Alex Zane (born Faris Alexander L. Albayaty; 3 March 1979) is a British television presenter and DJ.
Early and personal life
Zane was born in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and attended
Boston Spa School
Boston Spa Academy (formerly Boston Spa Comprehensive School) is a coeducational secondary school for pupils aged 11–19 years old on Clifford Moor Road in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, England. It is larger than other secondary schools i ...
before going on to study Medicine at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
,
a course which he left after a year, and then Media and Communications at
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
.
His father is an academic based in
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
and his mother a charity worker from Leeds, though a March 2014 interview with the ''
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' reports that "Wikipedia has Zane's real name as Faris Alexander L Albayaty but when I email asking him to clarify this and some other family details his responses are prompt, polite and discreetly uninformative".
He bought a house in
Highgate
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...
in 2005, having previously rented in the area. In June 2018, it was reported that he was engaged to Nettie Wakefield following a "whirlwind year-long romance".
Stand-up comedy and radio
Zane began his career at the age of 18 when he became a finalist on an open-mic competition called ''So You Think You're Funny''. He moved to London to concentrate on his career, and before leaving medical school, he presented "The Alex Zane Show" on
UCL's student radio station
Rare FM
Rare FM is the student radio station of University College London.
Background
Rare FM was set up in 1998 as an affiliated society of UCL Union. Rare FM broadcasts continuously over the Internet with approximately 15 hours of live original prog ...
. He also presented on
Wired FM, which led to his own show on London
alternative/Indie station
Xfm. His radio show was heard by
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
producers, who subsequently signed him up to present shows such as ''Screenplay'' and ''
TRL TRL or trl may refer to:
Arts
* Temporary Residence Limited, a record label
* ''Total Request Live'', a former MTV show
* TRL Awards (''Total Request Live''), an Italian music award
Libraries
* Tampines Regional Library, a regional library in Ta ...
''. From April 2007 to April 2009 he presented the weekday breakfast show on Xfm.
Zane left Xfm in April 2009, with the station stating that his sudden departure was by "mutual agreement" following a disagreement over a controversial self-created song by Zane.
In April 2010 it was announced Alex would jointly present a Friday evening radio show on
NME Radio with the creator of the indie club night Propaganda, DJ Dan. The Show launched 30 April and has a 6pm-8pm time slot. The show is presented live and blends Alex and DJ Dan's taste in music with the NME Radio playlist. In 2010 Alex performed at the Edinburgh Festival with his stand-up show 'Just One More Thing...'.
Television presenting
In 2006 Zane was signed by
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 ...
under an exclusive contract. He co-presented ''
Popworld
''Popworld'' is a British television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 as part of the T4 strand, featuring pop news, trivia, gossip, interviews and music videos, as well as musical performances from contemporary artists.
The show began ...
'' and the accompanying Popworld Radio
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
with
Alexa Chung
Alexa Chung (born 5 November 1983) is a British television presenter, model, internet personality, writer, and fashion designer. She wrote the book ''It'' (2013). Her fashion label Alexa Chung, stylized , launched in May 2017 and closed in 2022. ...
until the programme ended in July 2007. He has narrated an
E4 television show, ''
Princess Nikki'', and made appearances on Channel 4 entertainment programmes such as ''The Law of the Playground'', ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Balls of Steel''. He presented E4's coverage of Channel 4's hoax reality show ''
Space Cadets'',
as well as
Death Wish Live
''Death Wish Live'' was a week of live shows from Channel 4 showcasing stunts for entertainment. The five nights each featured a particular artiste; Jonathan Goodwin, The Pain Men, Zamora The Torture King, Pyro Boy
Pyro Boy (born Wally Glenn) ...
, the
BT Digital Music Awards
The BT Digital Music Awards (DMA) was a British music award ceremony held annually for 10 years from 2002 to 2011 (with no ceremony in 2009). Music industry professionals nominated artists, venues and hardware into the Judge's Choice award categor ...
in 2005 and 2006 and Carling Live 24. He has also presented television coverage of several large scale music events, including the
V Festival, and the
Wireless Festival
The Wireless Festival is a rap and urban music festival that takes place every year in London, England. It is owned and managed by Live Nation. While it started as primarily a rock and pop festival, in recent years it has focused on hip hop and ...
in London's
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
and more recently
Orange Unsigned Act. He presented ''
Celebrity Scissorhands
''Celebrity Scissorhands'' is a reality television show that is part of the BBC's '' Children in Need'' charity campaign, in which celebrities attempt to cut people's hair to raise money for the campaign while trained and watched by professional ...
'' first on
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
, then on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
, as part of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
charity campaign in November 2006.
'', four times (February 2008, January 2009, January 2010 and October to November 2010). Zane also co-presented the
. He has done promotional presenting work wit
''.
In July 2009, he co-hosted ''Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: A T4 Special'' with
''.
Between 2008 and 2011 Zane also hosted a film show, Alex Zane's Guest List, on
.
). He also presents some shows on
. He has been the film reviewer for ''
'' newspaper since November 2009.
''Clash of the Titles'', along with Chris Tilly and Vicky Crompton.