Nicki Chapman

Nicola Chapman, known professionally as Nicki Chapman (born 14 January 1967) is an English television & radio presenter, talent show judge and public relations agent who previously worked in the British pop music industry.

Chapman was a judge on the ITV reality shows ''Popstars'', with Nigel Lythgoe and Paul Adam, and ''Pop Idol'', along with Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and Neil Fox. She currently hosts ''Wanted Down Under'', ''Escape to the Country'' and its spin-offs ''I Escaped to the Country'', and ''Escape to the Continent'' as well as '' The RHS Chelsea Flower Show''. She regularly presents on BBC Radio 2 as a stand-in presenter.

Early life

Chapman was born in Herne Bay in Kent on 14 January 1967. Her mother was a housewife and her father worked for Rank Xerox.

Career

Chapman worked her way up in the music industry from being Promotions Assistant at MCA records at the age of 21. She later worked at RCA as Head of Promotions where she first met Simon Cowell. She applied for the promotions job and the next day, called and said: "I need to know if you want me, I've been offered another job, but this is the one I really want." Up until the end of 2000 she was a joint partner in the Brilliant! PR company with Nick Godwyn. They managed Billie Piper and Amy Winehouse as well as representing, among others, the Spice Girls, Kylie Minogue, Charlotte Church, Take That, David Bowie, Van Morrison and Phil Collins as well as the PR for the Brit Awards and ''The Big Breakfast''. Having met and worked with Simon Fuller in the 1990s she joined his management company 19 Entertainment in January 2001 as Creative Director, working with acts including Annie Lennox, Will Young, S Club 7 and the Spice Girls.

Chapman rose to fame as a judge on the ITV television series ''Popstars'' and ''Pop Idol'', together with Nigel Lythgoe and Paul Adam (on ''Popstars''), Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and Dr Fox (on ''Pop Idol''). ''Pop Idol'' was the top rated TV show in the UK for 2001 and 2003 making Chapman a household name. Chapman was known in particular for her compassionate nature towards contestants on the shows, in contrast to many talent shows of the present day. She once claimed that "What I think and what I say have to be different because people don't need to hear my honest thoughts, you can let them down a lot more gently and it takes a lot of courage to stand up there and do an audition".

She currently works as a presenter and has fronted a number of lifestyle and current affairs programmes for the BBC
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