Vernon Kay
Vernon Kay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 28 April 1974 |
| Occupation(s) | Radio DJ, television presenter |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Spouse | Tess Daly (2003–present) |
| Children | Phoebe Elizabeth Kay Amber Isabella Kay |
| Website | http://www.officialvernonkay.com |
Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television presenter, Radio DJ and former model from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. He began TV presenting on the BBC children's show FBi, a spin-off of Fully Booked. Since then he has presented various shows, most notably T4, Beat the Star and All Star Family Fortunes alongside his weekend show on BBC Radio 1.
Early life
He attended St Joseph's R.C. High School in Horwich, near Bolton,[1] and then St John Rigby College in Orrell, near Wigan. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with an HND in Environmental Science. Vernon received a 2:2 degree.[2]
Vernon Kay was cleaning telephone boxes for a living. Then he was spotted in the audience of the Clotheshow Live, he was subsequently signed up as a model and is now one of the stars of youth aimed TV/Radio
Vernon Kay trained as a Joiner but later realised he couldnt get wood.
Career
Television
2005
Vernon Kay is a former host of T4. He also presented Boys and Girls, HeadJam, Celebrities Under Pressure and California Dreaming. He presented Hit Me, Baby, One More Time which first aired on British television in 2005. The show was then picked up by NBC for broadcast in the United States, which Kay also hosted.
In 2005, Kay hosted the annual The Record of the Year competition. Also in 2005, Kay competed with a host of other celebrities in a series titled Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, in which TV personalities battled each other in a series of well-known game formats that had been featured on ITV over the past 50 years. The series was screened as part of ITV's 50th anniversary celebrations. Kay managed to reach the final of the competition, but ended up losing to Carol Vorderman and her family, in a special edition of Family Fortunes. He met his longterm buddy Mark Boardman whilst recording Pop beach for T4 for its final year in Great Yarmouth.
2006
Television bosses were reportedly so impressed with Kay's performance on the show that they announced plans to revive Family Fortunes with Kay as the host; the first episode aired on 28 October 2006. The show is now titled All Star Family Fortunes as it features celebrities and their families as well as the contestants. Kay was also selected to host the second series of Gameshow Marathon in 2007.
In 2006, he presented alongside his wife Tess on the BBC One celebrity singing contest Just the Two of Us. In 2006, he hosted a segment on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday Live and a special entitled Duet Impossible, featuring contemporary music stars performing with their deceased pop heroes via technical wizardry.
It was announced on 26 April 2007 that Kay will host a new talent search show called Search for the next Elvis in which Elvis impersonators will compete for a prize. Votes will be cast by a set of judges as well as viewers.
He presented The Paul O'Grady Show as a substitute host on two occasions (23 October 2006 and 9 May 2007).
2008
In 2008 Kay hosted the English language adaption of the German TV show Schlag den Raab. The game — Beat the Star — broadcast on ITV1 in an eight part series, which ran from 20 April 2008 to 22 June 2008. In the final episode, Phillip Schofield surprised Kay by revealing that Kay himself was to be that night's star rather than the presenter. Kay then went on to beat the marine contestant through a series of the seven challenges.
2009
On the Series 14 premiere of Top Gear which aired November 15, 2009, presenter Richard Hammond, while in Romania, calls Kay twice while using the Bluetooth on his 2010 Ferrari California, making Kay agitated. Hammond claims that the calls were inadvertent and caused by the poor interface on the California.
Radio
In January 2004, Kay joined BBC Radio 1 and presented an entertainment show every Sunday. In April 2004, he was given the 10 am – 1 pm weekend slot, which was previously hosted by Colin Murray and Edith Bowman and previously broadcast on both Saturdays and Sundays on the popular radio network. From October 2007 Dick and Dom took over Sunday mornings; Kay's show now runs between 10 am – 1 pm on Saturday. In 2008 he was one of a team of DJs who filled in for Edith Bowman while she was on maternity leave along with Fearne Cotton and Nihal.
On 11 February 2009 it was announced that Kay would fill in for Chris Moyles while he is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, an act he repeated on 13 July 2009 when Chris took a day off. He also filled-in for Pete Tong's Essential Selection on Radio 1 on 10 April 2008. Kay will again fill in for Chris Moyles from 10 August until 15 August when he has two weeks off. The first week will be covered by the regular cover presenter Scott Mills. From 30 November 2009 Kay will again cover for Chris Moyles on breakfast for a whole week as Moyles, Aled Haydn Jones and Fearne Cotton are away in Uganda handing out malaria nets and seeing how the money raised from the Mount Kilimanjaro climb for Comic Relief is being spent.
Personal life
He married fellow television presenter, Tess Daly, on 12 September 2003, at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Horwich, near Bolton.[3]
They have two daughters together: Phoebe Elizabeth Kay,[4] who was born 17 October 2004[5] and Amber Isabella Kay, born 30 May 2009.[6]
Vernon received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton on 9 July 2009, for services to entertainment.
False Death Incident
On the 13th September 2008 Kay's wikipedia article was 'vandalised' by an anonymous user from the UK. The page was edited to state that "Vernon Kay sadly passed away after falling off a yacht on Holiday in Greece." The story that Kay had died was repeatedly deleted, restored and elaborated on for two days until a wikipedia administrator protected the article from being edited by new and anonymous users.[1]
In the meantime the news of Kay's death spread rapidly into public knnowledge leading to Kay being contacted by several of his friends and family to check whether the rumour of his death was true. On the 14th September Kay quashed the rumours of his death when he appeared on the set of one of his ITV 1 shows and stated that he was "alive and kicking".[2]
References
- ^ "Vernon's romantic proposal to Tess". Bolton Evening News. 6 January 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
- ^ As confirmed by Kay on Beat the Star
- ^ The sun shone, the bride wore white ... and so did the groom, Bolton Evening News, 13 September 2003
- ^ Biography by BBC Radio 1
- ^ Biography on the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Notice of birth of Amber Isabella Kay