| Vernon Kay | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vernon Charles Kay 28 April 1974 Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK |
| Residence | Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Radio DJ television presenter |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Television | Boys and Girls HeadJam Hit Me, Baby, One More Time The Whole 19 Yards Family Fortunes |
| Spouse | Tess Daly (2003–present) |
| Children | Phoebe Elizabeth Kay Amber Isabella Kay |
| Parents | Norman and Gladys Kay |
| Website | |
| officialvernonkay.com | |
Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is a British television presenter, radio DJ and former model.[1] He began his television career presenting the BBC children's programme FBi, a spin-off of Fully Booked. Since he has presented various programmes, most notably T4, Beat the Star and All Star Family Fortunes alongside his weekend show on BBC Radio 1. In 2010 he was named the host of Skating with the Stars, which was broadcast in the United States.
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Kay was born and raised in Bolton, Greater Manchester, the son of Norman and Gladys; he has a younger brother, Stephen.[2] He attended St Joseph's R.C. High School in Horwich, near Bolton,[3] and then St John Rigby College in Orrell, near Wigan. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with an HND in Environmental Science. He supports his hometown's football club Bolton Wanderers.[4] He used to be a regular visitor to Manchester nightclub The Haçienda.[2]
Kay presented the Saturday morning children's programme FBi alongside Boyzone's Keith Duffy and BBC Children's presenter Kate Heavenor. The series was shown on the BBC from 22 April until 23 September 2000 and was filmed in Glasgow.
Kay is a former host of T4. He also presented Boys and Girls, HeadJam, Celebrities Under Pressure and California Dreaming. He presented Hit Me, Baby, One More Time which was broadcast on British television in 2005. The series was then picked up by NBC for broadcast in the USA, which Kay also hosted.
In 2005, Kay hosted the annual The Record of the Year competition. Also in 2005, Kay competed with other celebrities in a series titled Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, in which television personalities battled each other in a series of well-known game formats that had been featured on ITV over the past 50 years. The series was screened as part of ITV's 50th anniversary celebrations. Kay managed to reach the final of the competition, but ended up losing to Carol Vorderman and her family, in a special edition of Family Fortunes.
A revival of Family Fortunes began in 2006 with Kay as the host; the first episode was broadcast on 28 October 2006. The series is now titled All Star Family Fortunes as it features celebrities and their families as well as the contestants. Kay was also selected to host the second series of Gameshow Marathon in 2007.
In 2006, he presented alongside his wife Tess on the BBC One celebrity singing contest Just the Two of Us. In 2006, he hosted a segment on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday Live and a special entitled Duet Impossible, featuring contemporary music stars performing with their deceased pop heroes via technical wizardry.
He presented The Paul O'Grady Show as a substitute host on two occasions (23 October 2006 and 9 May 2007).
In 2008 Kay hosted the English language adaption of the German television programme Schlag den Raab. The game — Beat the Star — broadcast on ITV1 in an eight part series, which ran from 20 April 2008 to 22 June 2008. In the final episode, Phillip Schofield surprised Kay by revealing that Kay himself was to be that night's star rather than the presenter. Kay then went on to beat the marine contestant through a series of the seven challenges.
Since April 2010, Kay and Caroline Flack have presented ITV1's Saturday night game show The Whole 19 Yards. Kay will also be the host of the ABC reality competition show Skating with the Stars.[5]
In 2011, Kay was appointed moderator of the Million Dollar Mind Game, an American version of the Russian intellectual show What? Where? When?, which premiered October 23, 2011 on ABC. Kay also presented a seven part Christmas show 'Home For The Holidays' for Channel 4 live.
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 now runs between 10 am – 1 pm on Saturday. In 2008 he was one of a team of DJs 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 is climbing 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. Kay will again fill in for Chris Moyles from 10 August until 15 August when he has two weeks off. The first week will be covered by the regular cover presenter Scott Mills. 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.
Kay married Tess Daly on 12 September 2003, at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Horwich, in Bolton.[6] They have two daughters together: Phoebe Elizabeth Kay,[7] who was born on 17 October 2004[8] in Westminster, London,[9] and Amber Isabella Kay, born on 30 May 2009[10] in London.[11] They live in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire.[12] In February 2010, Kay admitted to exchanging racy text messages to Rhian Sugden, a glamour and Page 3 model, after they had met in a Bolton nightclub.[13]
Kay received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bolton on 9 July 2009, for services to entertainment.[14]
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.[15] In 2011, he signed for the London Warriors, for whom he plays in the BAFA Community Leagues Premiership as a defensive back.[16][17]
| Preceded by Andy Collins |
Host of Family Fortunes 2006– |
Incumbent |
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