Rhodri Owen (born 20 September 1972) is a Welsh speaking radio and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

Biography

Owen was born in Three Crosses, Gower,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, and was brought up in GowertonRhodri and Matthew take to the mud!
Clynefarm.com in a

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

speaking family, which is his first language. Owen was also a member of the National Youth Theatre of Wales.Bond flirts with politics – icWales
/ref> Owen started his career in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

reporting in his native Welsh language for

Radio Cymru BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh language radio network owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts on two stations across Wales on FM, DAB, digital TV and online. The main network broadcasts for hours a day from ...

. After taking over the Saturday breakfast show, Owen transferred to the daily

Red Dragon FM Capital South Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcasts to Cardiff and Newport and the surrounding areas from studios in Cardiff Bay. History The statio ...

breakfast show. Having presented for

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

, Owen has also been the main station voice of

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Welsh radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the 'Radio 4 Wales' opt-out service (previously the Welsh Home Service). Radio Wales br ...

. Owen started his television career with S4C in 1993 as a continuity announcer during children's programming, before appearing on a variety of programmes including children's magazine shows ''Noc Noc'' and ''

Uned 5 Uned 5 (''"Unit 5"'') is a BAFTA award-winning teenage magazine show, broadcast live every week on Welsh channel S4C between 1994 and 2010. The programme was the channel's flagship youth magazine for over sixteen years. On 24 November 2009, S4 ...

''. After six years with the Welsh channel he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and joined

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 ...

, fronting children's consumer show "

Short Change ''Short Change'' was a consumer affairs programme for children, broadcast on BBC One and later also the CBBC Channel. It is essentially a version of the prime-time show ''Watchdog'' except that it is aimed at children. The show was first aired ...

." He went on to appear in the

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

investigative consumer show "X-Ray" and was also the host of 4x4,

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

's "

Liquid Assets In business, economics or investment, market liquidity is a market's feature whereby an individual or firm can quickly purchase or sell an asset without causing a drastic change in the asset's price. Liquidity involves the trade-off between the ...

," the BBC1 travel programme "

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

". He then spent three years on the rival

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 ...

travel show " Wish You Were Here...?," "Holiday in Style" for UK Style and BBC1's "Hard Cash".BBC – Wales – X-Ray – Rhodri Owen
/ref> Owen is currently hosting " Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns" for

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version of Sky Witness, named Sky ...

. In 2016, he was replaced on the BAFTA award-winning "X-Ray" by comedian Omar Hamdi, due to his other filming commitments. In 2006, he also co-presented Britain's Dream Homes with Melissa Porter on BBC Two. Owen had his first book published: "Bwyd bwyd bwyd (food food food)" – about healthy foods aimed at children. In 2009, he became presenter for afternoon magazine show ''Wedi 3'' and studio director for '' Planed Plant'', the current S4C children's continuity strand. In 2012 Wedi 3 relaunched as Prynhawn da as a 2 hour long programme. But this era was short lived and further changes were made in April 2012 when the programme was revamped back to a nearly identical format to Wedi 3. Rhodri continues to present.

Personal life

Rhodri married fellow Welsh television presenter Lucy Cohen in June 2004 at St Andrew's Church in

St Andrews Major St. Andrew's Major () is a village and parish in the community of Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan, between Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and Cardiff in south-eastern Wales. Description The village has a church (building), church which i ...

near

Dinas Powys Dinas Powys (; also spelt "Dinas Powis" in English) is a small town and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. Its name means "fort of the provincial place" and refers to the Dinas Powys hillfort, Iron Age hillfort wh ...

. After trying to

conceive Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

, the couple undertook treatment via

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) f ...

. Their child, Gabriel was born in March 2008 by

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or mo ...

, weighing . Rhodri's brother

Geraint Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton hag ...

died on 11 July 2009. Owen is close friends with

Ian "H" Watkins Ian Watkins (born 8 May 1976), known by his stage name as H, is a Welsh singer and actor. He is known as a member of the British pop group Steps. In 2020, he competed in the twelfth series of '' Dancing on Ice''. Career Steps In May 1997, W ...

& Gareth Thomas. They are a staunch supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Rhodri 1972 births Welsh-language television presenters British radio presenters People from Swansea Living people Welsh radio presenters Welsh television presenters National Youth Theatre members People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera