Alan Dedicoat (born 1 December 1954) is an English announcer for programmes on
BBC One. He is known as the "Voice of the Balls" on the
National Lottery programmes, providing a voiceover for the draws since 1995.
He was a
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
newsreader until his retirement from this role in March 2015. Dedicoat is the announcer on
BBC One's ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
'' and its American version, ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
''.
Early life
Dedicoat was born on 1 December 1954 in
Hollywood, Worcestershire.
The son of a
newsagent, Dedicoat was educated at
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in
Birmingham, and the
University of Birmingham.
Dedicoat originally worked in the
Civil Service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
as an Executive Officer, before joining the
BBC.
Career
Radio
Dedicoat joined
BBC Radio WM
BBC Radio WM is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the West Midlands conurbation, West Midlands.
It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The M ...
at
Pebble Mill in 1979 as a presenter, before moving to
BBC Radio Devon four years later. After working in the
West Country, he moved to London to join the Presentation Department of
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
in 1986 at
Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The main ...
,
and later became its head, a position he retained until his retirement in 2015. As part of this job, he read the news on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
's weekday breakfast programme, ''
Wake Up to Wogan'', until its final edition in December 2009. He also performed this role on
Sarah Kennedy's show, until she left the station in August 2010. He then became the newsreader for
Vanessa Feltz in January 2011, but following a reshuffle of newsreaders in September 2012, his final shift was reading the news on weekdays between 10am and 5pm. He was also the voice of Radio 2's "emergency CD" (played when there is a fire alarm or other unforeseen break in programming) and their multiple choice automatic phone menu.
After 28 years at the station, Dedicoat's final news bulletin on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
was at 5pm on Friday 27 March 2015, as he retired from Radio 2 broadcasting. It was as part of ''Wake Up to Wogan'' that Dedicoat acquired the nickname "Voice of the Balls" from presenter Sir
Terry Wogan;
he was also called "The Wealdstone WeatherBoy" due to
Wealdstone's close proximity to
Harrow
Harrow may refer to:
Places
* Harrow, Victoria, Australia
* Harrow, Ontario, Canada
* The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland
* London Borough of Harrow, England
** Harrow, London, a town in London
** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency)
...
, where Dedicoat lives. In 2017, he joined
Bauer Radio's digital station Mellow Magic, as the breakfast show newsreader for his former ''Wake Up To Wogan'' colleague
Fran Godfrey
Frances Helen Godfrey (born 29 June 1953) is a former BBC Radio 2 newsreader, most famous for her appearances on ''Wake Up to Wogan'', a long-running breakfast show in the United Kingdom.''Mustn't Grumble'', by Sir Terry Wogan (2006) () Godfrey be ...
.
Television
In 1994, the
National Lottery and its
draw programmes were launched on BBC Television. The following year, Dedicoat began working as the show's announcer.
He also takes part in the
BBC's telethons, such as ''
Children in Need'', announcing the totals at certain intervals. Dedicoat voices previews and the voice-overs in ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
'' on
BBC One. In 2005, he became the announcer for ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'', the American version of ''Strictly Come Dancing'', which broadcasts annually on
ABC. Since 2009, he has been the voice-over for the
CBBC show ''
Copycats
''Copycats'' is a children's game show which aired on CBBC and was presented by double act Sam & Mark (Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes). It involved two teams of friends and family, each of six contestants, battling against each other in a series of ...
''. In the late 1980s and 1990s, he was a regular voiceover artist for trailers on BBC Television.
Controversy
In 2015, a recording of Dedicoat was obtained by
''The Sun'' newspaper, in which he allegedly claimed that the BBC allowed a "drug peddler" to deliver
Class A substances to the desks of staff. He subsequently apologised and retracted his comments.
Other work
Dedicoat is also an
after dinner speaker
Individual events in speech include public speaking, limited preparation, and acting and interpretation and are a part of forensics competitions. These events do not include the several different forms of debate offered by many tournaments. These ...
.
Personal life
Dedicoat is the co-owner of multiple examples of the
AEC Routemaster (the best-known London red bus) with fellow broadcasters
Charles Nove,
Ken Bruce and Steve Madden. He is Patron of the
Hospital Broadcasting Association, and has taken part in the National Hospital Radio Awards, both as the voiceover and in person. In addition, Dedicoat is the President of Hospital Radio Bedside, a hospital radio station broadcasting to hospitals in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
,
Poole
Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...
,
Christchurch and
Wimborne in the UK.
Dedicoat lives in
Harrow on the Hill, London.
References
External links
*
BBC Radio 2 biographyBBC Radio News Biography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dedicoat, Alan
1954 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
English television presenters
People educated at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys
People from Bromsgrove District
Radio and television announcers
BBC Radio 2 presenters