| Jason Manford | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jason John Manford |
| Born | 26 May 1981 Salford, Greater Manchester, England |
| Medium | Stand-up, television, radio |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Genres | Satire, observational comedy |
| Subject(s) | Everyday life, family |
| Influences | Tommy Cooper, Billy Connolly, Peter Kay |
| Spouse | Catherine (m. 2007-present) |
| Notable works and roles | 8 out of 10 Cats Tonightly The One Show Odd One In |
| Website | Official website |
Jason John Manford[1] (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, television presenter and actor.
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Manford was born to an Irish family[2] in Salford,[3] Greater Manchester, a son of Sharon[1] (née Ryan), who is a Catholic[4] and Ian Manford.[2] He grew up in poverty in a terraced house in Manchester.[2] He has three younger brothers: Stephen Sean, Colin Charles and Niall Christopher, and a younger sister, Danielle Leahnora.[2][3] He went to st Margaret's primary school..
Manford hosted a breakfast show on Xfm Manchester[5] until May 2008.[6]
From June 2007 until November 2007, he was Paramount Comedy's continuity announcer and writer. In June 2007, he took over from Dave Spikey as a team captain on 8 out of 10 Cats.[7]
He presented his own show, Tonightly, which aired every weekday from 1–22 August 2008 and appeared as a celebrity supporter for inventor Kin Kam in a special charity edition of BBC2's Dragons' Den for Sport Relief.
In March 2010, Manford was announced as host of a new comedy show called Comedy Rocks, featuring stand up comedians, as well as musical performances. A pilot was shown on ITV1 on 26 March 2010, and a six-part series began on ITV1 on 14 January 2011. On 26 May 2010, he was announced as the new presenter of BBC One's The One Show from July 2010.[8] He resigned from the programme in November 2010, following allegations surrounding his private life.[9][10]
He also makes up one half of the Home Team (with Peter Andre) on the ITV1 game show Odd One In.
In July 2011, Manford presented Show Me The Funny, a reality show on ITV1 involving 10 comedians, in which one is voted off each week.[11] The live final was filmed in Hammersmith Apollo in August 2011.
After a successful first UK tour,[12] and high sales of the following DVD, filmed live at the Manchester Apollo, he started his "Turning Into My Dad" tour on 14 July 2010.[13]
In March 2010, Manford took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.
During a live appearance in November 2010, Manford announced that he was quitting comedy and touring to concentrate on family matters. His last scheduled gig will be at the O2 Arena in London in November 2011. He has since confirmed he will be back on tour in 2013.
Manford performs the voiceover on the Churchill Insurance adverts, and is one of the voices in the BBC comedy sketch show, Walk on the Wild Side. He appeared in Channel 4's Shameless in series four as a security guard that is seduced by Karen Maguire.
Manford has a minor voice acting role in the Xbox 360 video game Fable III, playing a character called 'Jammy' who teaches the player how to use mortars. Pvt. Jammy dies early in the game.
Manford cites Billy Connolly as his comedy hero,[14] after seeing him when Manford was 8, and comics such as Tommy Cooper and Les Dawson heavily influenced his comic style. In 2009 in an interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Manford talked about his passion for musicals, expressing an interest in taking a singing and acting role on stage, and giving a short, impromptu performance of "Suddenly Seymour".
Manford married actress Catherine in October 2007.[15] On 20 August 2009, his wife gave birth to healthy twin daughters.[16][17] His wife gave birth to their third daughter in December 2010.[18] The family live in Stockport, Greater Manchester.[19] On 18 November 2010, Manford resigned as co-host of The One Show to "concentrate on his family" following his admission to a number of allegations published in tabloid newspapers in regards to exchanging sexually-oriented Twitter messages with fans.[20][20]
In November 2008, Manford became patron of Savebabies,[16][21] a charity campaigning for newborn screening.[22]
According to Would I Lie To You?, he got dumped by a girlfriend when he was sixteen in McDonald's and refused to go to McDonald's for ten years afterwards.
Manford is a supporter of Manchester City.[23]
| Preceded by Adrian Chiles |
Co-host of The One Show (Monday-Thursday) 2010 |
Succeeded by Matt Baker |
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