- Presenters & Awards Hosts
Topics:
- TV/Radio Presenter
Jonathan Ross
A multi award-winning TV and radio presenter, JONATHAN ROSS has rarely been off our screens and has won the prestigious BAFTA Entertainment Performance Award. An after dinner speaker he is not but, with his charismatic personality, gift of the gab and inimitable style, Jonathan Ross is a dynamic corporate conference host or awards presenter.
Television
Jonathan Ross's first job in television was at RPM Productions as a researcher. He met another young and keen researcher, Alan Marke. They struck up a creative partnership and together came up with the working idea for what would later be called The Last Resort.
Finding themselves short of a satisfactory host, Jonathan stepped in, literally as 'the last resort', and made his television presenting debut in January 1987. The show was a hit and broke the mould of the traditional TV chat show in this country. Tonight With Jonathan Ross was born in 1991 on BBC1. This led to Michael Grade commissioning the three-night-a-week chat show for Channel 4. At the end of 1995, Jonathan signed a two-year deal with ITV to host a variety of shows including one series of the chat show The Late Jonathan Ross (1996); a series of one-off entertainment shows called In Search Of... and The Big Big Talent Show (1996-1997).
1999 saw Jonathan become Barry Norman's successor with the BBC1 flagship show Film 99, which he continues to this day. Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, hit the small screens in 2001 on the BBC, big name guests have included Paul McCartney, Elton John, Liza Minelli and Jack Dee. Acoustic performances from top musical artists have included Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Stereophonics. His resident band are 4 Poofs & a Piano.
1991 was the first year that Jonathan compered the prestigious British Comedy Awards for the ITV network, an annual engagement that he has now made his own, having hosted it every year since .Jonathan has also hosted the film BAFTAS for the BBC.
Radio
Jonathan's radio career began in back 1987 when he filled in for Janice Long on Radio 1 for two weeks. He then went on to host a flagship show on Richard Branson's first radio station, Radio (the forerunner to Virgin Radio), in 1988. In 1998, Jonathan teamed up with Chris Evans again to host a flagship show for the new-look Virgin Radio, The Jonathan Ross Show - a mixture of 'chat, hijinks and general japery'. 1999 saw Jonathan join BBC Radio 2 to host his own show on Saturday mornings, The Jonathan Ross Show. Now with over 3 million listeners, Jonathan's award-winning show has won numerous awards including multiple Sony Awards and a Television and Radio Industry Club Award.
