Simon O'Brien (presenter)
| Simon O'Brien | |
|---|---|
| Born |
19 June 1965 Garston, Liverpool, England |
| Website | http://www.simonobrien.com |
Simon O'Brien (19 June 1965, Garston, Liverpool, Merseyside) is a British television actor and radio presenter as well as a property developer.
He came to prominence as the character Damon Grant in Brookside, a role he played from the soap's launch in 1982 until 1987, when his character was killed off in York at the end of the 'soap bubble' Damon and Debbie.
He acted in the British version of Fraggle Rock from 1989 until 1990 as BJ the lighthouse keeper. He also presented the first three series of I Can Do That from 1988–90; a children's quiz show produced by Yorkshire Television and broadcast on the ITV network, as well as the 'Rough Guide' travel programmes for a time with Magenta Devine.
In the 1990s, after a spell presenting BBC football show Standing Room Only, he left show business and, with Alan Bate, set up Liverpool Cycle Centre, a combination of vegetarian café, cycle shop, cycle parking and other resources relevant to his enthusiasm for cycling. O'Brien then moved into property development. He has since returned to acting and presenting, with a short-lived football quizshow, Do I Not Know That?, on ITV Digital , co-presenting the BBC One show To Buy or Not to Buy, as well as playing caretaker Wally Scott in Grange Hill since 2003.
He is an Everton F.C. fan and, in the past, has been the club's public address announcer.
He presented BBC Radio Merseyside's Breakfast show with Lucinda Moore from September 2006 until 25 June 2007, when he resigned after the accidental broadcast of a package which he had prepared of him saying "fuck the government, fuck the planners".[1]
As of January 2008, O'Brien is returning to the airwaves as the co-host of the breakfast show on City Talk 105.9 in his home city.
O'Brien was back on TV on BBC One from 5 September 2011, hosting the second series of "To Build or Not to Build"".[2]