Richard Bacon (TV presenter)
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| Richard Paul Bacon | |
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| Born | Richard Paul Bacon 30 November 1975  Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England |
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| Occupation | TV/Radio presenter |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca McFarlane |
Richard Bacon (born 30 November 1975, Mansfield, England)[1] is an English television and radio presenter.
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[edit] Biography
Bacon grew up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and went to St Peter's CE Primary School on Bellamy Road, then the independent school Worksop College.[citation needed] His father, Paul, is a partner in a firm of solicitors, established in Mansfield in 1866 and is a former President of the Nottinghamshire Law Society.[citation needed] His mother is still a Governor of his old primary school, and Mansfield correspondent for Radio Nottingham.[citation needed] He briefly began university as a Politics student but dropped out. Bacon's first job in the media was as a reporter for BBC Radio Nottingham, notably on the programme The Beat, for which he interviewed Nicole Kidman.[1] In February 1996, Bacon joined L!VE TV as reporter, which saw him being banned from the State Opening of Parliament and having a beer thrown at him by Damon Albarn as he tried to interview him leaving a nightclub.[1]
[edit] Blue Peter
Bacon's break was as a presenter on the children's show Blue Peter, joining on 21 February 1997.[1] He was the programme's first ever presenter to have his contract terminated in mid-season, on 19 October 1998,[1] after the tabloid journal News of the World published a report of Bacon taking cocaine. By this time his tenure had lasted just over 18 months. After his dismissal the then Head of BBC children's programmes, Lorraine Heggessey, went on air to explain the situation to CBBC viewers.[1] Bacon presented with Romana D'Annunzio, Katy Hill, Konnie Huq and Stuart Miles.[1]
[edit] After Blue Peter
Bacon's career survived the setback and he has since presented such shows as The Big Breakfast (with Amanda Byram), Top of the Pops, and the reality TV show Back To Reality. He was previously a presenter on radio stations BBC7 and Capital FM, in addition to presenting the previous shows he had held at Xfm London. He left XFM at the end of March 2007 to pursue other broadcasting interests, including presenting BBC3's Castaway Exposed and returning to Fighting Talk.
Bacon also hosted ITV's This Morning during the summer of 2005, with Denise van Outen, while regular presenters Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton were on their holidays. The enormous irony[citation needed] of his career is that he remains much in demand as a radio and television presenter, across many stations and categories of programming, because of the controversy which embroiled him during his time on Blue Peter, rather than despite it.
Bacon is also noted for an incident in August 2005, when the band The Magic Numbers walked out of the BBC show Top of the Pops after presenter Bacon made a joke which was perceived to be about the body shape of members of the band; during rehearsals, he referred to the band as a "big, fat melting pot of talent".[2]
Bacon's most recent television appearances include guest appearances on BBC's Newsnight, Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, the narration of BBC Three's Annoying Pop Songs We Love To Hate, Annoying Pop Moments We Love To Hate, and guest hosting The Wright Stuff on Five the week commencing 19 November 2007, in March 2008 and the month of August 2008. Also in March and October 2008, and in February 2009 he stood in for Something for the Weekend's presenter Tim Lovejoy on the BBC Two Sunday morning magazine programme.
Bacon presented BBC Radio 5 Live's Kung fu Fighting Talk – Any Other Business (a politically oriented spin-off from the same station's topical sports show, Fighting Talk) in December 2006, having presented a current affairs phone-in show for the station two years previously. In 2007, he made a cameo appearance in Hotel Babylon playing himself and hiring escort girls to play Scrabble with him all night.
Bacon now enjoys a radio career having presented drive time shows on Capital FM and the British indie-pop radio station Xfm. Since October 2007 he has been the regular presenter of the late night show weekdays on BBC Radio 5 Live, where he has also presented a variety of programmes over the last few years. Bacon's show 'The Richard Bacon Show' is aired on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It is aired on Mondays and Thursdays at 10:00PM. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it is aired at 11:00PM. Richard's signature at the end of every programme is "Goodnight Great Britain, wherever you are".
He is a celebrity supporter of the British Red Cross[3] where he is interested in their National Flood Appeal and international messaging services.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Richard Bacon". BBC Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/presenters/bacon.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-02-16.
- ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Rock band's fury at TV 'fat' quip
- ^ http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?id=80102 British Red Cross profile
[edit] External links
- Richard Bacon at the Internet Movie Database
- Richard's XFM profile
- BBC Radio Five Live – Richard Bacon
- Richards Twitter Account page
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by Tim Vincent |
Blue Peter Presenter No. 25 1997–98 |
Succeeded by Simon Thomas |
| Preceded by Lucio |
XFM Drivetime Presenter 2006–2007 |
Succeeded by Paul Tonkinson |
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