Vernon Kay

Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television presenter, media personality, and former model. He presented Channel 4's T4 (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including All Star Family Fortunes (2006–2015), Just the Two of Us (2006–2007), Beat the Star (2008–2009), The Whole 19 Yards (2010), Splash! (2013–2014), and 1000 Heartbeats (2015).[2]

Vernon Kay
Vernon in Preston, 2007
Born
Vernon Charles Kay

(1974-04-28) 28 April 1974
Alma materManchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University)
Occupation
  • Television presenter
  • radio DJ
  • media personality
Years active1995–present
Employer
TelevisionT4 (2000–2005)
All Star Family Fortunes (2006–2015)
Beat the Star (2008–2009)
The Whole 19 Yards (2010)
Splash! (2013–2014)
1000 Heartbeats (2015–2016)
Spouse(s)Tess Daly (m. 2003)
Children2[1]
WebsiteOfficial website

Kay presented his own BBC Radio 1 show between 2004 and 2012, and presented his own show on Radio X between 2015 and 2017. Since the start of the 2018–19 season, he has been the main presenter for the live coverage of Formula E for English speaking territories/platforms across the world. In 2020, Kay appeared on the twentieth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing in third place, behind Jordan North and the eventual Queen of the Castle, Giovanna Fletcher.

Early life

Kay was brought up in Bolton, Greater Manchester, the elder son of Norman, a lorry driver, and Gladys; he has a younger brother, Stephen, a primary school teacher.[3] He attended St Joseph's RC High School in Horwich, near Bolton.[4] He then graduated in environmental science at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University).[5] He supports his hometown's football club Bolton Wanderers.[6] He used to be a regular visitor to Manchester nightclub the Haçienda.[3]

Career

Television

Vernon Kay first came to prominence in 1998, when he co-hosted teen-targeted entertainment show The Mag on Channel 5. Following this, Kay presented the summer "CBBC" weekend morning show "Fully Booked" (called FBI, Fully Booked Interactive) in 2000, as well as Top of the Pops Plus and Top of the Pops @ Play. In 2003 he co-hosted the Channel 4 gameshow Boys and Girls, which was cancelled after one series. In 2004, Kay hosted the third series of Celebrities Under Pressure on ITV. From 2006, Kay presented primetime game show All Star Family Fortunes. In June 2015, it was announced that ITV was to rest the show until 2017, but it did not return.[7] In 2007, he presented Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon, after replacing Ant & Dec who hosted the first series.

From 2008 until 2009, Kay presented two series of Beat the Star, a programme for ITV.[8] The first series averaged 4.05 million viewers and the second averaged 3.46 million.

On 17 April 2010, Kay began co-presenting a game show for ITV called The Whole 19 Yards with Caroline Flack which lasted for eight episodes and was made at Pinewood Studios. The series averaged 4.1 million viewers. In 2010, Kay was the co-host of Skating with the Stars, a six-part series which was broadcast in the United States.

In 2011, Kay was originally going to present ITV game show Sing If You Can with Stacey Solomon but, after filming the pilot episode, he felt that it would be better hosted by a comedian and was replaced by Keith Lemon.[9]

In December 2011, Kay presented the Christmas Channel 4 show Home For the Holidays. In the summer of 2012, Kay presented ITV three episode mini-series Let's Get Gold, however the show received poor viewing figures and was axed.

In 2013 and 2014, Kay, Gabby Logan and Tom Daley co-presented the ITV diving show Splash! The programme was axed after two series.[10]

In 2013, after Channel 4 regained the NFL rights from the BBC, Kay was announced as a presenter of The American Football Show, airing on Saturday mornings.[11][12]

Since 2014, Kay has guest presented five episodes of The One Show. In 2015, Vernon began presenting daytime quiz show, 1000 Heartbeats for ITV. The show returned for a second run in November 2015.[13] In 2016, Kay presented Drive, a five-part entertainment show for ITV.[14] He made regular appearances in the second series of The Keith Lemon Sketch Show on ITV2.

In July 2017, Kay co-presented The Hero Challenge with Kirsty Gallacher on Sky Sports.

Kay hosted the non-broadcast pilot for a revival of Play Your Cards Right, a game show formerly hosted by Bruce Forsyth, but was not commissioned for a series. In September 2015, he hosted a pilot for a new ITV game show Home Win, made at Fountain Studios in Wembley.[15]

In November 2017, it was announced that Kay would host Channel 5's coverage of the 2017–18 Formula E motor racing season.[16] He co-presents the FIA's coverage of the 2018–19 season.

In November 2020, it was announced that Kay would be taking part in the twentieth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.[17] Kay reached the final and finished in third place on 4 December 2020.[18]

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 then ran between 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday. In 2008, he was one of a team of DJ's 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 climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, an act he repeated on 13 July 2009 when Moyles took a day off. He also filled-in for Pete Tong's Essential Selection on Radio 1 on 10 April 2008. That same year, Kay filled in again for Chris Moyles from 10 August to 15 August when he was on holiday. From 30 November 2009 Kay, again, covered for Chris Moyles on breakfast for a whole week as Moyles, Aled Haydn Jones and Fearne Cotton were away in Uganda handing out malaria nets and seeing how the money raised from the Mount Kilimanjaro climb for Comic Relief was being spent.

On 9 November 2012, it was announced that Kay would leave BBC Radio 1 to spend more time with his family. He presented his final show on 22 December and was replaced by Matt Edmondson.[19]

After three years since his departure from Radio 1, Kay returned to radio on the newly launched Radio X network. In September 2015, Kay began presenting the weekday morning show from 10 am to 1 pm.[20] He left the station on Friday 17 March 2017.

Kay will return to the BBC after 9 years, for BBC Radio 2 to cover for Rylan Clark-Neal on his show "Rylan On Saturday" on 6 and 13 February 2021.

Film

In 2004, Kay made a cameo appearance in Shaun of the Dead. Kay also made a cameo appearance in the 2012 film Keith Lemon: The Film and made a guest appearance in the 2014 film Hercules as a feasting hall guest. He was uncredited for this role.

Personal life

On 12 September 2003, Kay married Tess Daly at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Horwich, in Bolton.[21] Together, they have two daughters, born in 2004[22]and 2009.

Kay received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton on 9 July 2009, for services to entertainment.[23]

Kay is a passionate supporter of Bolton Wanderers F.C.. He is also a fan of American football, joining the Manchester Allstars at the age of 13 and reuniting the team in 2011 for a one-off match against the Birmingham Lions.[24] In 2011, he signed for the London Warriors, for whom he plays in the BAFANL Premier South division as a defensive back.[25]

Kay enjoys flying model aircraft and drones.[26]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Channel Role Notes
1995 Hollyoaks Channel 4 Extra First episode
1998–1999 The Mag Channel 5 Co-Presenter
2000 Fully Booked BBC One Co-Presenter 1 series (FBi)
2000 Top of the Pops Plus BBC Two Co-Presenter
2000 Top of the Pops @ Play UK Play Co-Presenter
2000–2005 T4 Channel 4 Co-Presenter
2003 Boys and Girls Co-Presenter 1 series
2004 HeadJam BBC Three Presenter 1 series
2004 Celebrities Under Pressure ITV Presenter 1 series
2005 Hit Me, Baby, One More Time Presenter 1 series (UK), 1 series (U.S.)
The Record of the Year Presenter
2006–2015 All Star Family Fortunes Presenter 12 series
2006, 2007, 2013 The Paul O'Grady Show Channel 4 / ITV Guest Presenter 3 episodes
2007 Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon ITV Presenter 1 series
2008–2009 Beat the Star Presenter 2 series
2010 The Whole 19 Yards Presenter 1 series
Skating with the Stars ABC Co-Presenter
2011 Home For the Holidays Channel 4 Presenter 1 series
Million Dollar Mind Game ABC Presenter 1 series
2012 Let's Get Gold ITV Presenter 1 series
2013–2014 Splash! Co-Presenter 2 series
2013–2015 The American Football Show Channel 4 Presenter
2014, 2016 The One Show BBC One Guest co-presenter 4 episodes
2015–2016 1000 Heartbeats ITV Presenter 2 series
2016 The Keith Lemon Sketch Show Himself Series regular
Drive Presenter 1 series
Walliams & Friend BBC One Presenter, Celebrity Slammer 3 episodes
2017 The Hero Challenge Sky Sports Co-presenter
2017—2018 Formula E Channel 5 Presenter
2018— Formula E YouTube, other streaming platforms Presenter
2020 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! ITV Contestant Series 20
Guest appearances
Radio
Year Station Role Notes
2004–2012[29] BBC Radio 1 Presenter Saturdays, 10 am  1 pm
2015–2017 Radio X Presenter Weekdays, 10 am  1 pm
Film
Year Title Role
2012 Keith Lemon: The Film Himself
2014 Hercules Feasting hall guest (uncredited)

References

  1. "Vernon Kay background". Officialvernonkay.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
  2. Fulton, Rick (21 March 2015). "Do you remember Vernon Kay when he starred in kids' TV show FBI?". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  3. Relative values: Vernon Kay and his mother, Gladys The Sunday Times, 12 April 2009 (archived at the Wayback Machine)
  4. "Vernon's romantic proposal to Tess". The Bolton News. Newsquest Media Group. 6 January 2003. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  5. "A happy homecoming for graduate Vernon Kay". The Bolton News. Newsquest Media Group. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  6. Web links Archived 29 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Official Vernon Kay. Retrieved on 3 December 2011.
  7. Ryan Love (9 June 2015). ""Our survey says... bye" – ITV plans to rest Vernon Kay's All Star Family Fortunes". Digital Spy.
  8. "Beat the Star to return". broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  9. "Keith Lemon replaces Kay on 'Sing If You Can'". digitalspy.com. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  10. "ITV's Splash! gets the axe after two series – Splash! – TellyMix". tellymix.co.uk. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  11. "Channel 4 announces NFL presenting team". Sport on the Box. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  12. "The American Football Show". Channel 4. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  13. "ITV Daytime commissions 1000 Heartbeats | presscentre". Itv.com. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  14. "Drive". ITV Press Centre.
  15. "Lost in TV – HOME WIN with VERNON KAY". lostintv.com.
  16. "Vernon Kay to host Channel 5 Formula E coverage". Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  17. "I'm A Celebrity: Mo Farah, Shane Richie and Victoria Derbyshire sign up". BBC News. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  18. "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! crowns its 2020 winner". BBC News. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  19. Ben Cooper, Controller, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra (1 January 1970). "Media Centre – Radio 1 announces changes to its weekend schedule". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2013.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. "Vernon Kay joins Radio X". itv.com/news. ITV. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  21. "THE sun shone, the bride wore white ... and so did the groom". The Bolton News. Newsquest Media Group. 13 September 2003. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  22. BBC. "BBC – Radio 1 – Vernon Kay – Biography". BBC UK.
  23. "A happy homecoming for graduate Vernon Kay". The Bolton News. Newsquest Media Group. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  24. Akbor, Ruhubia (16 February 2011). "TV star Vernon Kay joins American Football team for last game". Oldham Advertiser. M.E.N. Media. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  25. "2011 Roster". londonwarriorsafc.co.uk. London Warriors AFC. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  26. "Drive presenter Vernon Kay Tess Daly nickname regrets weakness". The Express. Express Group. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  27. "Through The Keyhole". ITV Press Centre.
  28. "Celebrity Squares". ITV Press Centre.
  29. Cairns, Dan (11 September 2012). "Vernon Kay and Reggie Yates to leave Radio 1 – BBC Newsbeat". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
Preceded by
Andy Collins
Host of Family Fortunes
2006–2015 ("All Star")
Succeeded by
Gino D'Acampo
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