| Carol Smillie | |
|---|---|
Smillie performing in Hormonal Housewives at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, February 2010 |
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| Born | Carol Patricia Smillie 23 December 1961 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Occupation | Television presenter, Actress, Author, Model |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | Alex Knight (1991–present) |
| Children | Christie (b. 1995) Robbie (b. 1997) Jodie (b. 1999) |
| Website | |
| http://www.carolsmillie.tv | |
Carol Patricia Smillie (born 23 December 1961) is a Scottish television personality, model and actress. Smillie is well-known for presenting the award winning BBC series Changing Rooms, which won her a National Television Award for Most Popular Factual Programme in 1998.[1]
She became the hostess of the British version of the international television game show Wheel of Fortune in 1989.[2] Smillie achieved further recognition a few years later when she appeared on the BBC television channel, firstly as a reporter on The Travel Show, and then Holiday, often as the programme's presenter. However it was the DIY programme Changing Rooms that really established her name, and led to her presenting other primetime shows for the BBC, such as the National Lottery and her own morning chat show Smillie's People.[3]
Smillie continues to present television shows, mainly on the STV channel, but in recent years has moved into other areas of entertainment. Smillie has appeared on the stage in theatre productions of The Vagina Monologues, (2006 and 2007), and Hormonal Housewives (2010 and 2012),[4] touring both plays around Scotland.
Between 2007 and 2010, Smillie was the figurehead campaign model for the Scottish company The Edinburgh Woollen Mill,[5] Alongside her daughter Christie, she was the advertising model for the Ortak jewellery company, fronting the company's new range for Autumn/Winter 2010.[6] Smillie is also the co-author of Carol Smillie's Working Mum's Handbook.[7]
She is well-known for her smile, which was caricatured by the British impressionist Ronni Ancona in the UK television show Big Impression. Ancona's impression of Smillie used the catchphrase "I’m Smiley Smiley Carol Smillie", which Smillie adopted and has entered into popular culture when referencing her.[8]
Carol Patricia Smillie was born in Glasgow, the daughter of George Smillie, an electrical engineer and Isobel Smillie. Smillie is the youngest of four siblings, with two sisters and a brother.[9] Smillie had a happy idyllic childhood growing up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Glasgow, sharing a room with her two older sisters. Smillie’s earliest memories are of having her nappy changed and, when put in her pram to go to sleep, being frightened by the wallpaper, which she finds amusing considering her later fame with the television programme Changing Rooms.
As a child, Smillie attended Simshill Primary School, which was very close to where she lived. She then attended the independent fee paying Hutchesons' Grammar School.[10] Smillie realised that it was a huge financial effort by her parents to send her there, but academically she did not shine. Smillie eventually attained seven O-levels, fabric and fashion being one, which was the direction she felt her career would lead. She left the following year with three Highers, but needed five to get into the Glasgow School of Art, where she believed her talents and interests could be developed. Smillie studied at Langside College to get the other two, but only managed to get one, which she has attributed to too much freedom and enjoying herself with her friends. Undeterred, she was still resolute in her aim to study at Art School, so she spent another year at Cardonald College, finally achieving the results needed to pursue her dream of attending the Glasgow School of Art.[11]
At 18 years of age, Smillie embarked on her first year at the Glasgow School of Art , studying Art, Design and Fashion, with the vague idea of becoming a fashion designer. On arriving there, she spent the year unsure what it was she really wanted to do with her life. Surrounded by punk students sporting green hair and pink shoes, Smillie felt she didn’t really fit into this mode of life. To subsidise her studies Smillie worked in a cocktail bar, and after approaching a local Glasgow model agency, took up part-time modelling. Her art tutor was into abstract art, which was an area that didn’t really work for Smillie, “Throwing paint at a wall, wasn’t what I expected”. Another tutor told her, "If I were you, I'd stick with modelling. You can do art at any time". Smillie believing that this was his way of saying, "I don't think you've got what it takes", decided to leave the Glasgow School of Art, and embarked on modelling as her new career.
Smillie left the agency she had been working for whilst at college, and joined the Best Modelling Agency, run by Fiona Best an ex-model. Not tall enough at 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m), she wasn’t suitable for catwalk modelling, and was employed mainly for photo shoots and promotional work. Smillie worked for the agency throughout the eighties becoming one of Fiona Best’s favourite models, because of her professional attitude and reliability, something a number of the other agency models lacked. Smillie met her husband Alex Knight, also a former model, through Fiona's agency and at one point they even considered buying the business, but they decided against it as Smillie realised that looking after a group of young models was not something she wished to take on. Through the agency Carol achieved her breakthrough, when at the age of 27 she successfully auditioned for the hostess job on the Wheel of Fortune game show, launching her television career.
Smillie's presenting career was launched in 1989 when she beat 5,000 other applicants[12] to become the hostess and puzzle board operator of Scottish Television's Wheel of Fortune game show. She co-presented the show for 5 years with fellow Scot Nicky Campbell. Smillie left the show in 1994, to be replaced by Jenny Powell.
During the early nineties Smillie sent her cv to all the video and production companies in Scotland, stating that "My name's Carol Smillie. You know me from Wheel of Fortune but I'd really like to do something else now, so I'm willing to work for nothing to get some stuff on tape" Through her perseverance Smillie managed to pick up the odd presenting job and soon had enough material to create a show-reel to present to TV companies. BBC Manchester were impressed enough to offer Smillie the reporter's job on BBC Two's The Travel Show.[13]
Smillie was so successful as a holiday reporter, that stints followed on BBC One for the Holiday programme. Smillie continued to present Holiday programmes such as Summer Holiday, Holiday Swaps, Holiday Heaven and Holiday Favourites throughout the Nineties.
In 1996, Smillie became the original presenter of BBC Two's new DIY show Changing Rooms. The show was an immediate success and was transferred to BBC One for series 2. The programme is credited with starting the craze for DIY in the late 1990s. During her time on the show, Smillie and the Changing Rooms team won A National TV Award and an INDIE Award and were BAFTA nominated. Smillie stayed as the main presenter for 13 series, leaving in 2003.
In 1996 Smillie was selected to present The National Lottery Show for the BBC. Smillie mainly appeared on the Wednesday Midweek Draw show, but also made the occasional appearance on the Saturday night show. Smillie presented various incarnations of the Lottery show, such as The National Lottery - Amazing Luck Stories, The National Lottery - We've Got Your Number, National Lottery - Local Heroes between 1996 and 2000. In September 2006, she was seen live on The National Lottery: Everyone's A Winner! in Edinburgh with contestant Charley.
In 1998, Smillie was awarded her own mid-morning chat-show on BBC One entitled Smillie's People. The programme was only 15 minutes in length and ran from 11:45am to 12:00. Each day Smillie would interview a different celebrity. The Show ran for one series.
In September 1998 Smillie was presented with the famous Red Book about her life, on the long running television show This Is Your Life.[14] Michael Aspel, surprising her with the Book at a recording of Changing Rooms.
In 2003, after leaving Changing Rooms, Smillie departed the BBC for the Channel five show Dream Holiday Homes. This new show drew on similarities to the DIY programme, she had just left, as again it consisted of fixing up properties. The difference being that this time, not just rooms were given a makeover, but the entire property. Also the properties were situated in various Southern European locations, and at the end of each show Smillie would auction off the property for the price of a £1 phone call to a lucky viewer picked at random.[13] The show ran for five series.
In 2004, she took part in a reality television/documentary called Gender Swap for UK television station five. Using cleverly-applied silicon prosthetic makeup, she was transformed from female to male and ex-EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson male to female. They were then given the challenge of attending a speed dating event as their new opposite sex selves.
Also in 2004, she became one of the celebrities to take part in Strictly Ice Dancing, a one-off ice dance version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Smillie was back working for STV Productions in 2005 as presenter of the short-lived ITV daytime show The People's Court.
Later that year she was the presenter of the ITV reality show A Brush with Fame, a search for the UK's best amateur portrait artist.
During October to December 2006, Smillie took part in Series Four of Strictly Come Dancing with her dance partner Matthew Cutler.
Smillie gradually improved as the series progressed, as the scores in the table below reflect. Len Goodman, often referred to her as the Dark Horse of the competition, resulting in the music from the Black Beauty TV series accompanying many of the clips of her in training on the Monday to Friday complementary show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.
Smillie eventually came fifth in the competition, out of the original fourteen competitors. Smillie was eliminated after failing to garner enough public votes, despite achieving her highest scores of the competition and finishing third highest out of the remaining five competitors in the judges vote.[15]
| Week | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||||
| Hoorwood | Phillips | Goodman | Tonioli | Total | |||
| 1 | Female Group Dance | - | - | - | - | - | Safe |
| 2 | Quickstep/9 to 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 25 | Safe |
| 3 | Jive/Hanky Panky | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
| 4 | Foxtrot/Stuck on You | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 29 | Safe |
| 5 | Salsa/Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 29 | Safe |
| 6 | American Smooth/It's Oh So Quiet | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
| 7 | Cha Cha Cha/Dancing in the Moonlight | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 | Safe |
| 8 | Waltz/If You Don't Know Me by Now | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 | Bottom 2 |
| 9 | Viennese Waltz/Breakaway Samba/Club Tropicana |
8 7 |
8 9 |
9 9 |
9 9 |
34 34 |
Eliminated |
Smillie returned to STV in November 2007 to host the Scottish channel's new gameshow, Postcode Challenge. In each show four teams of six people from the same postcode area are tested on general knowledge. The show aired on Monday nights at 8pm. The first show was broadcast on 12 November 2007, and ram well into 2008. Smillie has been quoted as saying about the show "I feel like I've come full circle from my first job as hostess at STV on Wheel of Fortune, and now I'm back presenting what is the biggest quiz show from STV in years".[16]
The show returned for a new series in April 2010, without Smillie. Angus Purden took over as presenter.
On 22 September 2009, Smillie presented a 10 part weekly series entitled Best Of British Wedding Venues. The series was broadcast on Wedding TV, a woman's lifestyle channel, shown in the United Kingdom, on the Sky Digital and Freesat platforms.[17] Smillie presented all the links for the venues from Pollok House, Glasgow in Scotland,[18] and viewers voted online for their favourite venue, which was revealed in the final episode.
In August 2010 she appeared as a panellist on ITV's new show 3@Three.[19]
In 2002 Smillie appeared on The Sooty Show in the episode called 'All New Sooty'.
In the summer of 2009, Smillie appeared as a guest presenter of STV's daily lifestyle show The Hour for one week between 24 and 28 August, alongside main anchor Stephen Jardine.
In June 2009 Smillie appeared in the BBC Radio Scotland comedy sketch show Ellis and Clarke. Smillie appeared in a number of sketches in the 30 minute production playing herself, in which she and the members of the cast parodied her television personality. The show was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland on 5 June 2009.
On Bank Holiday 31 August 2009, Smillie hosted her own Radio show on 105.2 Smooth Radio, a Scottish Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Glasgow and the surrounding area.
In her early years, before she became famous, Smillie was a well travelled model on the Exhibition circuit and occasional lingerie model. It is often stated that Smillie was one of the famous Tennent's Lager girls (a successful marketing promotion in Scotland which saw pictures of young women on the backs of cans of the lager). Smillie was quoted in The Independent newspaper on 2 October 2006 stating that this was a common misconception about her.[20]
Smillie has continued to model occasionally since her rise to fame. Between 2007-2010 Smillie was the figurehead model for the Scottish company The Edinburgh Woollen Mill.[21] Smillie featured in six seasonal catalogues, and her image was used extensively to promote the range of clothing throughout The Edinburgh Woollen Mill stores and on the company website.
Smillie appeared in the catalogue for the 2007/08 Autumn/Winter collection and featured in their advertising campaign, appearing in a televised Christmas commercial for the company. In February 2008, The Edinburgh Woollen Mill released their Spring/Summer 2008 catalogue (Summer Essentials) featuring Smillie.[22] The shots for the catalogue were filmed in South Africa, with Smillie modeling swimwear again for the first time in over twenty years. Smillie stated "I thought my swimwear modeling days were over. It was a treat to fly to South Africa and leave the cold, wind and rain".[23] In May 2008, Smillie featured in another Edinburgh Woollen Mill television advert, promoting their Spring/Summer 2008 catalogue. In August 2008, Smillie continued to model for The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, appearing in their Autumn/Winter 2008/09 catalogue.[24] In February 2009, Smillie again modeled for The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, featuring in their Spring/Summer 2009 catalogue . Smillie flew to Cape Town for the photo shoot. Smillie documented her experiences on this trip in a short film.In August 2009, Smillie was once again modeling for The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, featuring in their Autumn/Winter 2009/10 catalogue, the photographs taken in Leeds.[22] Smillie again appeared in a short film detailing the photo shoot. Smillie's sixth catalogue shoot for The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, was once again filmed in South Africa, for the companies Spring/Summer 2010 collection.
In 2003 Smillie joined forces with Eileen Fursland to became a best selling author with the publication of Carol Smillie's Working Mum's Handbook. In the book Smillie looked at the practical problems and emotional issues that face all of us when women go back to work. Whether you're at home for six months or six years. The ideas and information in the book aimed to help working mothers achieve the work-life balance that is right for them and their family. The book describes ways to get organised and manage your time at home and work, and know your rights to maternity leave and pay, parental leave and tax credits. In addition it offers advice on how to keep your family life and relationships happy and fulfilling, find a job, take career breaks, survive the nine to five, choose childcare to suit you and your child, streamline household chores, cook and entertain, and finally tackle the thorny issues like guilt, stress and sleep (or lack of it).[25]
Commencing on 10 May 2008, Smillie co-authored with Emma Magson, an animal behaviourist, a weekly based column in The Times Newspaper entitled Perfect Pets. The column was featured in the Body and Soul section of the Saturday edition and lasted 10 weeks. Each week Smillie and Magson discussed questions on pet suitability, to help readers explore the merits and responsibilities of their perfect pets.
In February 2006 Smillie made her debut on the stage in the Eve Ensler play The Vagina Monologues.[26] She completed three tours of Scotland, appearing in Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth.[27]
In February/March 2010, Smillie appeared on stage in Hormonal Housewives, a new comedy play written by Julie Coombe and John MacIsaac. Appearing alongside Smillie, were the co-writer Julie Coombe and Shonagh Price. The comedy portrayed the three women facing up to the challenges of juggling a career, childcare and the role of the domestic housewife. The play begins with the three women getting ready for a night out and then veers off into a series of self-contained sketches. The finale features a medley of music by Kylie Minogue, Madonna and Cher. Smillie takes the part of Madonna, dancing and miming to the track "Holiday", dressed in a pastiche outfit based on the Jean Paul Gaultier designed conical bra corset, from the 1990 Blond Ambition tour. Smillie took the play on a three-week tour of Scotland performing at theatres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.[28]
In 2008 Smillie made her film debut in a short film entitled Infamy. The role she played was based on her own television personality with Smillie portraying a television presenter named Joan. The story concerns a man who is so desperate to get on Reality TV that he will try anything to achieve his goal, including ultimately, holding a shop up at gunpoint to make the local news.[29]
Smillie's television presenting and live event experience has enabled her to become a celebrity speaker for corporate events, conferences and exhibitions. Smillie has hosted numerous major conferences and award ceremonies.
As well as live events Smillie has also presented corporate videos either on-screen or through a voice-over. Smillie has also lent her name to various endorsements.
In February 2008, The Highways Agency launched a new safety DVD entitled ‘Fit to Tow’ which was presented by Smillie. The DVD was intended to raise awareness of the safety risks involved when towing a caravan or trailer. Smillie was quoted as saying "I was amazed when I discovered just how many towing-related incidents occurred on England's roads and how many fatalities and injuries resulted from them, not to mention the disruption they can cause. I was really pleased when the Highways Agency approached me to present this helpful DVD. I fully support this initiative and I would advise anyone who tows to follow the simple, practical checks and advice included in the film to ensure you are Fit to Tow."[30]
Smillie is very proud of her Scottish heritage and is a great promoter of the City of Glasgow. She still lives in the City with her husband Alex Knight, a restaurateur, whom she married in August 1991. The marriage took place at Gleddoch House, in Langbank, near Glasgow.[17]
They have three children: Christie (born 1995), Robbie (born 1997), and Jodie (born 1999). All the children attend Hutchesons Grammar School as their mother did before them.[31]
Smillie launched her own official website on 9 February 2005,[32] The site features a mix of videos and photos of her career to date, together with information about her current TV projects, corporate work, writing and involvement with charities she patrons.
In October 2006 the site hosted personal video diaries filmed on a hand camera by Smillie herself, which she termed as ‘Carol Cams’, These short diaries showed Smillie’s preparation, progress and reactions to her time on Strictly Come Dancing something no other celebrity on this show has ever attempted and gave an insight into the behind the scenes working of the show.
In April 2008 her site was given a complete revamp and Smillie started her own monthly video blogs detailing her activity for that particular month.
Smillie is patron to a number of charities, primarily based upon Children's welfare. One of her main charities is the Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS).[33] Smillie was also a contestant on the British TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. supporting the charity NSPCC. She appeared on the show with Michael Aspel and they failed to progress past the £16,000 mark when they got the question wrong on UMIST being a university in Manchester, dropping to £1,000.
In her October Video Blog on her website, Smillie announced that she would be posing topless along with various other celebrities to promote a Breast Cancer awareness campaign. She stated that "she had thought long and hard about doing this, but it was such a worthwhile campaign, she just couldn't say no".
On 7 June 2009, Smillie joined more than 17,000 women in the Glasgow 5k Race For Life to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. The Race was the largest Race For Life event in the UK [34] and the organisers hoped to raise £900,000 for Cancer Research UK.[35] Smillie herself was sponsored by Edinburgh Woollen Mill for £1000.[36]
Smillie is Trustee to a number of Glasgow institutions. These include Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, where she is on the board as trustee of The Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal (KRA). This is an independent trust established to raise £5million in sponsorship and donations towards the £27.9million refurbishment of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.[37]
She is also passionate about the Glasgow School of Art, being a former pupil, and current student of the School’s Continuing Education Programme. Smillie is a member of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project team. In July 2007 she launched The Digital MacIntosh Project to raise funds for the restoration and refubishment of the MacIntosh Building, which houses the Glasgow School of Art.[38]
When Smillie was hosting Wheel of Fortune in the early 1990s, she was invited to take the Mensa test for high IQs by a tabloid newspaper, to prove that Game Show hostesses were not stupid. She claimed to have passed with an IQ of 148. She courted controversy in 2003, when she announced in an interview that she had cheated on the test. She admitted that the test was not taken under exam conditions, and she completed only two thirds of it, coming unstuck at the end. Smillie had phoned a friend to complete the remainder of the test. Since Mensa tests are taken under examination conditions and are closely supervised, this admission is surprising; a preliminary, unsupervised, home test, provided so that candidates can be assessed as to their suitability for proceeding to the real one, relies on the applicant's honesty if it is to be of value. She said 'I felt slightly guilty at the time, but it hadn't really bothered me that I had cheated because it was never a real test to me, and Mensa had never invited me to take part.' Only if the result of the self-administered test indicates that an applicant has a chance of succeeding at the invigilated one does Mensa suggest that it might be worth taking the latter. If the results of this confirm that the applicant's IQ is within that of the highest 2% of the population, he or she is invited to join Mensa. Clearly, cheating at the unsupervised test makes failure at the formal test (for which a fee is payable) almost certain. Many newspapers then misquoted, giving the impression that Mensa had become upset and 'removed her from their listings'. The Mensa website does not show to members Smillie's name as being among them.[39]
Presenter
including Summer Holiday, Holiday Swaps, Holiday Heaven and Holiday Favourites'
including The National Lottery - Amazing Luck Stories, The National Lottery - We've Got Your Number, National Lottery - Local Heroes
Guest appearances
Reality TV Appearances
Actress
Radio
Tour Dates 2006
Tour Dates 2007
Tour Dates 2010
Tour Dates 2011
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