Noel Edmonds
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Image:Noel edmonds2.jpg Noel Ernest Edmonds (born December 22 1948 in Ilford) is a British DJ, television presenter and executive who made his name on BBC Radio 1 in the UK.
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Personal
Edmonds married Gillian Slater in 1971, but divorced five years later. He re-married in 1986 to Helen Soby, but their marriage ended in 2005. He and Helen have four daughters called Charlotte, Lorna, Olivia and Alice. Noel now lives on the coast of France with new girlfriend Alex Holt.
In April 2006 Edmonds won libel damages against the Mail on Sunday newspaper over a story in October 2005 that alleged he had seduced a married woman called Marjan Simmons. [1]
Radio career
Edmonds began his broadcasting career with 1968 on Radio Luxembourg, before moving to BBC Radio 1 in 1969 where he recorded trails for shows & cover occasional shows at the weekend. For example, in early 1970, he covered Kenny Everett for 1 week on Saturday mornings.
In April, the same year, Noel took over his own two hour Saturday afternoon show, broadcasting from 1-3pm, before replacing the sacked Kenny Everett on Saturday mornings from 10am-12pm in July that year.
In October 1971, Noel then went on to present a Sunday morning show from 10am-12pm, before being promoted to the Radio 1 prestigious breakfast show from June 1973 to April 1978, gaining record audience figures.
Noel moved back to Sunday mornings in 1978 from 10am-1pm & in addition to that, he also presented an hour long talk show on Thursday evenings entitled Talkabout.
Noel left Radio 1 in March 1983, although he briefly returned in 1985, sitting in for Mike Read for two weeks on the breakfast show and again in 1992, where he presented a special show, celebrating Radio 1's 25th birthday.
In 2003, Noel made a brief radio comeback, taking over the drivetime show on BBC Radio 2, for 8 weeks, whilst Johnnie Walker was undergoing treatment for cancer. His stint on Radio 2 lasted from 4 August until 3 October. [2]
On 15 December 2004, Noel also played a detective on a radio murder mystery play on local station BBC Radio Devon. [3]
Television career
He hosted Top of the Pops at various points between 1970 and 1978. He also hosted the children's Saturday morning programme, Multicoloured Swap Shop, which ran from 1976 until 1982. The Multicoloured Swap Shop has been credited with imbuing young people with a strong entrepeneurial sense; the virtue most praised by Margaret Thatcher.Template:Fact
He later moved to a Saturday early evening slot, first with The Late, Late Breakfast Show. The show was cancelled by the BBC on 15 November, 1986 following an accident two days earlier in which Michael Lush, a viewer who had been selected to take part in a live stunt for the 'Whirly Wheel' section, was killed during rehearsal. The accident was apparently caused by lack of trained bungee jumping supervision. [4]
Edmonds returned to television with The Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow in 1988. The Saturday Roadshow eventually morphed into the seminal Noel's House Party in 1991. This later series ran for eight years from the fictional town of Crinkley Bottom. Mr. Blobby initially appeared in the celebrity Gotcha section, and became a regular icon of the show. The character even achieved the 1993 Christmas No. 1.
Noel's House Party was a staple of BBC1's autumn and spring schedules for several years. Several reformats could not save its declining popularity. In the final show, broadcast on 20 March, 1999, Edmonds appealed that viewers' memories should be kind to the show.
He also presented the quiz show Telly Addicts and Top Gear. Noel's Christmas Presents was a Christmas morning programme in which Edmonds delievered special presents to various people; gifts included arranging trips to Lapland for ill or disadvantaged children, or arranging family reunions.
Edmonds once notoriously responded badly to his involvement in an episode of the Chris Morris spoof documentary series Brass Eye, in which he unwittingly pledged his allegiance on camera to a campaign to rid the country of a new killer drug, the entirely fictitious 'cake', which apparently made 10 seconds appear as a few hours to a user. His protestations after the broadcast of the show resulted in a follow-up sketch in which a fake news bulletin reported that Noel Edmonds had gone mad and taken presenter Clive Anderson hostage. Later returning to the scene to see an Edmonds lookalike throw a severed bald head from an upper-floor window before firing an RPG at a nearby wedding.
Image:DealUKLogo.jpg The Curse of Noel Edmonds, a documentary tracing the rise and fall of his showbiz career, was transmitted by Five on November 9, 2004. Former Radio One DJ Mike Read contributed to the show. In the May 2005 edition of "Q" Magazine (UK), Read was criticised by Edmonds as a "complete wanker". It is hoped that they have now managed to overcome their diffferences, but there is no evidence to suggest that this is (or is not) the case.
Edmonds has since made a TV comeback, presenting a daytime TV game show on Channel 4 entitled Deal or No Deal, created by Endemol. The show was already popular in numerous countries. The show began on Monday, 31st October, 2005 and is broadcast on afternoons six days a week. It has been a massive hit, and its success was completely unexpected. It has recently surpassed 100 episodes. In March 2006, Edmonds had his contract for presenting the show extended until Autumn 2007, rumoured to be worth £3m. He was recently nominated for a BAFTA for his work on the show.
Theme parks
Edmonds licensed theme park attractions based on Crinkley Bottom and Mr Blobby in Somerset, Morecambe and East Anglia. Following disappointing visitor numbers, and in the case of Morecambe, legal disagreements with the local council (dubbed 'Blobbygate') the parks eventually closed down. He was critical of Lancaster City Council's management of the Morecambe park, which closed only a few months after its opening. Mr Blobby found work with the BBC's flagship children's show Live and Kicking This was to be his last regular spot on TV, he is now seen occasionally in Blackpool doing panto.
Unique Group
He formed the Unique Group in 1985, which now consists of various strands. The UBS Media Group is the leading independent producer of audio programming in the UK, supplying BBC Radio and independent radio. Michael Peacock was an executive in the group between 1989 and 2005 and former Radio 1 controller Johnny Beerling joined the group following his departure from the network in 1993. It owns Classic Gold Digital. [5]. Edmonds resigned as non-executive director of UBC Media Group in March 2006 as a direct result of his success with Deal or no Deal. Noel also has interests in Unique Motor Company, a producer of small off road vehicles.[6]
Notes
1Noel Edmonds is a licensed helicopter pilot, and one of his early personal aircraft was registered G-NOEL