Chris Evans
Encyclopedia
Christopher James "Chris" Evans (born 1 April 1966) is an English
broadcaster
, businessman
and producer for radio
& television
.
, Cheshire
, England
, the youngest child of bookmaker
and health authority wages clerk Martin Joseph Evans (1921-1979), and Minnie Beardsall, who managed a corner shop. His siblings are David (born 1953) and sister Diane (born 1963). He started his schooling at St Margaret's Church of England Infants and junior Schools, and later the Junior school in Orford, Warrington.
Evans passed the 11 plus exam and started at Boteler Grammar School
, Warrington. After the death of his father, the 13-year-old Evans took part-time work at an outlet of T. J. & B. McLoughlin's newsagent
–tobacconist
in Woolston, and ran an alternative tuck-shop at Padgate High School
, which was a comprehensive school
he attended for the final three years of his secondary education. Evans left secondary school at age 16 after moving into the sixth form, he then had a number of dead-end jobs in and around Warrington
, including a private detective agency and notoriously as a "Tarzan
-ogram."
Piccadilly Radio in 1983, where he had previously had unpaid school-boy work. Until 1984 Evans had three jobs: as an assistant to Timmy Mallett
, and playing a character on his show called 'Nobby Nolevel' ('No 'O' Level'); acting as a disc jockey in the evenings at local pubs
when he was not at Piccadilly Radio; and still working at the newsagents, opening up daily at 5 a.m. to sort out the newspaper deliveries.
Evans switched to a full-time position at the station in 1984. After going full-time, Evans role included being driven around the Manchester area in the radio car to turn up at listeners' houses. In addition he was producer
to presenter James H. Reeve. Following this he presented a weekday graveyard slot
with competitions and segments where listeners had opportunities to sell their belongings on air.
After working as a producer on Richard Branson
's service The Superstation
, where he produced material for Jonathan Ross
, Evans went on to work at BBC
London radio station GLR
, first as a producer on Emma Freud
's mid-morning show, then Weekend Breakfast with Danny Baker
. Evans became a GLR presenter in early 1990, taking over a Saturday afternoon show. Three months later, he started presenting The Greenhouse, a Monday to Thursday evening show; he remained on this slot until the end of 1990.
In early 1991, due to his first regular TV hosting work presenting the Power Up breakfast show on The Power Station for British Satellite Broadcasting
, Evans' radio work moved to presenting Round At Chris's, every Saturday morning from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, which he continued to present until April 1993.
, in March 1992 Evans began presenting a Sunday afternoon show on BBC Radio 1
, replacing Phillip Schofield
who had previously broadcast in the slot. His show called Too Much Gravy, was broadcast from 14:30 to 16:00 and ended in September 1992. His move to Radio 1 was short-lived but seen as a huge success, with controller Johnny Beerling
later admitting he wished he'd offered Evans a full-time show there and then. At the time, however, Evans objected that Radio 1 had tried to constrain his style, preventing him from using the "zoo
" format, allegedly because Steve Wright was already doing that on the station.
In April 1993, Evans left GLR and joined the new Virgin Radio
, to host a Saturday morning show called The Nescafé big red mug show. He was paid £
30k per annum to present this show, but left after only three months to pursue a television career, not to return until 1997.
breakfast television
show, The Big Breakfast
, from 28 September 1992. Evans, along with co-host Gaby Roslin
, was an unqualified success, which brought him national celebrity status.
Evans left The Big Breakfast on 29 September 1994 and formed his own television production company, Ginger Productions
. Its first major programme, Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
, was broadcast between 1994 and 1995. The original concepts proved to be lucrative for Evans as its format was sold to numerous foreign broadcasters.
Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Evans negotiated into his contract with Radio 1 a clause allowing him to still make television programmes, and specifically an option to make a Friday night programme for Channel 4
.
Allowed to create the "zoo" format he had previously been disallowed from performing on Radio 1, Evans was given a free rein by his friend, Radio 1 controller Matthew Bannister
. Critics hated innuendo
-laden features like Honk Your Horn and In Bed With Your Girlfriend, but Evans put on 600,000 new listeners over Steve Wright - one for every £
5 spent on salary and advertising. The effect also flowed through into the listening figures for later programs. The audience grew as the breakfast format became more outrageous: humiliating assistant Holly Samos
by repeatedly asking her about her sex life (Evans and Samos were reportedly in a relationship at periods through their time working together), and encouraging two female guests to perform a strip show on live radio. The show's highest listening figure reached 7.5million.
Evans began making editions of Channel 4
's TFI Friday
from 1996. The show - devised, produced
and hosted by Evans through his Ginger Media company - combined celebrity interviews, musical guests and daft games and competitions. Largely based on the successful formula of his radio show, it was initially a big success. However, as the success of both shows peaked, combined with a string of celebrity relationships and highly publicised nights drinking with friends Danny Baker
and footballer Paul Gascoigne
, the strain began to show, and a model emerged described as a "template for his approach to all his subsequent projects - an abundance of enthusiasm at the beginning which eventually falls prey to boredom and shiftlessness."
Beginning to think he was indispensable at Radio 1, the first big falling-out with management came in December 1995 after taking his crew out on a 17 hour pub-crawl which ended two hours before they were due on air: Evans was fined one day's pay, £7,000. In 1996, broadcasting watchdogs investigated a continual trail of complaints against the show: Radio 1 refused to comment, Evans never said sorry. Evans also made increasing public demands of the Radio 1 management: after taking an extra week of unplanned holiday, Evans chose to turn up half an hour late for his 06:30 show and then demanded that his hours were changed so that it was a permanent fixture - this request was accepted.
However after the summer break things got decidedly worse. Criticised by the broadcasting watchdog for a tasteless joke about Holocaust victim Anne Frank
, Evans countered with an item about haemorrhoids. Asked by Bannister to watch the rules, Evans the next day branded Bannister "The Fat Controller
". In November, Evans announced on air that he was medically unfit to be on the radio - Bannister re-negotiated his contract to double his holiday to twice that of other Radio 1 DJs. After more publicised public drinking and self-confessed illness; Evans' spell at the station ended in January 1997, when he quit after his demand not to host the show on Friday, in order to have a full day getting ready for his TV show, wasn't accepted.
The Radio 1 breakfast show was taken over by Mark and Lard
a.k.a. Mark Radcliffe
and Marc Riley
. When Evans found out that they were a ratings disaster, he quickly got in touch with BBC Radio 1
management to ask whether he could take back the show again. Station management declined but did offer him a weekend slot, which he turned down. In response to the falling ratings, bosses decided to replace its presenters with the relatively unknown Kevin Greening
and the well known children's TV presenter Zoë Ball
. Their tenure started on 13 October 1997.
, he listened to the Irish broadcaster, Gerry Ryan
on the radio. Evans claims the variety on Ryan's show made him want to return to radio. Evans was then hired by Virgin Radio
to host its breakfast show, prompting an immediate upsurge in listening figures to the station 1.8 million to 2.6 million. His first show was on 13 October 1997, the same day as Kevin Greening and Zoë Ball on Radio 1. Starting at 7:00 am, Evans’ crew presented the show from Monday to Friday, but without Evans participating on a Friday.
As Sir Richard Branson
had decided to reduce his media holding, he began talks to sell the station to Capital Radio
in a deal that would have given him 10% of holding company Capital Group. As this became public knowledge, Evans, who did not want to work for Capital, publicly dismissed them as "a bleating, blowing asthmatic dog." On 9 December, with the assistance of investors, Evans’ vehicle Ginger Media Group bought Virgin Radio from Branson for £85m, to control the interests both of Ginger Productions and Virgin Radio. Both Apax Partners
and Branson each owned 20% of Ginger Media Group, while Evans and his investors owned the remaining 60%. The group later engaged in the prospect of buying the Daily Star newspaper, but decided against from commercial angles.
During the last quarter of 1999, Evans ran separate quizzes on his radio show and on TFI Friday, both called Someone's Going To Be A Millionaire! (a reference to the very popular TV game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
). The million-pound prize was awarded on radio on 17 December and on television on 24 December, the first million-pound prizes awarded on either medium in the UK. The distinction of being the first quizmaster to give away a million-pound prize is often erroneously ascribed to Chris Tarrant
on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, however Evans was in fact first by more than ten months.
Both the Radio 1 breakfast show and its Virgin Radio successor introduced the audience to Evans' loyal production team, all of whom were encouraged to play speaking roles in the shows. This led to producer
John Revell and engineer Dan McGrath presenting the Virgin show during Evans' absence, while researcher Holly Samos
earned a contract to model underwear.
for £225m. The sale made Evans the highest paid entertainer in the UK in 2000, estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List
to have been paid around £35.5million. Following poor reviews of TFI Friday, and Evans himself handing over presentation of the last series to a series of "friends", the show was cancelled in December 2000.
Evans continued to host the station's breakfast show, but echoes of his earlier dismissal from Radio 1 began to emerge. In May 2000, the station was fined £75,000 (then the largest penalty imposed by the Radio Authority) for his repeated on-air endorsement of Ken Livingstone
in the London mayoral elections
. Virgin Radio's new programme controller Paul Jackson, in light of audience figures which had dropped from a peak of 2.7 million to 1.7 million, had pruned Evans's "zoo" team and installed a music policy which replaced more eclectic choices with a strict diet of chart pop. As a result, on 20 June Evans was followed throughout the day by tabloid newspaper photographers, and undertook an "18-hour bender" which started after his show at 9.30 in the morning, and ended - after numerous pints of Kronenbourg
and Guinness
, plus five bottles of Dom Pérignon
- with Evans asleep in front of a lap-dancer
at Stringfellows. Later photographed by the tabloids that week with new wife Billie Piper
in the nearest pub to their home in Hascombe
, Surrey
while claiming he was too ill to present his show, he was dismissed on 28 June 2001 for repeatedly failing to arrive at work. Evans was replaced by the older Steve Penk
, whom Evans criticised for his age - 39 versus Evans's then 35.
Evans attempted to sue Virgin Radio, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed and denied share options worth £8.6 million. On 26 June 2003, in the judgement of Evans v SMG Television Ltd. & Ors 2003 EWHC 1423 (Ch), Justice Lightman found that he had been fairly dismissed and was not entitled to the share options. Giving his ruling at the High Court
, Evans was publicly criticised for his attitude by the judge, who said of Evans: "He has the temperament of a prima donna." Virgin Radio/SMG later countersued, with Evans ordered to pay £1m towards their legal costs.
In his autobiography, Evans writes that shortly after the sale of Virgin Radio he was offered £56m for his SMG shares by Goldman Sachs
. He declined the offer and eventually sold them for £250,000.
, with the aim of specialising in live, cutting-edge, entertainment programming. Over the next 3 years UMTV produced more than 375 hours of television, with mixed success. TV shows included Boys and Girls
hosted by Vernon Kay
for Channel 4, Johnny Vegas
: 18 Stone of Idiot
for Channel 4 / E4; OFI Sunday
for ITV
; Live With Christian O'Connell
and Live With Chris Moyles
for Five; and the BAFTA award-winning School of Hard Knocks for 4 Learning.
Following two high-profile shows which failed to perform in the ratings, UMTV hired Terry Wogan
and Evans' former Big Breakfast co-host Gaby Roslin
to host a weekday morning magazine show, The Terry and Gaby Show
. Evans said publicly that if this show failed he would set up a market stall. Despite critical acclaim the audience numbers never took off and Channel 5 axed the show after its year-long run, citing its high cost as a reason. True to his word, Evans was pictured at the end of the final show with a market stall and later he opened it for real at Stables Market, Camden
.
More recently the company has expanded to include a factual entertainment department and launched its first advertiser-funded programming.
’s day of programming for the victims of the Asian Tsunami
, which was aired on most of the UK's commercial radio stations, and also The BRIT Awards in 2005 and 2006. From April 2005, Evans presented a number of one-off Bank Holiday
shows for BBC Radio 2
, including coverage of the Live 8 concert in London
.
, and accompanied by a posse including friend "Big" Pete Winterbottom and newsreader Andrew Peach
. Evans told listeners to his first show: "We've had a couple of test drives over the summer and we've decided to take it. Yes, we like this vehicle."
, beginning on 18 April. His arrival in the slot saw more than 1,000 listeners complain, resulting in the station's controller Lesley Douglas
issuing a statement in response saying that Evans should be given a chance. RAJAR
audience figures published in August 2006 showed Evans had 150,000 fewer listeners than his predecessor's last show but was on par with previous years. The second set of RAJAR's published in October 2006 showed his audience was up by 109,000 year-on-year, and up by 33,000 compared with the previous quarter. Figures showed he was drawing an average audience of 4.9 m a day on his drivetime
show. By the end of 2007, the show was averaging over 5m listeners. On 7 September 2009 it was announced that Evans would take over the breakfast show
from Sir Terry Wogan
after Wogan announced his intention to leave the show at the end of the year.
on 11 January 2010. His first three songs were The Beatles
' "All you need is love"
; The Beatles
' "Got to Get You into My Life
"; and Frank Sinatra
's "Come Fly with Me"
. His co-presenters include ex-BBC TV newsreader Moira Stuart
, sports presenter Jonny Saunders
who was replaced in June 2011 by Vassos Alexander
, and travel reporter Lynn Bowles
. Features include: The Gobsmackers (two songs selected by a listener that sound good played back to back); The Wrong Bongs (a bong is played by Evans when a listener points out a factual mistake made by the team); The Jukebox Jury (a new song is played and listeners decide if it is a 'hit' or a 'miss); The Golden Oldie (Moira Stuart reads the request for a classic song selected by a listener); Hello/Goodbye (At the end of the show, a listener phones to greet the team by saying 'hello' only for Evans and co. to respond 'goodbye' as the show ends).
, defeating rivals Jamie Theakston
, Lauren Laverne
, Marc Riley
and Tim Lovejoy
to win. When accepting the award, Evans thanked the BBC for giving him "a second chance." Evans won 'music radio personality' the following year, while his show won the Entertainment award. "I didn't expect this," he said. "I wouldn't have minded if I didn't win, but I really love the fact I have won." Evans was voted the 82nd most influential media personality in The Guardian
newspapers 2007 pool.
on ITV
. In a move described by Private Eye
as Partridgean
, estranged wife Billie Piper
was the first guest on the programme. OFI Sunday was cancelled after just five shows following poor reviews and low viewing figures. Its cancellation led Evans to complain on air during his Saturday BBC Radio 2 slot that he no longer knew how to be successful on television.
Evans has also provided the voice of rock star Lennie Lazenby in the children's animated series Bob the Builder
.
On 24 July 2005 and 29 November 2009, Evans was featured as the "Star in the Reasonably Priced Car" on the BBC's
Top Gear.
He appeared in the first ever episode of King Of...
in June 2011.
as the Friday co-host of The One Show
on BBC1. Chiles and then co-host Christine Bleakley
left the show to join ITV
. Evans now hosts The One Show
on Fridays with co-host Alex Jones
, and occasionally covers weekdays. Ratings for the Friday editions hosted by Evans have shown a significant slump in viewing figures since early 2011, shedding 2 million viewers compared with the Monday-Thursday format.
to present a new reality show Famous and Fearless
, in which 8 celebrities in two teams, Boys and Girls. The celebrities that took part on the boys' team were: Rufus Hound
, Charley Boorman
, Sam Branson (Son of Richard Branson
) and Jonah Lomu
. On the girls' team were Jenny Frost
, Kacey Ainsworth
, Sarah Jayne Dunn
and Dame Kelly Holmes
. Holmes won the girls'; Boorman won the boys' and the show outright. In February 2011, it was reported that the show had been axed after one series due to poor ratings.
Evans married Carol McGiffin
in 1991; but their 1994 split was not amicable and McGiffin has been scathing about Evans in newspaper articles in the years since; they divorced in 1998. During his time at BBC Radio 1 and Virgin, Evans had well publicised relationships with Kim Wilde
, model Rachel Tatton-Brown (whose sister was a researcher on The Big Breakfast), assistant producer Suzi Aplin, Anthea Turner
, Geri Halliwell
, and Melanie Sykes
. After meeting teenage pop star Billie Piper
and after she proposed on his 35th birthday, the couple married in a £200 ceremony at The Little Church of the West
in Las Vegas
on 6 May 2001; attended by six guests including best man Danny Baker
. In September 2004, news stories circulated regarding a trial separation - Evans at the time had a stall at Camden Market
, where he was found selling furniture and paintings from his London and Los Angeles homes, commenting: "I just want to get rid of it all, it's just a headache." In Spring 2005, it was confirmed that Evans and Piper would divorce, and, with Piper publicly stating that she would take no money from Evans, it is believed to have been an amicable split. Almost three years after they had separated, Evans and Piper finally divorced in May 2007, but have remained on good terms.
A fanatical golf
er who plays with a handicap
of 15, Evans met professional golfer, part-time model and columnist for Golf Punk
magazine Natasha Shishmanian when they became golf partners in the All*Star Cup celebrity tournament in Newport
- Evans gave his 17-year-old caddy at the event, Natalie Harrison, a £10,000 Russian Kristall Smolensk diamond
he won for the quality of his play. Evans married Shishmanian in a London Register office
on Saturday 11 August 2007, and held a reception in Faro, Portugal
the following weekend, attended by ex-wife Piper. On 17 July 2008, the DJ announced that the couple were expecting their first baby together. Their son, Noah Nicholas Martin was born on 10 February 2009 at London's Portland Hospital
.
In March 2008 after playing a round of golf with rockstar Meat Loaf
, Evans admitted in his Radio 2 blog that he had taken "magic mushrooms" at the rock star's later concert at the Royal Albert Hall
.
A fan of fast cars, and particularly Ferrari
s, Evans was banned from driving for 56 days in 2001 and fined £600 after admitting to a speeding charge at Staines
Magistrates' Court
after being stopped by Surrey Police
when racing at 105 mi/h on the A3 road in Esher
in January 2001. In 2005 Evans crashed his silver 575M Maranello
into a verge near his then Surrey home. On 18 May 2008, Evans attended RM Auctions/Sotheby's
Ferrari
auction in Maranello
, Italy
, and bought a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder (formerly owned by US actor James Coburn
) for the world record price of 6.4 Million Euros (including fees, the highest price ever paid for a car at auction). In May 2010, he bought a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
, one of only thirty six 250 GTOs ever built, for £12 million. Reportedly he sold three Ferraris from his collection to pay for it.
In August 2002 Evans was a member of crew aboard the sailing yacht Nausicaa with six other people, when James Ward - landlord of the White Horse in Hascombe
, Surrey, which was then Evans' local - drowned in an accident in the Solent
. In September 2007, Evans and Shishmanian started helicopter
lessons at Shoreham Airport
, with Evans gaining his helicopter Private Pilots Licence in January 2008, and now owns a Robinson R44
.
He was also the owner of Hascombe Court
, a 172 acre (0.69605992 km²) estate in Godalming, Surrey, currently owned by Boris Berezovsky. Presenter Anthea Turner
lives with her husband in a house formerly belonging to the estate.
Evans is related to Scottish Rugby international
Max Evans and former Scottish Rugby international Thom Evans
.
Evans is a supporter of the Labour Party
, however he donated £100,000 to Ken Livingstone
's Mayoral campaign as an independent in 2000.
Evans is an Ambassador for The Scout Association
.
Evans is the proud owner of a boat called 'Ginger' moored in Cala D'or, Majorca.
He and Natasha announced on 27th November 2011 that they were expecting their second child.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
, businessman
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
and producer for radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
& television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Early life
Evans was born in 1966, in WarringtonWarrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the youngest child of bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
and health authority wages clerk Martin Joseph Evans (1921-1979), and Minnie Beardsall, who managed a corner shop. His siblings are David (born 1953) and sister Diane (born 1963). He started his schooling at St Margaret's Church of England Infants and junior Schools, and later the Junior school in Orford, Warrington.
Evans passed the 11 plus exam and started at Boteler Grammar School
Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School
Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School is a comprehensive school in Warrington, Cheshire.-Grammar school:It was founded in 1526 by Sir Thomas Boteler, later to be the High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1535. He left a legacy to pay for the education of six "poor boyes of the parishe" and it...
, Warrington. After the death of his father, the 13-year-old Evans took part-time work at an outlet of T. J. & B. McLoughlin's newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
–tobacconist
Tobacconist
A tobacconist is an expert dealer in tobacco in various forms and the related accoutrements .Such accoutrements include pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, pipe tampers, ashtrays, humidification devices, hygrometers, humidors, cigar cutters, and more. Books and magazines, especially ones...
in Woolston, and ran an alternative tuck-shop at Padgate High School
Padgate High School
Lysander Community High School, formerly known as Padgate Community High School, is a secondary school for 11-16 year olds, located in Fearnhead, Warrington in Cheshire.-Fearnhead Sixth Form:...
, which was a comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
he attended for the final three years of his secondary education. Evans left secondary school at age 16 after moving into the sixth form, he then had a number of dead-end jobs in and around Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, including a private detective agency and notoriously as a "Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
-ogram."
Early career
Evans began his professional broadcasting career at ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
Piccadilly Radio in 1983, where he had previously had unpaid school-boy work. Until 1984 Evans had three jobs: as an assistant to Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett is a TV presenter and broadcaster in the UK. He achieved cult status on BBC Radio Oxford and Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and later on TV-am...
, and playing a character on his show called 'Nobby Nolevel' ('No 'O' Level'); acting as a disc jockey in the evenings at local pubs
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
when he was not at Piccadilly Radio; and still working at the newsagents, opening up daily at 5 a.m. to sort out the newspaper deliveries.
Evans switched to a full-time position at the station in 1984. After going full-time, Evans role included being driven around the Manchester area in the radio car to turn up at listeners' houses. In addition he was producer
Radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...
to presenter James H. Reeve. Following this he presented a weekday graveyard slot
Graveyard slot
A graveyard slot is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots are usually in the early morning hours of each day, when most people are asleep...
with competitions and segments where listeners had opportunities to sell their belongings on air.
After working as a producer on Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's service The Superstation
The Superstation
The Superstation was set up as an over-night sustaining service for Independent Local Radio...
, where he produced material for Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross may refer to:* Jonathan Ross , English television and radio personality* Jonathan Ross , United States Senator, Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court* Jonathon Ross , former Australian rules footballer...
, Evans went on to work at BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
London radio station GLR
BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...
, first as a producer on Emma Freud
Emma Freud
Emma Vallencey Freud OBE is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator.-Early life:Emma Freud was born on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud and June Flewett. She is the great-granddaughter of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud...
's mid-morning show, then Weekend Breakfast with Danny Baker
Danny Baker
Danny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio....
. Evans became a GLR presenter in early 1990, taking over a Saturday afternoon show. Three months later, he started presenting The Greenhouse, a Monday to Thursday evening show; he remained on this slot until the end of 1990.
In early 1991, due to his first regular TV hosting work presenting the Power Up breakfast show on The Power Station for British Satellite Broadcasting
BSB
BSB is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:* Back-side bus, a data bus in a computer* Backstreet Boys, an American vocal group* Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei...
, Evans' radio work moved to presenting Round At Chris's, every Saturday morning from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, which he continued to present until April 1993.
Rise to popularity
In addition to his Saturday morning show on GLRBBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...
, in March 1992 Evans began presenting a Sunday afternoon show on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, replacing Phillip Schofield
Phillip Schofield
Phillip Bryan Schofield is an English broadcaster and television personality best known for presenting shows such as This Morning, Dancing on Ice, and various game shows including The Cube.-Early life and career:...
who had previously broadcast in the slot. His show called Too Much Gravy, was broadcast from 14:30 to 16:00 and ended in September 1992. His move to Radio 1 was short-lived but seen as a huge success, with controller Johnny Beerling
Johnny Beerling
John William Beerling is a veteran radio producer and station controller.-National Service:He began his radio career during his national service from 1955-7 when he ran a radio station for the Royal Air Force station British Forces Aden in the Aden Protectorate, acting as its station manager,...
later admitting he wished he'd offered Evans a full-time show there and then. At the time, however, Evans objected that Radio 1 had tried to constrain his style, preventing him from using the "zoo
Morning zoo
Morning zoo is a format of morning radio show common to English-language radio broadcasting. The name is derived from the "wackiness and zaniness" of the activities, bits, and overall personality of the show and its hosts...
" format, allegedly because Steve Wright was already doing that on the station.
In April 1993, Evans left GLR and joined the new Virgin Radio
Virgin Radio
Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
, to host a Saturday morning show called The Nescafé big red mug show. He was paid £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
30k per annum to present this show, but left after only three months to pursue a television career, not to return until 1997.
The Big Breakfast
Evans' departure from GLR was in part so he could devote his time to the new Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
breakfast television
Breakfast television
Breakfast television or morning show , is a type of infotainment television program, broadcast live in the morning...
show, The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...
, from 28 September 1992. Evans, along with co-host Gaby Roslin
Gaby Roslin
Gaby Roslin is an English television presenter and actress. She rose to fame while co-presenting The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 between 1992 and 1996, and also presented the BBC's Children in Need charity appeal from 1994 to 2004....
, was an unqualified success, which brought him national celebrity status.
Evans left The Big Breakfast on 29 September 1994 and formed his own television production company, Ginger Productions
Ginger Productions
Ginger Productions, alongside STV Productions, is part of the network production arm of STV Group plc. Based in Waterhouse Square in London, the company's output focuses on Entertainment and Factual Entertainment programming...
. Its first major programme, Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush is a Saturday night light entertainment show originally broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1994, and has also been adapted in Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the United States, the Netherlands and Portugal...
, was broadcast between 1994 and 1995. The original concepts proved to be lucrative for Evans as its format was sold to numerous foreign broadcasters.
Radio 1 Breakfast Show
In April 1995, Evans returned to radio to host the flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Evans negotiated into his contract with Radio 1 a clause allowing him to still make television programmes, and specifically an option to make a Friday night programme for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
Allowed to create the "zoo" format he had previously been disallowed from performing on Radio 1, Evans was given a free rein by his friend, Radio 1 controller Matthew Bannister
Matthew Bannister
Richard Matthew Bannister is a British media executive and broadcaster. After attending King Edward VII School , he graduated in law at the University of Nottingham in 1978, and joined BBC Radio Nottingham as a trainee reporter and subsequently the presenter of its speech-based breakfast show,...
. Critics hated innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
-laden features like Honk Your Horn and In Bed With Your Girlfriend, but Evans put on 600,000 new listeners over Steve Wright - one for every £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
5 spent on salary and advertising. The effect also flowed through into the listening figures for later programs. The audience grew as the breakfast format became more outrageous: humiliating assistant Holly Samos
Holly Samos
Holly Samos is a radio researcher and presenter. A former member of Chris Evans's Zoo Squad, she was the Formula 1 pit lane reporter for BBC Radio 5 Live until the end of the 2010 season....
by repeatedly asking her about her sex life (Evans and Samos were reportedly in a relationship at periods through their time working together), and encouraging two female guests to perform a strip show on live radio. The show's highest listening figure reached 7.5million.
Evans began making editions of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's TFI Friday
TFI Friday
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
from 1996. The show - devised, produced
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and hosted by Evans through his Ginger Media company - combined celebrity interviews, musical guests and daft games and competitions. Largely based on the successful formula of his radio show, it was initially a big success. However, as the success of both shows peaked, combined with a string of celebrity relationships and highly publicised nights drinking with friends Danny Baker
Danny Baker
Danny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio....
and footballer Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...
, the strain began to show, and a model emerged described as a "template for his approach to all his subsequent projects - an abundance of enthusiasm at the beginning which eventually falls prey to boredom and shiftlessness."
Beginning to think he was indispensable at Radio 1, the first big falling-out with management came in December 1995 after taking his crew out on a 17 hour pub-crawl which ended two hours before they were due on air: Evans was fined one day's pay, £7,000. In 1996, broadcasting watchdogs investigated a continual trail of complaints against the show: Radio 1 refused to comment, Evans never said sorry. Evans also made increasing public demands of the Radio 1 management: after taking an extra week of unplanned holiday, Evans chose to turn up half an hour late for his 06:30 show and then demanded that his hours were changed so that it was a permanent fixture - this request was accepted.
However after the summer break things got decidedly worse. Criticised by the broadcasting watchdog for a tasteless joke about Holocaust victim Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
, Evans countered with an item about haemorrhoids. Asked by Bannister to watch the rules, Evans the next day branded Bannister "The Fat Controller
The Fat Controller
The Fat Controller is the head of the railway in The Railway Series of books written by the Rev. W. V. Awdry. In the first two books in the series he is known as The Fat Director...
". In November, Evans announced on air that he was medically unfit to be on the radio - Bannister re-negotiated his contract to double his holiday to twice that of other Radio 1 DJs. After more publicised public drinking and self-confessed illness; Evans' spell at the station ended in January 1997, when he quit after his demand not to host the show on Friday, in order to have a full day getting ready for his TV show, wasn't accepted.
The Radio 1 breakfast show was taken over by Mark and Lard
Mark and Lard
Mark and Lard, the stage name of Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley , are former BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys. Mark and Lard joined Radio 1 in October 1993 and left in March 2004...
a.k.a. Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe
Mark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week alongside Stuart Maconie, called...
and Marc Riley
Marc Riley
Marc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
. When Evans found out that they were a ratings disaster, he quickly got in touch with BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
management to ask whether he could take back the show again. Station management declined but did offer him a weekend slot, which he turned down. In response to the falling ratings, bosses decided to replace its presenters with the relatively unknown Kevin Greening
Kevin Greening
Kevin Greening was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show with Zoe Ball from 1997 to 1998.-Early career:...
and the well known children's TV presenter Zoë Ball
Zoë Ball
Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
. Their tenure started on 13 October 1997.
Virgin Radio
During a holiday in KillarneyKillarney
Killarney is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is located north of the MacGillicuddy Reeks, on the northeastern shore of the Lough Lein/Leane which are part of Killarney National Park. The town and its surrounding region are home to St...
, he listened to the Irish broadcaster, Gerry Ryan
Gerry Ryan
Gerard "Gerry" Ryan was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
on the radio. Evans claims the variety on Ryan's show made him want to return to radio. Evans was then hired by Virgin Radio
Virgin Radio
Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
to host its breakfast show, prompting an immediate upsurge in listening figures to the station 1.8 million to 2.6 million. His first show was on 13 October 1997, the same day as Kevin Greening and Zoë Ball on Radio 1. Starting at 7:00 am, Evans’ crew presented the show from Monday to Friday, but without Evans participating on a Friday.
As Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
had decided to reduce his media holding, he began talks to sell the station to Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
in a deal that would have given him 10% of holding company Capital Group. As this became public knowledge, Evans, who did not want to work for Capital, publicly dismissed them as "a bleating, blowing asthmatic dog." On 9 December, with the assistance of investors, Evans’ vehicle Ginger Media Group bought Virgin Radio from Branson for £85m, to control the interests both of Ginger Productions and Virgin Radio. Both Apax Partners
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
and Branson each owned 20% of Ginger Media Group, while Evans and his investors owned the remaining 60%. The group later engaged in the prospect of buying the Daily Star newspaper, but decided against from commercial angles.
During the last quarter of 1999, Evans ran separate quizzes on his radio show and on TFI Friday, both called Someone's Going To Be A Millionaire! (a reference to the very popular TV game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
). The million-pound prize was awarded on radio on 17 December and on television on 24 December, the first million-pound prizes awarded on either medium in the UK. The distinction of being the first quizmaster to give away a million-pound prize is often erroneously ascribed to Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, however Evans was in fact first by more than ten months.
Both the Radio 1 breakfast show and its Virgin Radio successor introduced the audience to Evans' loyal production team, all of whom were encouraged to play speaking roles in the shows. This led to producer
Radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...
John Revell and engineer Dan McGrath presenting the Virgin show during Evans' absence, while researcher Holly Samos
Holly Samos
Holly Samos is a radio researcher and presenter. A former member of Chris Evans's Zoo Squad, she was the Formula 1 pit lane reporter for BBC Radio 5 Live until the end of the 2010 season....
earned a contract to model underwear.
Sale of GMG - dismissal and legal cases
On 14 March 2000 Evans agreed the sale of Ginger Media Group to SMG plcSMG plc
STV Group plc is a Scottish media company. It is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index. Originally formed as Scottish Television, it changed its name to Scottish Media Group in 1996 when it acquired Caledonian Publishing, owners of Glasgow-based newspapers The Herald and Evening Times...
for £225m. The sale made Evans the highest paid entertainer in the UK in 2000, estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List
Sunday Times Rich List
The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the United Kingdom, updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989...
to have been paid around £35.5million. Following poor reviews of TFI Friday, and Evans himself handing over presentation of the last series to a series of "friends", the show was cancelled in December 2000.
Evans continued to host the station's breakfast show, but echoes of his earlier dismissal from Radio 1 began to emerge. In May 2000, the station was fined £75,000 (then the largest penalty imposed by the Radio Authority) for his repeated on-air endorsement of Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
in the London mayoral elections
London mayoral election, 2000
The first election to the office of Mayor of London took place on 4 May 2000.-Results:¹Under the Supplementary Vote system, if no candidate receives 50% of 1st choice votes, 2nd choice votes are added to the result for the top two 1st choice candidates...
. Virgin Radio's new programme controller Paul Jackson, in light of audience figures which had dropped from a peak of 2.7 million to 1.7 million, had pruned Evans's "zoo" team and installed a music policy which replaced more eclectic choices with a strict diet of chart pop. As a result, on 20 June Evans was followed throughout the day by tabloid newspaper photographers, and undertook an "18-hour bender" which started after his show at 9.30 in the morning, and ended - after numerous pints of Kronenbourg
Kronenbourg
Kronenbourg Brewery is a brewery founded in 1664 by Geronimus Hatt in Strasbourg, France as the Hatt Brewery. The name comes from the area where the brewery relocated in 1850. The company is owned by the Carlsberg Group...
and Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
, plus five bottles of Dom Pérignon
Dom Pérignon (wine)
Dom Pérignon is a brand of vintage Champagne produced by the Champagne house Moët & Chandon and serves as that house's prestige champagne. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover...
- with Evans asleep in front of a lap-dancer
Lap dance
A lap dance is a type of sex work performed in some strip clubs in which a naked or topless dancer performs an erotic dance either in immediate contact with a seated patron, or within a very short distance. With full-contact lap dances, the stripper may engage in non-penetrative sexual contact...
at Stringfellows. Later photographed by the tabloids that week with new wife Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
in the nearest pub to their home in Hascombe
Hascombe
Hascombe is a village in Surrey, England. It contains a cluster of cottages and country estates, St Peter's church, the village green and The White Horse pub, all nestling between wooded hillsides in Surrey, England....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
while claiming he was too ill to present his show, he was dismissed on 28 June 2001 for repeatedly failing to arrive at work. Evans was replaced by the older Steve Penk
Steve Penk
Steve Penk is a British radio and TV presenter. He was born Stephen Penkethman on 28 September 1961, in Rusholme, Manchester and is renowned for his wind-up calls. Penk has worked for various national and local radio stations...
, whom Evans criticised for his age - 39 versus Evans's then 35.
Evans attempted to sue Virgin Radio, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed and denied share options worth £8.6 million. On 26 June 2003, in the judgement of Evans v SMG Television Ltd. & Ors 2003 EWHC 1423 (Ch), Justice Lightman found that he had been fairly dismissed and was not entitled to the share options. Giving his ruling at the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, Evans was publicly criticised for his attitude by the judge, who said of Evans: "He has the temperament of a prima donna." Virgin Radio/SMG later countersued, with Evans ordered to pay £1m towards their legal costs.
In his autobiography, Evans writes that shortly after the sale of Virgin Radio he was offered £56m for his SMG shares by Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
. He declined the offer and eventually sold them for £250,000.
UMTV
In August 2002 Chris Evans set up a radio and television production company, UMTVUMTV (production)
UMTV is a British radio and television production company set up by Chris Evans in 2002.The Directors are Chris Evans, Executive Producer and Writer; Clare Barton, Joint Managing Director/Head of Production; Chris Gillett, Joint Managing Director/Head of Operations and Helen Wright, Financial...
, with the aim of specialising in live, cutting-edge, entertainment programming. Over the next 3 years UMTV produced more than 375 hours of television, with mixed success. TV shows included Boys and Girls
Boys and Girls (TV series)
Boys and Girls was a British television gameshow broadcast in 2003 by Channel 4.The series was produced by Chris Evans, but the format was created by a Young Woman from Hertfordshire who was not paid for her creation. The show was presented by Vernon Kay...
hosted by Vernon Kay
Vernon Kay
Vernon Charles Kay is a British television presenter, radio DJ, american footballer and former model. He began television presenting on 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...
for Channel 4, Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
: 18 Stone of Idiot
18 Stone of Idiot
18 Stone of Idiot is a British television programme broadcast on Channel 4 in 2005 designed as a vehicle for Johnny Vegas and produced by Chris Evans.The first show was broadcast on 27 May 2005 and a further five episodes were broadcast weekly thereafter...
for Channel 4 / E4; OFI Sunday
OFI Sunday
OFI Sunday was an entertainment show hosted by Chris Evans. It aired Sunday's on ITV at 10:30pm. The title stood for "Oh Flip It's Sunday", but as with his previous show TFI Friday, whose title nominally stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", a less innocuous interpretation of the initials, "Oh Fuck...
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
; Live With Christian O'Connell
Christian O'Connell
Christian O'Connell is an English radio DJ who presents the Absolute Radio weekday breakfast show.He has formerly hosted BBC Radio Five Live's weekend sports game show Fighting Talk alongside the weekday breakfast show on indie music station Xfm London...
and Live With Chris Moyles
Live With Chris Moyles
Live With Chris Moyles was a British comedy chat show on five, which aired weekdays at 7pm. The show was filmed in front of a live audience in a bar in London....
for Five; and the BAFTA award-winning School of Hard Knocks for 4 Learning.
Following two high-profile shows which failed to perform in the ratings, UMTV hired Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
and Evans' former Big Breakfast co-host Gaby Roslin
Gaby Roslin
Gaby Roslin is an English television presenter and actress. She rose to fame while co-presenting The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 between 1992 and 1996, and also presented the BBC's Children in Need charity appeal from 1994 to 2004....
to host a weekday morning magazine show, The Terry and Gaby Show
The Terry and Gaby Show
The Terry and Gaby Show was a daytime television show broadcast on Five on weekday mornings between June 2003 and April 2004, produced by Chris Evans' company UMTV. It was hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin....
. Evans said publicly that if this show failed he would set up a market stall. Despite critical acclaim the audience numbers never took off and Channel 5 axed the show after its year-long run, citing its high cost as a reason. True to his word, Evans was pictured at the end of the final show with a market stall and later he opened it for real at Stables Market, Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
.
More recently the company has expanded to include a factual entertainment department and launched its first advertiser-funded programming.
Radio 2
Evans re-entered public life in early 2005, presenting the breakfast slot of UK Radio AidUK Radio Aid
UK Radio Aid was a charitable event in the United Kingdom held on Monday 17 January 2005 to raise money for the DEC appeal for the victims of the Asian Tsunami.-Format:...
’s day of programming for the victims of the Asian Tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, which was aired on most of the UK's commercial radio stations, and also The BRIT Awards in 2005 and 2006. From April 2005, Evans presented a number of one-off Bank Holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
shows for BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, including coverage of the Live 8 concert in London
Live 8 concert, London
The main Live 8 concert was held at Hyde Park, London, England on 2 July 2005, in front of over 200,000 people. The show's logistics were managed by famed promoter Harvey Goldsmith.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 London" or "Live 8 UK"....
.
Saturday afternoon show
Evans then joined Radio 2 on a permanent basis in September 2005, presenting a weekly Saturday afternoon show from 14:00 to 17:00. His first show featured singer Robbie WilliamsRobbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
, and accompanied by a posse including friend "Big" Pete Winterbottom and newsreader Andrew Peach
Andrew Peach
Andrew Peach is a radio presenter in the UK. He presents regular news and phone-in shows on BBC WM and BBC Radio Berkshire...
. Evans told listeners to his first show: "We've had a couple of test drives over the summer and we've decided to take it. Yes, we like this vehicle."
Move to Drivetime
The show was well received by listeners and critics, and Evans was announced as the successor to Radio 2's Drivetime show on Thursday 2 March 2006 to succeed long-time host Johnnie WalkerJohnnie Walker (DJ)
Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....
, beginning on 18 April. His arrival in the slot saw more than 1,000 listeners complain, resulting in the station's controller Lesley Douglas
Lesley Douglas
Lesley Douglas is a former British radio executive. She was the Controller of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music from early 2004 until her resignation in October 2008 over the Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row.-Early life:...
issuing a statement in response saying that Evans should be given a chance. RAJAR
RAJAR
RAJAR was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the RadioCentre...
audience figures published in August 2006 showed Evans had 150,000 fewer listeners than his predecessor's last show but was on par with previous years. The second set of RAJAR's published in October 2006 showed his audience was up by 109,000 year-on-year, and up by 33,000 compared with the previous quarter. Figures showed he was drawing an average audience of 4.9 m a day on his drivetime
DriveTime
DriveTime Automotive Group Inc., based in Phoenix, Arizona, is the largest used car seller and automobile finance company focusing on buyers with credit problems. The company has 88 dealerships in 36 U.S. metropolitan areas, and more than 2000 employees...
show. By the end of 2007, the show was averaging over 5m listeners. On 7 September 2009 it was announced that Evans would take over the breakfast show
Chris Evans Breakfast Show
The Chris Evans Breakfast Show is the flagship show on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom. It is presented by Chris Evans from 11 January 2010, when Evans took over from Sir Terry Wogan who ended his stint as Breakfast presenter at the end of 2009...
from Sir Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
after Wogan announced his intention to leave the show at the end of the year.
The Chris Evans Breakfast Show
Evans took over the Radio 2 breakfast showChris Evans Breakfast Show
The Chris Evans Breakfast Show is the flagship show on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom. It is presented by Chris Evans from 11 January 2010, when Evans took over from Sir Terry Wogan who ended his stint as Breakfast presenter at the end of 2009...
on 11 January 2010. His first three songs were The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "All you need is love"
All You Need Is Love
"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the programme was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967...
; The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Got to Get You into My Life
Got to Get You into My Life
"Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by The Beatles, first released in 1966 on the album Revolver. Written by Paul McCartney , it made prominent use of a brass section...
"; and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's "Come Fly with Me"
Come Fly with Me (song)
"Come Fly with Me" is a 1957 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn."Come Fly with Me" was written for Frank Sinatra, and was the title track of his 1958 album of the same name...
. His co-presenters include ex-BBC TV newsreader Moira Stuart
Moira Stuart
Moira Clare Ruby Stuart OBE is a British journalist who was the first African-Caribbean female newsreader on British television...
, sports presenter Jonny Saunders
Jonny Saunders
Jonny Saunders is a former British radio sports reporter, presenter and commentator. He worked for the BBC and featured on Radios 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 Music...
who was replaced in June 2011 by Vassos Alexander
Vassos Alexander
Vassos Alexander is a BBC sports reporter, presenter and commentator. He can currently be heard on the Chris Evans breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 [1]....
, and travel reporter Lynn Bowles
Lynn Bowles
Lynn M. Bowles is a British radio traffic reporter and can currently be heard relaying the latest traffic news on a half hourly basis on the BBC Radio 2 morning shows presented by Chris Evans and Ken Bruce.-Early life:...
. Features include: The Gobsmackers (two songs selected by a listener that sound good played back to back); The Wrong Bongs (a bong is played by Evans when a listener points out a factual mistake made by the team); The Jukebox Jury (a new song is played and listeners decide if it is a 'hit' or a 'miss); The Golden Oldie (Moira Stuart reads the request for a classic song selected by a listener); Hello/Goodbye (At the end of the show, a listener phones to greet the team by saying 'hello' only for Evans and co. to respond 'goodbye' as the show ends).
Sony Music Radio Personality of the Year
In May 2006, Evans was named music radio personality of the year at the annual Sony Radio Academy AwardsSony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...
, defeating rivals Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston
Jamie Theakston is an English television and radio presenter, producer and actor.-Education:...
, Lauren Laverne
Lauren Laverne
Lauren Cecilia Fisher , known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, television presenter, author and singer...
, Marc Riley
Marc Riley
Marc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
and Tim Lovejoy
Tim Lovejoy
Timothy Paul Lovejoy is a British television presenter most famous for hosting Saturday morning football programme Soccer AM alongside Helen Chamberlain for over a decade.- Career :...
to win. When accepting the award, Evans thanked the BBC for giving him "a second chance." Evans won 'music radio personality' the following year, while his show won the Entertainment award. "I didn't expect this," he said. "I wouldn't have minded if I didn't win, but I really love the fact I have won." Evans was voted the 82nd most influential media personality in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspapers 2007 pool.
Return to television
After his success in the 1990s, Evans' attempts at a TV comeback in the 21st century have been mixed with a record of poor ratings and cancellations, including falling viewing figures for his recent role role as co-host of Friday editions of The One Show. In November and December 2005 Evans presented OFI SundayOFI Sunday
OFI Sunday was an entertainment show hosted by Chris Evans. It aired Sunday's on ITV at 10:30pm. The title stood for "Oh Flip It's Sunday", but as with his previous show TFI Friday, whose title nominally stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", a less innocuous interpretation of the initials, "Oh Fuck...
on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. In a move described by Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
as Partridgean
Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
, estranged wife Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
was the first guest on the programme. OFI Sunday was cancelled after just five shows following poor reviews and low viewing figures. Its cancellation led Evans to complain on air during his Saturday BBC Radio 2 slot that he no longer knew how to be successful on television.
Evans has also provided the voice of rock star Lennie Lazenby in the children's animated series Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of...
.
On 24 July 2005 and 29 November 2009, Evans was featured as the "Star in the Reasonably Priced Car" on the BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Top Gear.
He appeared in the first ever episode of King Of...
King Of...
King Of... is a television comedy talk show made by Big Talk Productions for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 17 June 2011 and is hosted by Claudia Winkleman. The show also has two celebrity guests and a studio audience...
in June 2011.
The One Show
In 2010, it was announced that Evans would be replacing Adrian ChilesAdrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles is a British television and radio presenter, currently working for ITV Sport presenting football coverage....
as the Friday co-host of The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
on BBC1. Chiles and then co-host Christine Bleakley
Christine Bleakley
Christine Louise Bleakley is a television presenter from Northern Ireland. She joined Daybreak on ITV as co-presenter with Adrian Chiles in September 2010...
left the show to join ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Evans now hosts The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
on Fridays with co-host Alex Jones
Alex Jones (presenter)
Charlotte Alexandra "Alex" Jones is a Welsh television presenter, from Ammanford, best known for co-presenting BBC's The One Show since August 2010.-Early life:...
, and occasionally covers weekdays. Ratings for the Friday editions hosted by Evans have shown a significant slump in viewing figures since early 2011, shedding 2 million viewers compared with the Monday-Thursday format.
Return to Channel 4
In January 2011 Evans returned to Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
to present a new reality show Famous and Fearless
Famous and Fearless
Famous and Fearless is a reality television game show series in which 8 celebrities competed in extreme sporting events to win money for their respective chosen charity. It aired in January 2011 on Channel 4 and was presented by Chris Evans and Clare Balding with Jack Osbourne appearing alongside...
, in which 8 celebrities in two teams, Boys and Girls. The celebrities that took part on the boys' team were: Rufus Hound
Rufus Hound
Rufus Hound is a British comedian and presenter. He is also the winner of 2010 "Let's Dance for Comic Relief".-Career:...
, Charley Boorman
Charley Boorman
Charley Boorman is an English TV adventurer, travel writer and actor. He is well known for his association with motorcycles and enthusiasm for biking.-Education:...
, Sam Branson (Son of Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
) and Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union player. He had sixty-three caps as an All Black after debuting in 1994. He is generally regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He has had a huge impact on the game...
. On the girls' team were Jenny Frost
Jenny Frost
Jennifer "Jenny" Frost is an English singer, dancer, television presenter and model. She was a member of girl group Precious before replacing Kerry Katona in chart topping band Atomic Kitten from 2001 until they split in 2008. Frost presented makeunder show Snog Marry Avoid? from 2008 to 2011...
, Kacey Ainsworth
Kacey Ainsworth
Kacey Ainsworth is an English actress, best known for playing the long-suffering Little Mo in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Life and career:Kacey Ainsworth, is the only soap actress who has won three Soap Actress awards in one single year in 2002...
, Sarah Jayne Dunn
Sarah Jayne Dunn
Sarah Jayne Dunn is an English actress best known for playing Mandy Richardson in Hollyoaks.-Biography:Dunn was born in Leigh, Lancashire and educated at Lowton High School, excelling in drama and performing arts, and a part time career as a model...
and Dame Kelly Holmes
Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, MBE is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
. Holmes won the girls'; Boorman won the boys' and the show outright. In February 2011, it was reported that the show had been axed after one series due to poor ratings.
Personal life
Evans has a daughter, Jade (born 1986), by former fiancé Alison Ward. In 1998 after a long running dispute, the couple reached an out of court arrangement whereby Evans provided a home for his child and an allowance to Ward.Evans married Carol McGiffin
Carol McGiffin
Carol Deirdre McGiffin is an English broadcaster of radio and television, best known for her regular appearances on daytime talk show Loose Women. She married Chris Evans in 1991; the couple separated in 1994 and divorced in 1998....
in 1991; but their 1994 split was not amicable and McGiffin has been scathing about Evans in newspaper articles in the years since; they divorced in 1998. During his time at BBC Radio 1 and Virgin, Evans had well publicised relationships with Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...
, model Rachel Tatton-Brown (whose sister was a researcher on The Big Breakfast), assistant producer Suzi Aplin, Anthea Turner
Anthea Turner
Anthea Millicent Turner is an English television presenter and media personality.-Education:Turner was educated at the independent St. Dominic's High School in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent....
, Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
, and Melanie Sykes
Melanie Sykes
Melanie Ann Sykes is an English television presenter and model.-Career:Melanie Sykes was born to an English father, and an Anglo-Indian mother. She first came to public attention as the bikini-clad girl in the Boddingtons beer advertisements with the broad "Northern" accent in the mid-1990s...
. After meeting teenage pop star Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
and after she proposed on his 35th birthday, the couple married in a £200 ceremony at The Little Church of the West
The Little Church of the West
The Little Church of the West is a wedding chapel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Built of California redwood, it was intended to be a replica of a typical pioneer town church...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on 6 May 2001; attended by six guests including best man Danny Baker
Danny Baker
Danny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio....
. In September 2004, news stories circulated regarding a trial separation - Evans at the time had a stall at Camden Market
Camden Market
The Camden Markets are a number of adjoining large markets in Camden Town near the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent's Canal , often called collectively "Camden Market" or "Camden Lock". The stalls sell crafts, clothing, bric-a-brac, fast food, and other things...
, where he was found selling furniture and paintings from his London and Los Angeles homes, commenting: "I just want to get rid of it all, it's just a headache." In Spring 2005, it was confirmed that Evans and Piper would divorce, and, with Piper publicly stating that she would take no money from Evans, it is believed to have been an amicable split. Almost three years after they had separated, Evans and Piper finally divorced in May 2007, but have remained on good terms.
A fanatical golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er who plays with a handicap
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
of 15, Evans met professional golfer, part-time model and columnist for Golf Punk
Golf punk
GolfPunk magazine was launched by Tim Southwell and John Dean through their Keep Yourself Nice Ltd company in 2004, after securing investment from , and then Genesis Investments .Steve Read was signed from the Conde Naste Magazine Group as...
magazine Natasha Shishmanian when they became golf partners in the All*Star Cup celebrity tournament in Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
- Evans gave his 17-year-old caddy at the event, Natalie Harrison, a £10,000 Russian Kristall Smolensk diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
he won for the quality of his play. Evans married Shishmanian in a London Register office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
on Saturday 11 August 2007, and held a reception in Faro, Portugal
Faro, Portugal
Faro is the southernmost city in Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region...
the following weekend, attended by ex-wife Piper. On 17 July 2008, the DJ announced that the couple were expecting their first baby together. Their son, Noah Nicholas Martin was born on 10 February 2009 at London's Portland Hospital
Portland Hospital
The Portland Hospital for Women and Children, usually referred to simply as the Portland Hospital, is a hospital in Great Portland Street, London...
.
In March 2008 after playing a round of golf with rockstar Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Evans admitted in his Radio 2 blog that he had taken "magic mushrooms" at the rock star's later concert at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.
A fan of fast cars, and particularly Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
s, Evans was banned from driving for 56 days in 2001 and fined £600 after admitting to a speeding charge at Staines
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
after being stopped by Surrey Police
Surrey Police
Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in the south of England.The force is led by Chief Constable Mark Rowley and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey...
when racing at 105 mi/h on the A3 road in Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....
in January 2001. In 2005 Evans crashed his silver 575M Maranello
Ferrari 575M Maranello
The Ferrari 575M Maranello is a two-seat, two-door, grand tourer built by Ferrari. Launched in 2002, it is essentially an updated 550 Maranello featuring minor styling changes from Pininfarina...
into a verge near his then Surrey home. On 18 May 2008, Evans attended RM Auctions/Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
auction in Maranello
Maranello
Maranello is a town and comune in the region of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 16,841 as of 2009. It is best known as the home of Ferrari S.p.A. and the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One racing team...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and bought a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder (formerly owned by US actor James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
) for the world record price of 6.4 Million Euros (including fees, the highest price ever paid for a car at auction). In May 2010, he bought a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
Ferrari 250 GTO
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car which was produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category....
, one of only thirty six 250 GTOs ever built, for £12 million. Reportedly he sold three Ferraris from his collection to pay for it.
In August 2002 Evans was a member of crew aboard the sailing yacht Nausicaa with six other people, when James Ward - landlord of the White Horse in Hascombe
Hascombe
Hascombe is a village in Surrey, England. It contains a cluster of cottages and country estates, St Peter's church, the village green and The White Horse pub, all nestling between wooded hillsides in Surrey, England....
, Surrey, which was then Evans' local - drowned in an accident in the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
. In September 2007, Evans and Shishmanian started helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
lessons at Shoreham Airport
Shoreham Airport
- Sussex Police Air Operations Unit :The Sussex Police Air Operations Unit is headquartered at Shoreham Airport. The unit has been equipped since February 2000 with a MD Explorer, registered as "G-SUSX". The unit is headed by a Police Inspector, assisted by a Police Sergeant and two Police...
, with Evans gaining his helicopter Private Pilots Licence in January 2008, and now owns a Robinson R44
Robinson R44
|-See also:-External links:* * * * * *...
.
He was also the owner of Hascombe Court
Hascombe Court
Hascombe Court is a the estate in Godalming, Surrey, best known for its vast garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll.-Historical Development:In 1906 Robert E A Murray, a descendant of the Duke of Atholl, employed the architect J D Coleridge to build him a house in a woodland clearing on a plateau above...
, a 172 acre (0.69605992 km²) estate in Godalming, Surrey, currently owned by Boris Berezovsky. Presenter Anthea Turner
Anthea Turner
Anthea Millicent Turner is an English television presenter and media personality.-Education:Turner was educated at the independent St. Dominic's High School in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent....
lives with her husband in a house formerly belonging to the estate.
Evans is related to Scottish Rugby international
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
Max Evans and former Scottish Rugby international Thom Evans
Thom Evans
Thom Evans is a former Scottish international rugby union player. He last played on the wingfor Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League. His rugby career ended aged 24 on his 10th appearance for Scotland when he incurred a serious neck injury.-Career:Evans was educated at Wellington College,...
.
Evans is a supporter of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, however he donated £100,000 to Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
's Mayoral campaign as an independent in 2000.
Evans is an Ambassador for The Scout Association
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...
.
Evans is the proud owner of a boat called 'Ginger' moored in Cala D'or, Majorca.
He and Natasha announced on 27th November 2011 that they were expecting their second child.
Television
- TV MayhemTV MayhemTV Mayhem was a replacement of Hey Hey It's Saturday, and aired from September 1991 for just six weeks, it was originally to run for 40 weeks. It starred Chris Evans, later to co-host The Big Breakfast in 1992 on Channel 4...
- ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 1991 - The Big BreakfastThe Big BreakfastThe Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...
- Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, 1992–1994 - Don't Forget Your ToothbrushDon't Forget Your ToothbrushDon't Forget Your Toothbrush is a Saturday night light entertainment show originally broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1994, and has also been adapted in Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the United States, the Netherlands and Portugal...
- Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, 1994–1995 - TFI FridayTFI FridayTFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
- Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, 1996–1999 (show ended in 2000 with weekly guest presenters) - OFI SundayOFI SundayOFI Sunday was an entertainment show hosted by Chris Evans. It aired Sunday's on ITV at 10:30pm. The title stood for "Oh Flip It's Sunday", but as with his previous show TFI Friday, whose title nominally stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", a less innocuous interpretation of the initials, "Oh Fuck...
- ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 2005 - The One ShowThe One ShowThe One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
- BBC 1, August 2010–present (replacement only on Friday) - Famous and FearlessFamous and FearlessFamous and Fearless is a reality television game show series in which 8 celebrities competed in extreme sporting events to win money for their respective chosen charity. It aired in January 2011 on Channel 4 and was presented by Chris Evans and Clare Balding with Jack Osbourne appearing alongside...
- Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
2011
Radio
- Piccadilly Radio, Saturday afternoons & weekday evenings (1986–1987)
- BBC GLR, Saturday afternoons, 3–5 pm (1990)
- BBC GLR, The Greenhouse, Mondays–Thursdays, 7:30–10 pm (1990)
- BBC GLR, Round at Chris's, Saturdays, 10 am–1 pm (1991–1993)
- BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, Too Much Gravy, Sundays, 2:30pm–4 pm (1992) - Virgin RadioVirgin RadioAbsolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
, Saturday mornings, 10 am–1 pm (1993) - BBC Radio 1, Weekday Breakfast Show, 6:30–9 am (1995–1997)
- Virgin Radio, Weekday Breakfast Show, 6–10 am (1997–2001)
- BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, Good Friday afternoon, 2–5 pm (2005) - BBC Radio 2, Easter Monday afternoon, 2–5 pm (2005)
- BBC Radio 2, May Day Bank Holiday, 2–5 pm (2005)
- BBC Radio 2, Whitsun Bank Holiday, 2–5 pm (2005)
- BBC Radio 2, Saturday afternoons, 2–5 pm (2005–2006)
- BBC Radio 2, Weekday Drivetime Show, 5–7 pm (2006–24 December 2009)
- BBC Radio 2, Weekday Breakfast Show, 7:00–9:30 am (11 January 2010-8 October 2010) 6:30-9:30 am (From 11 October 2010)
Books written
To date, Evans has written two autobiographies:- Memoirs of a Fruitcake, also advertised as It's Not About Me: From Billie to Breakfast