Chris Stark
Chris Stark | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 March 1987 Watford |
| Occupation(s) | Radio presenter, DJ |
| Employer | BBC |
| Known for | Scott Mills (radio show) Virtually Famous |
Christopher Stark is a British radio personality known for his work as a contributor on the Scott Mills show on BBC Radio 1.
Radio career
Stark started working at Radio Northwick Park, a hospital radio station, at the age of 16 and gained experience working at stations including Galaxy, Real Radio, Virgin Radio and BBC 6 Music. At 18, Stark started at the University of Southampton where he studied politics and was given his own show on the student radio station Surge.[1]
He officially joined the Scott Mills show team on 2 April 2012,[2] but occasionally appeared on the show as 'Scott's friend Chris' for a period of time prior to this. Stark participates in most of the show's current features including Real or No Real, Innuendo Bingo, 24 Years at the Tap End, Loving the Trolls, and "Mike Oxbig vs Moe Lester".
24 Years at the Tap End
Chris Stark is known for the feature 24 Years at the Tap End,[3] in which he reads excerpts from his "autobography" (a joke pronunciation of autobiography used on the show).[4] He was originally inspired to write his own autobiography after reading the autobiography of Brendan Sheerin from Coach Trip. The title refers to his on-air realisation, at age 24, that he had been sitting at the wrong end of the bath his whole life. The first episode aired on 11 November 2011. In this episode, Stark revealed that his parents had originally planned to name him "Padraig".[3] Throughout the series, Stark recounts memorable events from his "years at the tap end" which often include mistakes made and life lessons learned through adventures with his friends. The second series of the show concluded in 2013, with no plans for a third. However, a one-off special aired in January 2014 as part of a comedy night on Radio One. This late night edition, Tap End: Unplugged, aired live In front of a studio audience and featured a live rendition of the theme tune. The late airing allowed for Chris to reveal the full story of a holiday to Prague he had discussed in a previous episode, telling parts which were considered "too rude for daytime" and using strong language.[5]
The Mila Kunis interview
In March 2013, Chris Stark was sent with ten minutes' notice to a media junket for the film Oz the Great and Powerful to interview American actress Mila Kunis for the Scott Mills show. The interview caught the attention of the world's media due to its unorthodox nature, as Stark barely mentioned the film and mostly discussed his local pub, football club, Nando's and drinking games with his friends (inviting Kunis to all four). The video was posted to YouTube by BBC Radio 1 and subsequently went viral. Within days, it had been viewed by ten million people[6] and Stark himself was interviewed by American entertainment and news shows such as Access Hollywood[7] and CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien.[8]
Chris later went on to interview Robert Downey Jr[9] and Jennifer Aniston[10] in similar fashion.
The Celeb Hunter: 2 Chairs, 1 Chat
In November 2013, Channel 4 announced they had commissioned an hour long, one-off documentary special which would feature Chris attempting to interview his ultimate bucket list of celebrities, including Derek Acorah, Rachel Stevens, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Ricky Hatton and Verne Troyer.[11] This aired on Monday 10 February and attracted 662k viewers on overnights.[12]
ICYMI
Since November 2014, Stark has hosted a BBC iPlayer only feature called ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) where he talks through highlights from the last week on Radio 1 and Radio 1 Xtra.[13]
Virtually Famous
Since July 2014, Chris has been a team captain on the E4 show, Virtually Famous, which he will return to for a further two series in 2015.
References
- ^ "Chris Stark". Coalition Talent Agency UK. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ Scott Mills (28 March 2012). "Chris Stark to join the Scott Mills show full time!". Unofficial Mills. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ a b "BBC Radio 1 – Scott Mills – 24 Years at the Tap End – Season 2". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ "BBC Radio 1 – Scott Mills, Thursday – Chris's Auto"bog"raphy continues". Bbc.co.uk. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ "24 Years At The Tap End - Uncut (Contains Adult Themes)". YouTube. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Mila Kunis talks to Chris Stark off the Scott Mills show on Radio 1". YouTube. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Chris Stark Discusses His Awkward Mila Kunis Interview | Access Hollywood". Watch.accesshollywood.com. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "CNN Video - Breaking News Videos from". CNN.com. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Robert Downey Jr talks to Chris Stark of the Scott Mills show on Radio 1". YouTube. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Jennifer Aniston talks to Chris Stark off the Scott Mills show on Radio 1". YouTube. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "commission Chris Stark celebrity documentary from Mentorn - Channel 4 - Info - Press". Channel 4. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Benefits Street ends with 4 million on Channel 4 - TV News". Digital Spy. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Radio 1 announces original content for iPlayer launch". BBC. 10 November 2014.