that he owns shares in the club. He supports Wexford GAA in Gaelic Games, attending matches in the past. During an appearance as a studio guest on Fantasy Football Euro 2004, O'Leary spoke of his support for the Republic of Ireland football team.

When O'Leary was in his late teens, he played American football for his local team, the Colchester Gladiators. In his early years, he was good friends with Lord Gimpett, with whom he lived In London^{[citation needed]}. He ran the 2005 London Marathon (his third) under four hours for the first time. In 2007 he was an usher at the wedding of Holly Willoughby. He is also a practising Roman Catholic, having contributed to the collection of essays Why I am Still Catholic in 2005. In the February 2008 issue of the Irish magazine, Social and Personal, O'Leary was voted the sexiest man in Ireland out of the Top 100.^{[citation needed]}

O'Leary has campaigned on behalf of Make Poverty History, and has visited Sierra Leone with CAFOD accompanied by his father. He is also a patron of the male cancer awareness campaign, Everyman. In 2003, he played in a charity match for the Colchester Gladiators as a punt returner, helping to raise £2,500 for the Barnardo's children's fund.

On 19 November 2011 during an episode of Xtra Factor, it was announced that O'Leary was engaged to his long-term girlfriend Dee Koppang. He married Dee at St Mary's Church, Chiddingstone in Kent, UK on 14 September 2012 arriving at the church in a cream coloured Mercedes-Benz Pagoda.

He co-owns the FishyFishy restaurants in Brighton and Poole.

O'Leary says his funeral song would be "Tonight We Fly" by the Divine Comedy.

External links

• Dermot O'Leary at BBC Programmes
• Dermot O'Leary at itv.com/xfactor
• Profile/interview in MaleFirst.co.uk
• Xfactor Uk 2011 community

Preceded by Kate Thornton

Host of The X Factor 2007–present

Incumbent