Dylan Thomas Lewis (also known as DiRK ViLE) is an Australian television and radio host.

Biography

Early life

Lewis was educated at Caulfield Grammar School and graduated in 1990; he then studied a Bachelor of Education in Drama and Music degree at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

John Bannon John Charles Bannon (7 May 1943 – 13 December 2015) was an Australian politician and academic. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition ba ...

, former South Australian premier, was Lewis's stepfather.

Career

Television

Lewis has undertaken several roles hosting and presenting for numerous Australian music programs; his quick rise to fame started was while he was a host on ABC TV's national Saturday-morning live music show ''

Recovery Recovery or Recover may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Recovery'' (novel), a Star Wars e-book * Recovery Version, a translation of the Bible with footnotes published by Living Stream Ministry Film and television * ''Recovery'' (fil ...

'' (from 1996 until the show's run finished in April 2000). The year 2000 saw Lewis presenting a national television program, '' The 10:30 Slot'', and ''

Pepsi Live The Pepsi Chart (later known as Pepsi Live) was a music show on Network Ten that consisted of live performances both from Sydney, Australia and London, United Kingdom. Each show would end up with a look at the top 10 singles in Australia. Or ...

'', a

music chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

television program. Lewis won ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' in 2002 and was a contestant on '' Celebrity Circus'' in 2005. In 2010, he was appointed host of '' Video Hits'' on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. He stayed on the show until its cancellation in mid-2011. In January 2022, Lewis won the eighth season of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''.

Radio

In September 2006, Lewis signed with

Nova 100 Nova 100 (call sign: 3MEL) is a commercial radio station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, broadcasting on 100.3 MHz. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 91.5. History Nova 100 commenced on th ...

where he was music presenter in mornings for four years then moved to afternoons until November 2012. , he co-hosted the Lewis & Lowe breakfast show on Nova 91.9 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

with

Shane Lowe Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a sur ...

, later joined by, then replaced by

Hayley Pearson Hayley (pronounced ) is an English given name. It is derived from the English surname Haley, which in turn was based on an Old English toponym, a compound of ''heg'' "hay" and ''leah'' "clearing or meadow".Katie Martin-Doyle, ''The Treasury of ...

as the Dylan & Hayley breakfast show (until 2019). He previously worked as a radio announcer for the

Austereo Network The Hit Network is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 41 radio stations broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format, as well as 6 digital radio stations. Histo ...

and

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

. He has won three

Australian Commercial Radio Awards The Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs), previously known as the rAWARDS, are an Australian award ceremony held to recognise outstanding achievements in the radio industry. They were first held in 1989, and recognise excellence in all area ...

(ACRAs): "Best Newcomer" in 2007, "Best Music Personality" in 2009 and most recently for "Best Music Presenter" in 2012. In 2020, Lewis re-joined the ABC hosted the weekend Double J mornings until the end of 2021.

Music

Lewis was the lead vocalist and played

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

for funk/

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band The Brown Hornet, and was later involved in a hip-hop project under the name Megabias. More recently, he has sung in a Melbourne-based group called Manchoir and the children's ban
The Haploids

Film

Lewis had a role in the Australian film ''The Real Thing'' (2002), and has played the lead role in three short films: ''Like It Is'', ''Ray'' (2004) and ''The Postman'' (2007). He was also an extra in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones''. He has a cameo in the Australian film "

EMO the Musical ''Emo the Musical'' is a feature film written and directed by Neil Triffett. It is also the title of a 2014 short film, also directed by Triffett, upon which the feature is based. Short The 16-minute short film stars Harry Borland as a sullen high ...

" (2016) as Doug Skeleton.

Personal life

Lewis is married to Hollie, with whom he has a daughter and son. Lewis had a brother, Quinn, three years younger, who died in 2006.

References

External links

* *
Lewis & Lowe
at Nova 919 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Dylan People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Living people University of Melbourne alumni Big Brother (Australian TV series) contestants Reality show winners Australian music critics Australian music journalists 1973 births Big Brother (franchise) winners I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Australian TV series) participants