John McCririck
| John McCririck | |
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 in 2006. |
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| Born | 17 April 1940 Surbiton, Surrey, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Harrow School |
| Alma mater | Victoria College, Jersey |
| Occupation | Horse racing pundit, journalist, broadcaster |
| Years active | 1978, 1981–present |
| Employer | Channel 4 |
| Spouse | Jenny McCririck (m. 1971) |
John McCririck (born 17 April 1940) is an English television horse racing pundit. He is notable not only for his racing opinions but also for his old-fashioned style of dress and mannerisms. With his trademark deerstalker hat, tweed jacket and large sideburns, which he calls his wackers, he affects the part of either Sherlock Holmes or a well-dressed gamekeeper, and he happily acts the role of a country gentleman. He also uses the traditional tic-tac signals when commenting on odds before a horse race. His public comments have often been attended by controversy, and have occasionally been interpreted as derogatory and offensive, particularly towards women.[1]
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[edit] Career
McCririck was educated at Victoria College, Jersey[2] and Harrow School. He was originally a racing journalist with The Sporting Life and also wrote for Grandstand; he began his career as a television pundit on ITV's horse racing coverage in 1981 although he did appear in a debate about fox hunting on the ITV children's programme Saturday Banana in 1978. During 1984 and 1985, horse racing moved to Channel 4 as referred to as Channel 4 Racing. In 2002, Channel 4 launched its own digital television racing channel, attheraces, which was sold to BSkyB in 2003. He is famous for his outspoken opinions; in particular, he has risen to the defence of punters when he thinks they are being given bad value, and is highly critical of jockeys when he doesn't think they have ridden well. He is best known to American racing audiences for his annual appearance on the Breeders' Cup telecast, in which he invariably touts British horses over their American rivals. During the 2009 Breeders' Cup telecast on ESPN, McCririck said that Conduit had no chance to win the Turf, and that people betting on Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic were "giving your money away". Both horses proceeded to win in dramatic fashion.
In March 2008, Channel Four renewed McCririck’s contract though lessened his appearances by 50%. He claimed he had been made a part timer against his will.[3] His obtrusive mannerism and hawkish temper can lead to hecklers and fans interfering with his broadcasts, parodying his style and appearance and simply trying to be in his vicinity. These events often lead to aggressive verbal retaliation from McCririck, in which he often utilises his famous catch phrase; "Toerags behave yourself".[citation needed]
[edit] Failed bookmaker and problem gambler
McCririck often alludes to the fact that he was a failure as an oncourse bookmaker. He is less forthcoming on the fact that in the early eighties he was sacked from the Sporting Life after he was exposed as being a heavy losing gambler unable to pay his massive gambling debts. McCririck would later admit that legendary gambler Barney Curley had "saved him" by negotiating with the bookmakers who wanted McCririck "warned off". This would have effectively meant that McCririck would have been barred from all British racecourses.[citation needed]
[edit] Beyond racing
[edit] Celebrity Big Brother
McCririck is a celebrity for more than just his racing opinions. In January 2005 he was a contestant in the third series of Celebrity Big Brother. He upset other contestants with trenchant and unpopular views on women, declining to join in tasks set for the contestants, walking around in his 'white' underwear and refusing to talk for three days in protest at not receiving the Diet Coke he had requested in the contestants' shopping. On Day 12 of the competition he became the second contestant to be evicted from the house after receiving fewer votes than fellow housemates.
[edit] Ultimate Big Brother
John was a housemate in Ultimate Big Brother in August 2010, and was the first to be evicted with 50.6% of the vote, the closest in UK Big Brother history, with Coolio receiving 49.4% of the vote.
He now proclaims himself as "the Ultimate Big Brother Tosser".
John has spent a total of 16 days in the Big Brother house: 12 for Celebrity Big Brother 3 and 4 days for Ultimate Big Brother.
[edit] Wife Swap
He refers to his wife Jenny as 'The Booby', and has been accused of frequent misogyny.[4]
In Autumn 2006, McCririck and Jenny took part in Wife Swap alongside Edwina Currie and her husband (also called John). Currie strongly objected to McCririck's habits, which included eating his meals in bed and refusing ever to cook or drive the car. McCririck, meanwhile, objected strongly to Currie's removing the fuse from his television set, and at one point ordered her to "get out of my house!" Following up his appearance in Wife Swap he was on ITV's Loose Women, where he was booed off the stage because of his strong chauvinistic views. He also appeared on The Sharon Osbourne Show where Osbourne ended up throwing water over him, because of his behaviour and views on women.
[edit] Other TV appearances
McCririck appeared on the 1991 Bullseye Game Show Christmas Special, winning the top prize for his chosen charity. He has also appeared in the Celebrity Poker Club television series, reaching the Grand Final of series one, won by Sir Clive Sinclair. In 2005 he appeared on the chat show Heads Up with Richard Herring to discuss his life, career and his love of poker and diet coke. He also starred in a short film drama, Tartan Smalls: Winning Streak (screened on CBBC and BBC Television), where he played himself. The satirical puppet show Spitting Image portrayed him as gibbering fool who was eventually put down in the manner of an injured racehorse.
McCririck was fooled by Chris Morris on the comedy series Brass Eye in 1997, becoming genuinely angered by a fictional report about a West End musical starring notorious serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.
He was the special guest for the first episode ("Travel") of Rich Hall's Fishing Show.
He guest-starred in an episode ('Drama') of the Scottish sitcom Still Game as himself, appearing on television at a race, egging Winston (Paul Riley) on to go and gamble at "the bookies'".
He competed on the Weakest Link twice: once as a solo contestant on the 2005 Reality TV Special, and on the Celebrity Duos Special with his wife, Jenny. He was voted off in the first and second round respectively.
He presented Big Brother's Big Mouth from 3 July 2007 to 6 July 2007 alongside his wife and their Labrador dog, Copper.
McCririck appeared on an episode of Hell's Kitchen (season 3, episode 8) where he was kicked out of the restaurant at the hands of Marco Pierre White who described him as a "pig".
McCririck appeared on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on 20 September 2007 to discuss the appeal of women over fifty, and was asked to leave after insulting Ingrid Dupre-Walsh in relation to her comments in the press about her sex life with ex-husband Chris Tarrant.[1] In 2010 McCririck won a Channel Four's idiot award for his appearance on the Alan Titchmarsh Show.
In September and October 2011, McCririck was a contestant on Channel 4's Coach Trip, where his habit of 'nose-picking' became a recurring joke on the programme.
[edit] Radio
Recently appeared on Absolute Radio on Jo Russell's show where he announced that women who wear high heels have never picked a Grand National Winner
On 10th April 2010 John McCririck lost on his debut appearance on BBC Radio 5live's Fighting Talk.
[edit] Speech at Robin Cook's funeral
On 12 August 2005, whilst giving a speech at Robin Cook's funeral, he denounced Tony Blair for not attending as he was on holiday snorkelling.
[edit] NewsTalk : British attitudes to the Irish
In March 2010, McCririck spoke on Newstalk's The Right Hook. Asked for his opinion about British attitudes towards the Irish, McCririck accused Ireland of being a nation that was subsidised by Britain, France and Germany. His response was greeted with anger by many Irish listeners.
[edit] Politics
During March 2010, McCririck stated he was a Conservative voter. He said "I've always voted Conservative - except for the Blair years ... I'm a Right-wing Tory."[5]
[edit] Personal life
He has been married to Jenny "The Booby" since 1971, In a recent interview with Channel 4 he said his all time favourite TV programme is Soldier Soldier.
He is a committed fan of the football club Newcastle United; when presenting he often wears items that have the Newcastle United badge on them.
Since the mid 90s he and his wife live together in Primrose Hill, London.
[edit] References
- ^ "John McCririck kicked off talk show for saying Ingrid Tarrant is 'bad in bed'". The Daily Mail. 2007-09-21. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=482840&in_page_id=1773&in_page_id=1773&expand=true. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
- ^ Headlines
- ^ John McCririck 'Humiliated' As TV Appearances Are Cut Back - The Daily Record
- ^ "The Big Interview: John McCririck". The Times (London). 2005-03-13. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article426288.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
- ^ http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=celebrity-x-factor&method=full&objectid=22143891&siteid=93463-name_page.html
[edit] External links
- Contact Details
- John McCririck at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview in The Guardian, July 4, 2001
- Channel 4 Horse Racing
- John McCririck profile at Biogs.com
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