Nicky Clarke (born 17 June 1958) is an English

hair stylist A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...

and

media personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. He initially became famous for styling the hair of various celebrities on several television shows, before earning fame in his own right.

Career

Clarke's interest in hairdressing began when he was a teenager. He started off giving his friends and classmates trims before styling professionally aged just 16. When Clarke was 17, he had his first

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

shoot in 1976 and soon after founded his first salon with

John Frieda John Frieda (born Alan Howard Frieda, 9 July 1951) is a British celebrity hairstylist and founder of hair salon and hair product businesses. The hair product business was acquired in 2002 by Kao Corporation, Japan. Early life Frieda was born in ...

Marylebone Road Marylebone Road ( ) is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east–west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington. The road which runs in three lanes in both direction ...

. In the 1990s, he founded his business with his then girlfriend Lesley turning a £20,000 loan into a successful enterprise. He announced the closure of the salon in April 2022. He has appeared on several TV shows. In 2002, Clarke was a guest panelist on

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

's team for an episode of Shooting Stars; his team went on to win that episode. Clarke was also a member of "Team Dec" in ''

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway ''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), and b ...

''. He appeared on '' Celebrity Come Dine with Me'' on

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 ...

on 14 November 2008 and as a judge on the final of ''

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 ...

''. In 2011, he took part in

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series ''

71 Degrees North ''71 Degrees North'' is an English-language and Norwegian-produced reality television series on ITV which began broadcasting on 11 September 2010. Ten celebrities had to battle it out to see who would make it to the 71st parallel north, with cha ...

'' but was the first to be eliminated. In January 2014, he took part in the

series '' The Jump''. In 2016, he was a contestant on ''

Pointless Celebrities ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to ...

'', the celebrity edition of the British quiz show ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to ...

'', with fellow celebrity hairstylist

Lee Stafford Lee Stafford (born 17 October 1966) is an English celebrity hairdresser. Biography Stafford was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, and is of Jewish ancestry on his mother's side. He opened his hair salon, ''The House That Hair Built'', in 1984, in L ...

. Clarke received an OBE in February 2008, awarded for 30 years service to the hair-styling industry.

Personal life

Clarke grew up in a working-class family and lived in a council flat in London. His mother was a Greek immigrant who met his father when he was stationed in Greece during the war. In the 1980s, Clarke suffered from a heroin addiction which nearly cost him his life. His then girlfriend, Lesley, gave him an ultimatum of kicking him out or calling the police if he didn't get off the drugs, prompting him to seek help. Clarke said "It’s my biggest regret, and it horrifies me even now, but I have been in rehab for heroin addiction. It was a very short period of my life and I went in with a small but regular heroin habit that I had for a year. I am sickened when I look back." Nicky and Lesley have two children but the couple split in 1997 when Nicky had an affair. The pair remain close and continued to work together as business partners. In 2021, Clarke married his long-term partner Kelly Simpkin who he met in 2010 when she was a stylist working for him. The couple have two children together.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Nicky People educated at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School, Lambeth British hairdressers Living people British people of Greek descent 1958 births Officers of the Order of the British Empire