Robert Michael Rinder (; born 31 May 1978) better known as Judge Rinder, is a British criminal barrister and television personality. In 2014, while still a practising barrister, he began hosting the

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

courtroom series '' Judge Rinder''. In 2019, he also began hosting the

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 ...

series ''The Rob Rinder Verdict''. In 2022, Rinder also became a regular host on

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 ...

’s '' Good Morning Britain''.

Early life

Rinder was born in London on 31 May 1978 into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family;Interview: Judge Rinder
''Jewish Chronicle'', 21 August 2014Robert Rinder: the UK's answer to American chat-show host Judge Judy!
''Jewish News Online'', 29 January 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2016. his mother is Angela Cohen, chair of the 45 Aid Society. He was brought up in

Southgate Southgate or South Gate may refer to: Places Australia *Southgate, Sylvania *Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct, an area within Southbank, Victoria Canada *Southgate, Ontario, a township in Grey County * Southgate, Middlesex County, Ontario Ed ...

and was educated at Osidge Primary School and

Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet is a boys' grammar school in Barnet, northern Greater London, which was founded in 1573 by Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and others, in the name of Queen Elizabeth I. It is consistently ranked as one o ...

and the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

. Rinder later gave up acting because his peer and later close friend, Benedict Cumberbatch, "was so good". Rinder studied politics and modern history at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, graduating with first-class honours.

Career

Legal

Rinder was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 2001 after graduating from the

, starting his pupillage at 2

Paper Buildings Paper Buildings are a set of chambers located in the Inner Temple in Temple, London. They were initially constructed in 1609. Paper Buildings appear in A Tale of Two Cities and Barnaby Rudge. On 6 March 1838, about twenty sets of chambers were ...

. He then became a tenant at 2 Hare Court. He went on to specialise in cases involving international fraud, money laundering and other forms of financial crime. He was involved in prosecutions following the murders of Leticia Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis in January 2003, and the defence of British servicemen on charges of manslaughter after the deaths of detainees in Iraq. Since 2010, he has been involved in the investigation and prosecution of alleged bribery, corruption, and fraud in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

of the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

.CV
2 Hare Court

Television

While practising as a barrister, Rinder wrote television scripts in his spare time. Upon attempting to sell one, he met producer Tom McLennan. He approached

with a proposal for a remake of the 1970s programme ''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

'', but this was rejected in favour of a British version of '' Judge Judy'', and McLennan offered Rinder the opportunity to front it. Since 2014, he has been the eponymous judge in the

courtroom series '' Judge Rinder'', where he has been referred to as a British ''Judge Judy''. Shortly after the programme started, he criticised

Judith Sheindlin Judith Susan Sheindlin (''née'' Blum; born October 21, 1942), known professionally as Judge Judy, is an American court show arbitrator, media personality, television producer, author, women's advancement philanthropist and former prosecutor an ...

, the judge of ''Judge Judy'', for making judgements based on her preconceptions while claiming that he applied the law seriously and made "real legal rulings". Despite this, he insisted that it be clarified on the programme that he is a practising criminal law barrister and not a civil court judge. As such, he wears his normal barrister's

court dress Court dress comprises the style of clothes and other attire prescribed for members of courts of law. Depending on the country and jurisdiction's traditions, members of the court ( judges, magistrates, and so on) may wear formal robes, gowns, ...

but without the barrister's wig. Rinder received praise for his cross-examination abilities and acerbic comments. His courtroom includes a

gavel A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the ...

and

flag of the United Kingdom The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801 which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in pe ...

, neither of which is used in British courts but are on display in American courts and televised court programmes, and his show has been criticised as "'' The Jeremy Kyle Show'' set in a small-claims court". In 2015, Rinder released a book called ''Rinder Rules''. In 2016, he presented a new series, ''

Judge Rinder's Crime Stories ''Judge Rinder's Crime Stories'' is a British reality television show that has aired daily on ITV since 20 June 2016. It is hosted by Robert Rinder Robert Michael Rinder (; born 31 May 1978) better known as Judge Rinder, is a British crimi ...

'', with reconstructions of real crimes. He also hosted ''Raising the Bar'' on

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 ...

, which he started with a discussion with former Lord Chief Justice,

Lord Judge Igor Judge, Baron Judge, (born 19 May 1941) is an English former judge who served as the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the head of the judiciary, from 2008 to 2013. He was previously President of the Queen's Bench Division, at the ...

. In December 2017, Rinder re-launched ''Crown Court'' on ITV, newly named ''Judge Rinder's Crown Court'', with a two-part special after a 30-year hiatus. From September 2016, Rinder competed in the fourteenth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', stating that he was doing so to make his grandmother proud of him. Rinder was partnered with Ukrainian-born professional dancer

Oksana Platero Oksana (Dmytrenko) Platero ( ua, Оксана Дмитренко) is a Ukrainian ballroom and Latin dancer. She spent five seasons as a member of the troupe on Dancing with the Stars in the United States. She joined the United Kingdom's Strict ...

. Rinder was eliminated in week 11 after scoring 31 points dancing a

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

to " Oh, What a Night". He ended the competition in fifth place. In an episode of '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' broadcast on 13 August 2018, Rinder traced his Jewish family's tragic history and made new discoveries about his grandfather, Morris Malenicky, a survivor of both

Schlieben Schlieben ( dsb, Sliwin) is a town in the Elbe-Elster district, in southwestern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north of Bad Liebenwerda. Schlieben was the site of a concentration camp during the Holocaust. History From 1815 to 1944, Schlie ...

and

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

concentration camps. In December 2018, Rinder hosted ''Good Year Bad Year'', a one-off special on

where Rinder discussed the topical highs and lows of 2018 along with a number of celebrity guests. In 2019, he began hosting the Channel 4 series ''The Rob Rinder Verdict''. In July 2020, Rinder appeared on series 2 of ''

Celebrity Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

'' alongside Susanna Reid. In November 2020, Rinder released My Family, the Holocaust and Me for BBC One; a documentary which helped Jewish families discover the full truth about what happened to their relatives during the Holocaust. The documentary received widespread acclaim, and "a vital history lesson". Rinder has been presenting on Good Morning Britain on

in 2022. On 14 July 2022, Crime & Investigation UK commissioned the 10-part crime series ''Rob Rinder’s Interrogation Secrets''; presented by Rinder, the series premiered on 4 September 2022. In November 2022, it was announced that Rob Rinder would join chef

Monica Galetti Monica Galetti (née Faafiti, born August 1975) is a Samoan-born New Zealand chef. She is a former judge on the BBC competitive cooking programme '' MasterChef: The Professionals'' and chef proprietor of Mere in London. She was senior sous-chef ...

as the new co-host of Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby.

Radio

Between July and August 2021, Rinder presented a six part series on Classic FM, titled ''Robert Rinder’s Classical Passions''. As of October 2021, Rinder is the new permanent host of Drivetime every Friday on talkRADIO and talkRADIO TV. In 2022, Rinder travelled to the Polish-Ukraine border to report on the crisis for talkRADIO.

Writing

In 2014, Rinder started to write a legal-based discussion column in the newspaper ''The Sun'', and in 2015, he released a book called ''Rinder Rules''. Rinder became a columnist for the London ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' in 2017.

Charitable work

Rinder is the patron of

Buttle UK Buttle UK, formerly known as The Frank Buttle Trust, is a UK charity that provides financial grants to children in need. Founded by Frank Buttle in 1937 but not operational until after his death in 1953, the charity has helped many thousands o ...

and, in this capacity, has run The London Marathon, as well as launching The Italian Job 2018 at The NEC, Birmingham on 10 November 2017.

Personal life

Rinder entered into a same-sex civil partnership with barrister Seth Cumming at a ceremony on the island of

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

in 2013, conducted by Rinder's friend, actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch was legally entitled to conduct the ceremony because of his online Universal Life Church ministerial ordination and Rinder was later one of three best men at Cumberbatch's wedding to

Sophie Hunter Sophie Irene Hunter (born 16 March 1978) is an English theatre director, playwright and former actress and singer. She made her directorial debut in 2007 co-directing the experimental play ''The Terrific Electric'' at the Barbican Pit after her ...

in 2015. It was reported in January 2018 that Rinder and Cumming had separated. Rinder was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2021 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2021 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to Holocaust education and awareness.

References

External links

*
Robert Rinder at Biogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinder, Robert 1978 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester English barristers English legal writers English television personalities English Jews LGBT entertainers from the United Kingdom LGBT Jews English LGBT people National Youth Theatre members People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys People from Westminster Television judges Television personalities from London Members of the Order of the British Empire