Alexander James Brooker (born 15 May 1984) is an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and presenter best known for his television work with

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. Since 2012, Brooker has co-hosted ''

The Last Leg ''The Last Leg'' (known during its first series as ''The Last Leg with Adam Hills'' and in Australia as ''Adam Hills: The Last Leg'') is a British comedy and late-night television talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Pa ...

'', a

panel show with

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show ''Adam Hi ...

and

Josh Widdicombe Joshua Michael Widdicombe (; born 8 April 1983) is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on '' The Last Leg'' (2012–present), ''Fighting Talk'' (2014–2016), '' Insert Name Here'' (2016–2019), ''Mock ...

as well as co-presenting

ski jumping show '' The Jump'' with

Davina McCall Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She was the presenter of the reality show ''Big Brother (UK), Big Brother'' during its run on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2010. She also hosted Channel 4's '' ...

in 2014. In 2016, he began presenting ''The Superhumans Show'' for

daytime. In February 2018 Brooker signed with

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

' Foundation PDRL (Physical Disability Rugby League) team.

Career

Brooker went to the

Norton Knatchbull School The Norton Knatchbull School is a grammar school with academy status for boys located in Ashford, Kent, England. Girls are accepted into the Sixth Form. As of 2017, the school serves more than one thousand pupils aged 11 to 18. History The s ...

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the ...

, before graduating from Liverpool John Moores University in 2006 and worked as a sports reporter on the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

''. He now works for the Press Association. Brooker entered

's ''Half a Million Quid Talent Search'' in 2012, which aimed to find disabled talent for coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games and beyond. He first appeared as a trackside reporter on Channel 4's coverage of the 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup. Brooker interviewed the likes of

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

and David Cameron during the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony and was a co-host on '' The Last Leg with Adam Hills'', a nightly alternative look at the Games. Brooker was also on ''The Last Leg of the Year'', an end of year special with

and

. Since 25 January 2013, Brooker has been a co-host on ''

'' on

. In February 2015 Brooker interviewed

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

for the programme: his performance was described by political journalist

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. A columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005, he began presenting a Saturday morning programme on Times Radio in July 2020. He has been a regular guest on ''The News Quiz'', on BBC Rad ...

as "a model of how to talk normally to a politician – and make them talk normally back". On 1 August 2013, Brooker hosted a one-off documentary about

body image Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...

on Channel 4, titled ''Alex Brooker: My Perfect Body''. In January and February 2014, Brooker co-presented the first series of celebrity reality show '' The Jump'' on

opposite

. The series was broadcast live over ten nights from a mountainside in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. However, Brooker did not return for the second series in 2015. In 2016, he presented ''The Superhumans Show'' on

. In May 2022 the BBC announced that Brooker would be one of the guest presenters to take over

Richard Osman Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, novelist and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show '' Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz sh ...

's role on

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers t ...

Personal life

Brooker was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. He was born with hand and arm differences and a twisted right leg which had to be amputated when he was a baby. He now wears a

prosthetic leg In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

. In 2014 Brooker married

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

Lynsey, and the couple have two daughters. Brooker is a supporter of Arsenal F.C., appearing regularly on the '' Footballistically Arsenal'' podcast.

Charity

In May 2014, Brooker fronted a campaign called "End The Awkward" by disability charity

Scope Scope or scopes may refer to: People with the surname * Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer * John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution Arts, media, and entertainment * Cinem ...

, which used comedy to shine a light on the awkwardness that many people feel about disability. Brooker appeared in three advertisements guiding viewers through awkward situations that they may encounter with a disabled person. In September 2012, Brooker won ''

The Million Pound Drop Live ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' with

playing for Echoes Foundation, Scope Joseph's Goal. Brooker is the official ambassador of UK based charity Legs4Africa.

Filmography

;Television *''Half a Million Quid Talent Search'' (2012) *''

'' (2012–) *''Alex Brooker: My Perfect Body'' (2013) *'' The Jump'' (2014) *''The Superhumans Show'' (2016–) *''The NHS: A People's History'' (2018) *''Very British Problems'' (2018) *''Alex Brooker: Disability and Me'' (2020) *''One Night In'' (2021) *''Hobby Man'' (2022) ;Guest appearances *''

'' (September 2012) – Contestant with

*'' Alan Carr's Grand National Specstacular'' (19 March 2013) – Guest *''

Sunday Brunch ''Sunday Brunch'' is a British television programme presented by Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer. It is broadcast live on Channel 4 on Sunday mornings and features cookery and interviews with celebrity guests. Format The programme began on 25 ...

'' (28 July 2013) – Guest *''

Celebrity Fifteen to One ''Celebrity Fifteen to One'' is a celebrity version of the Channel 4 game show '' Fifteen to One''. William G. Stewart presented the first two episodes, which were Christmas specials that aired on 27 December 1990 and 30 December 1992. Adam Hil ...

'' (20 September 2013, 13 June 2014) – Contestant *''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...

'' (18 October 2013, 8 November 2013, 14 April 2014, 4 November 2014, 27 June 2017, 15 April 2019) – Panellist *''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'' (18 November 2013, 14 October 2014) – Guest *''

Fake Reaction ''Fake Reaction'' is a British television comedy panel game shown on ITV2 that ran for two series from 3 January 2013 to 6 March 2014 presented by Matt Edmondson with regular team captains Joe Swash and Ellie Taylor. Production A pilot editi ...

'' (23 January 2014) – Panellist *'' Virtually Famous'' (4 August 2014) – Panellist *''

Celebrity Juice ''Celebrity Juice'' is a British television comedy panel game on ITV2, broadcast since 24 September 2008. The show is written and presented by Leigh Francis in the role of his alter ego Keith Lemon, and its current team captains Laura Whitmore ...

'' (11 September 2014) – Guest *'' The Chase: Celebrity Special'' (20 September 2014) – Contestant *''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show '' Hollywood Squares''. It first ran from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Monkhouse—from 8 Ja ...

'' (15 October 2014) – Guest *'' The Apprentice: You're Fired!'' (5 November 2014) – Panellist *''

Britain's Got More Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

'' (28 May 2015) – Panellist *''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of ''Countdown'', but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'' (28 August 2015) – Panelist *'' Celebrity Benchmark'' (23 October 2015) – Contestant, won £6,000 for charity *''

All Star Mr & Mrs ''All Star Mr & Mrs'' is a British television show which first began airing on 12 April 2008 on ITV. It is a celebrity revival of the original '' Mr and Mrs'' that aired on ITV from 1968 to 1988 with two separate revivals in 1995–1996 and 1 ...

'' (25 November 2015) – Contestant *'' Would I Lie to You?'' (13 January 2016) – Contestant *''

'' (6 March 2016) *''

Duck Quacks Don't Echo ''Duck Quacks Don't Echo'' is a British television comedy panel game show that aired on Sky1 from 7 February 2014 to 12 October 2017. It was hosted by Lee Mack. Rounds Each episode has three rounds. * Fact Off - The three guests reveal their ...

'' *'' Very British Problems'' (2015–2016) – interviewee *'' John Bishop: In Conversation With...'' (2016) – Interviewee (Series 1 Episode 4) * ''Alex Brooker: Disability and me'' (2020) – Presenter *'' Tipping Point: Lucky Stars (11 October 2020) – Contestant *''

Richard Osman's House of Games ''Richard Osman's House of Games'' is a British quiz show produced by Banijay (owners of Endemol Shine UK), a branch of Remarkable Television for the BBC. The show is hosted by Richard Osman. It is played on a weekly basis, with four "celebri ...

'' (11–15 January 2021) – Contestant *''Redknapp's Big Night Out'' (27 May 2021) – Guest *''Big Zuu's Big Eats'' (25 July 2022) – Guest

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooker, Alex 1984 births Living people Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Channel 4 people Comedians from London Television presenters with disabilities English amputees English journalists English people with disabilities English satirists English television presenters People educated at The Norton Knatchbull School People from Croydon