| George Jones | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Radio and TV personality |
George Jones (born 1943, Bloomfield, East Belfast) is a radio and TV personality from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Born and brought up in the east of Belfast, Jones started entertaining in the showbands era in Northern Ireland.
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As a teenager, he was a member of the band the Monarchs which included his boyhood friend, Van Morrison.[1] The Monarchs toured Europe for three months as the International Monarchs before returning to Belfast and disbanding.[2] George Jones moved to comedy cabaret by forming the well-known band Clubsound.[3] Other avenues of entertainment he has involved himself in include stand-up comedy, theatre shows, radio disc-jockeying and television presenting.
His first break into radio came with a Sunday slot on Downtown Radio. He went on to work for the BBC, appearing mostly on radio. He had his own show, Just Jones, for BBC Radio Ulster, which won him a Sony Radio Academy Award for best local radio presenter.
In June 2006, after twenty-one years of presenting Just Jones, he was dropped from the line-up on BBC Radio Ulster. He presented his last afternoon show on 30 June 2006.[4]
After the BBC radio show ended, George started to present on Sunday mornings on U105 and as of 22 January 2007 has presented his own show on the same station from Mondays to Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m.
He has also appeared on television shows such as Town Challenge and Children in Need.
On 31 August 2007 George took legal action against Gerry Anderson and the BBC for alleged defamatory remarks made on Radio Ulster in relation to tax evasion. The action was settled in November 2007 with a full apology published.
In April 2010 George took a place on Irish Comedy Tour Give My Head Peace.
Jones and his wife, Hilary live in Greyabbey and have a son, Jason (Jay) Jones and a daughter, Natalie.[5]