Dave Benson Phillips (born 3 February 1965) is a British entertainer, comic, children's

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a " television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

and wrestler, best known for his work presenting ''

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tel ...

'' (1998–2006) and '' The Fun Song Factory'' (1994–1999). He also presented the popular

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7–16 ...

game show ''

Get Your Own Back ''Get Your Own Back'' was a British children's television game show created by Brian Marshall. Each episode staged a contest between teams of children – attempting to score as many points as possible – and their respective adults – attemp ...

'', which he now tours with around the UK.

Career

Benson Phillips became interested in showbusiness while working as an

usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** F ...

at the Polka Children's Theatre in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

, and began his career as an entertainer by busking and performing at children's parties. He subsequently went on to work for

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...

as a Bluecoat, and a Children's Uncle for

Haven Holidays Haven Holidays is a chain of holiday parks in the United Kingdom. It operates self catering static caravan holiday parks with many also including touring and camping facilities. The company operates 41 sites in the UK in predominantly coastal ...

. While working at Haven, a talent scout saw him perform, and he was invited by BBC Manchester to audition for ''Play School''. His audition was successful, but the show was pulled out of production shortly after he signed the contract; however, it was recommissioned as ''Playbus'' (later renamed to ''

Playdays ''Playdays'' (known as ''Playbus'' until December 1989) is a British pre-school television programme which ran from 1988 to 1997 on CBBC. The show was the successor to '' Play School'' and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational p ...

''), which ran for nine years. In 1991, he was given his own show, ''Get Your Own Back'', which was shown 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, ...

(and later CBBC) between 1991 and 2003, and was a game show consisting of one child contestant and an adult (such as a relative or teacher) who, in the child's eyes, had done something unreasonable, and for which the child wanted revenge. In 1999, the show was nominated for a BAFTA. In 1996, he was given his own show on ITV, ''

Wake Up in the Wild Room The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV. GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Frida ...

''. Phillips operates ''Chester Benson Productions'', a production company which provides entertainment, removals and transportation services, and offers inflatables for hire, such as bouncy castles. Since May 2012, he annually co-hosts Let's Rock The Moor! alongside fellow broadcaster

Pat Sharp Patrick Sharpin, known professionally as Pat Sharp (born 25 October 1961), is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. In the UK, he is known mainly for his work on the children's ITV programme '' Fun House'', and his extens ...

. During the summer, he appeared as a panelist on ''

Big Brother's Bit on the Side This is a complete list of shows about and relating to ''Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily sho ...

'' on Channel 5.''Big Brother's Bit on the Side'' Series 4, Endemol UK, Channel 5. In 2013, Phillips made a guest appearance in ''

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

''. Phillips plays himself in an award-winning mockumentary webseries called ''Getting Back with Dave Benson Phillips'' which began in 2017. The series by Andrew River was invited to showcase at

MCM London Comic Con The MCM London Comic Con (formerly known as the London Movies, Comics, and Media Expo and London MCM Expo) is a speculative fiction fan convention held in the London Borough of Newham twice yearly since 2002, usually on the last weekend in May ...

and the cast includes Pat Sharp and

Ewen MacIntosh Ewen Douglas MacIntosh (born 25 December 1973) is a British actor and comedian known for his role as Keith Bishop in ''The Office'' (2001–2003). Early life MacIntosh was born in Merionethshire. He was educated at Repton School in Derbyshire, ...

. The series and spin off ''In Production'' are available to watch on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. He has most recently been seen working as a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, after having also done so whilst working as a blue coat at Pontins.

Death hoax and other online attacks

In 2009, Benson Phillips was the victim of a death hoax perpetrated across the internet which maintained that he had died in a car crash. There were other false rumours that he was presenting on a

soft porn Softcore pornography or softcore porn, is commercial still photography or film that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. Softc ...

TV sex line, and that he was no longer being hired because he had suffered a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. In 2017 Phillips spoke with the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on an inquiry into fake news.

Filmography

*''A CBeebies Christmas Carol'' *''

'' *''Bitesize'' (Himself) *''Bad Robots'' *''Cats' Eyes'' *''CBBC's Proms in the Park'' *''

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 ...

'' * '' Come Dine with Me'' (Himself) * ''Da Bungalow Clips’ 2021 Christmas Day Video Message'' *''

Dream Street Dream Street were an American pop music, pop boy band that was formed in 1999 by Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow. The band disbanded in 2002 following a legal dispute between parents of the band members and the band's managers. History The ...

'' *''

Fun Song Factory Fun Song Factory is a British preschool children's television series. It was originally created in 1994 by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan, who at the time, were part of the '' Playdays'' production team. The series was produced through their st ...

'' *''

'' *''Getting Back with Dave Benson Phillips'' *'' Go For It!'' *''Is That A Fact?'' *''Jack in the Box'' *''The Legend of Nic and Joe'' *''

Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...

'' *'' Petswap'' *''Planet Cook'' *''

'' *'' Playhouse Disney UK'' (Presenter) *''Q & A'' *''Rat Kan II'' *''

'' *''

'' *'' Words & Pictures –

The Gruffalo ''The Gruffalo'' is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Its tells the story of a mouse taking a walk in the woods and deceiving different predators, including the Gruffalo. ''The Gruf ...

Story''

VHS videos and DVDs

*''A Day Full Of Surprises and Songs'' – Presenter *Bourne Leisure Health and Safety Film *''Dave and the Animals;;'' *''First Bible Stories'' *''

'' *'' Get Up and Go!'' *''

'' *

Makaton Makaton is a communication tool together with speech and symbols, to enable people with disabilities or learning disabilities to communicate. It is not a British Sign Language (BSL) or any form of Sign Language in its own right. Makaton supports ...

Nursery Rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

My Favourite Nursery Rhymes My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Mar ...

*''

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

–

The Enormous Crocodile ''The Enormous Crocodile'' is the title character in a British 1978 children's story, written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The story was adapted into a '90s TV special. Synopsis The story begins in Africa in a big, deep, mudd ...

'' – Narrator *''The Magical World of Animals'' *''Wiz Waz's World of 123'' *''Wiz Waz's World of ABC'' *''Wiz Waz's World Nursery Rhymes'' *''Wiz Waz's World of Starting School'' *''Wow! That's What I Call Nursery Rhymes''

Video games

*'' Smarties: Meltdown'' (2006) – Voice of "Big Blue"

References

External links

Dave Benson Phillips' website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Dave Benson 1965 births Living people BBC television presenters Black British television personalities British children's entertainers British game show hosts GMTV presenters and reporters Place of birth missing (living people)