Paul Ballard (born 9 March 1982 in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England) is an English television presenter and stage actor best known by his nickname 'Des' as the co-presenter, along with

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', a ...

, of the Saturday morning children's television programme ''

Diggit 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 ...

'' from 1998 until 2002. He left ''Diggit'' shortly before its relaunch into ''Diggin' It''. In August 2021, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for causing the death of two people by dangerous driving. In October that year, he was given a consecutive sentence of ten years in prison for rape, threats to kill and related crimes.

Career

Ballard made his TV debut in 1995, playing a

trick or treater Trick(s) may refer to: People * Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player * Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player * David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...

who beat up

Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...

and

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series '' The Young Ones'' (1 ...

in the ''

Bottom Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant * Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM * Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...

'' episode " Terror". He was next seen as co-presenter of the ''

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Club'' in the mid 1990s. After a change in the show's format, he presented a new Sunday morning slot called ''Roadhog'' where he would take a Volkswagen Camper Van, decorated with ears and orange spots, on the road to viewers homes and schools. He appeared on a one off Daz washing powder TV advertisement, with his older sister. It featured him winning something out of a toy grabbing machine, and his mother criticising him for wasting money. He also continued his association with the ''Disney Club'' which too had changed format and was now presented by

Craig Doyle Craig Doyle (born 17 December 1970, Dublin) is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV and more recently BT Sport. Irish viewers also know him as the host of RTÉ One cha ...

, the twins, Sam and Matt and

Reggie Yates Reginald (Reggie) Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has worked at the BBC in ra ...

(known as Robbie on Disney Club) between 1995–1998. In April 1998, Ballard and

launched a new interactive Disney slot as part of GMTV called ''Diggit''. He continued with the show through until 2002 with a number of co-presenters including Jack Stratton, winner of a second nationwide search for a new presenter in December 1998, and Laura Jaye and Victoria Hickson, who replaced Fearne Cotton in 2001. Ballard also starred as Smee in a stage production of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

'' at the Central Theatre in Kent in 2001. Ballard's last TV appearance in 2001 led viewers years later to wonder what he was doing now; in an interview his former colleague Fearne Cotton admitted she wanted to know where Ballard was now as they had lost touch.

Personal life

In 2020, Ballard was living in Theydon Bois; on 20 February that year he caused an eight car pile-up in Essex, which resulted in the death of two people. On 14 July 2021, he appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink from

HMP Belmarsh His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a Category-A men's prison in Thamesmead, south-east London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds there is a unique unit ca ...

, and pleaded guilty to two charges of

causing death by dangerous driving Causing death by dangerous driving is a statutory offence in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is an aggravated form of dangerous driving. It is currently created by section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (as substituted by the ...

. He was sentenced in August that year to nine years in jail. On 30 July 2021, Ballard was found guilty of rape, attempted rape, assault, criminal damage and threats to kill, after an incident at a hotel in

Hatfield Heath Hatfield Heath is a village, civil parish, and an electoral ward in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, and at its west is close to the border with Hertfordshire. In close proximity are the towns of Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgewo ...

in September 2020. He had contested the charges but was found guilty by a jury at

Chelmsford Crown Court Chemsford Crown Court is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, in New Street, Chelmsford, England. History Until the early 1980s, all criminal court hearings in Chelmsford were held in the Shire Hall on the north side of Tinda ...

following two hours of deliberations, with police saying "Ballard has never taken responsibility for his actions". In October 2021, he was sentenced to ten years in jail as a consecutive sentence to his earlier prison term. In December 2021, following a hearing at Basildon Crown Court, a confiscation order of £553,772 was made against Ballard in regards to profits made from one of his businesses that had been operating illegally. In 2014, Ballard and his business partner set-up a self-storage business on green belt land in

Bulphan Bulphan (pronounced ) is a village and former civil parish in the borough of Thurrock in the East of England and one of the traditional (Church of England) parishes in Thurrock. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1028. In 1931 the parish ...

without planning permission. They also failed to comply with an enforcement notice which required them to close the business and return the land back to its original state. A nominal order of £1 was made against Ballard's business partner as it was established in court that he was an unwitting front-man for Ballard’s illicit business. Ballard was not ordered to pay court costs or a fine because the judge thought there was no reasonable prospect of Ballard paying due to his incarceration.

References

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Paul Des 1982 births Living people English male stage actors GMTV presenters and reporters People from Essex English male television actors Inmates of HM Prison Belmarsh Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales