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 garner ...

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 Te ...

'' (1998–2006) and ''

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 ...

'' (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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

game show '' Get Your Own Back'', 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 ** Fiel ...

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 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 (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

(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''. 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! Let's Rock is an annual family-friendly, 1980s in music, 1980s-oriented music festival held throughout the United Kingdom. Since the first festival in 2009, it has grown every year to become the UK's largest festival for 1980s music, expanding t ...

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 extensi ...

. 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 sh ...

'' 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''. 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 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 Derbyshir ...

. 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 most ...

. 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 or ...

, 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 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 remitt ...

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

Dream Street Dream Street were an American 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 group was ...

'' *'' Fun Song Factory'' *'' Get Your Own Back'' *''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.'' *'' Petswap'' *''Planet Cook'' *''

'' *'' Playhouse Disney UK'' (Presenter) *''Q & A'' *''Rat Kan II'' *'' Sooty'' *'' Wake Up in the Wild Room'' *'' 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 G ...

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'' *'' Fun Song Factory'' *''

Get Up and Go! Get or GET may refer to: * Get (animal), the offspring of an animal * Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law * GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request * "Get" (song), by the Groggers * Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia * Get AS ...

'' *'' Get Your Own Back'' * Makaton

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 *''

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 b ...

– The Enormous Crocodile'' – 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)