Chris Evans (presenter)
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Christopher James Evans (born 1 April 1966) is an English television presenter, radio DJ and producer for radio and television. He started his broadcasting career working for Piccadilly Radio,
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
, as a teenager, before moving to London as a presenter for the BBC's BBC Radio London and then
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
television, where '' The Big Breakfast'' made him a star. Soon he was able to dictate highly favourable terms, allowing him to broadcast on competing radio and TV stations. Slots like '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' and '' TFI Friday'' provided a mix of celebrity interviews, music and comic games, delivered in an irreverent style that attracted high ratings, though often also generated significant numbers of complaints. By 2000 he was the UK's highest paid entertainer, according to the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List. In the tax year to April 2017, he was the BBC's highest-paid presenter, earning between £2.2m and £2.25m annually. In 2005, he started a new career on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
, hosting his long-running Drivetime programme in April 2006, before moving in 2010 to host '' The Chris Evans Breakfast Show'' every weekday morning. He previously presented ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...
'' on Fridays between 2010 and 2015. Between 2011 and 2018, he co-hosted Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park. In 2015, Evans signed a three-year deal to lead a new '' Top Gear'' line-up and presented a revival series of ''TFI Friday''. On 4 July 2016, he announced that he would be stepping down as presenter of ''Top Gear''. On 3 September 2018, he announced that he would be leaving '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' on Christmas Eve, and would be going to Virgin Radio UK to present its breakfast show. He moved from
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
with most of his regular team.


Early life

Evans was born in Warrington, England, the youngest child of bookmaker and health authority wages clerk Martin Joseph Evans (12 November 1921 – 25 April 1979),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index, England and Wales and Minnie Beardsall (1926–2018), who managed a corner shop. His siblings are brother David (born 1953) and sister Diane (born 1963). He started his schooling at St Margaret's Church of England Infants and Junior School, and later the Junior School in
Orford, Warrington Orford is a suburb of Warrington, in the Warrington district, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Originally a small area north of the township of Warrington, it is now a large area between the town centre and the M62, incorporating ...
. Evans' father died of colorectal cancer, and his mother was a breast cancer survivor. He passed the Eleven-Plus exam and started at Boteler Grammar School, Warrington. After the death of his father on 25 April 1979, the 13-year-old Evans took part-time work at an outlet of T. J. & B. McLoughlin's newsagent– tobacconist in Woolston, and ran an alternative tuck-shop at Padgate High School, which was a comprehensive school he attended for the final three years of his secondary education. Evans left secondary school aged 16 after moving into the sixth form, and then had a number of dead-end jobs in and around Warrington, including at a private detective agency and, notoriously, as a "
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
-ogram".


Career


Early career

Evans began his professional career at Piccadilly Radio, Manchester, in 1983, where he had previously had unpaid schoolboy work. Until 1984 Evans had three jobs: as an assistant to Timmy Mallett, and playing a character on his show called 'Nobby Nolevel' ('No
'O' Level O' Level were a British punk and indie band, founded in 1976 by Ed Ball with friends John and Gerard Bennett. The group's name refers to the 'O'-Level of the British General Certificate of Education. History Along with the early Television ...
'); acting as a disc jockey in the evenings at local
pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
when he was not at Piccadilly Radio; and still working at the newsagents, opening up daily at 5 am to sort out the newspaper deliveries. Evans switched to a full-time position at the station in 1984, his new role including being driven around the Manchester area in the radio car to turn up at listeners' houses. In addition he was producer to presenter
James H. Reeve James Hengist Reeve, born 25 June 1950, is an English broadcaster, journalist, raconteur and radio phone-in host based in the Manchester area. Reeve has hosted shows on Piccadilly Radio, BBC GMR (now BBC Radio Manchester), BBC Radio 5 Live, The ...
. Following this he presented a weekday graveyard slot with competitions and segments where listeners had opportunities to sell their belongings on air. After working as a producer on Richard Branson's service '' The Superstation'', where he produced material for
Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...
, Evans went on to work at the newly launched BBC Greater London Radio, first as a producer on Emma Freud's mid-morning show, then on ''Weekend Breakfast'' with Danny Baker. Owing to his success working on both shows, Evans was offered a producer role at
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...
, but was persuaded to stay at GLR after station controller Matthew Bannister gave him the chance to present his own show, taking over Saturday afternoons in early 1990. Three months later, he started presenting ''The Greenhouse'', a Monday-to-Thursday evening show; he remained in this slot until the end of 1990. In early 1991, as a result of his first regular TV hosting work presenting the ''Power Up'' breakfast show on The Power Station for
British Satellite Broadcasting British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) was a television company, headquartered in London, that provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom. They started broadcasting on 25 March 1990. The company was merged with ...
, Evans moved to presenting ''Round at Chris's'', every Saturday morning from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, which he continued to present until April 1993.


Career success

In addition to his Saturday morning show on GLR, in March 1992 Evans began presenting a Sunday afternoon show on BBC Radio 1, replacing Phillip Schofield. His show, ''Too Much Gravy'', was broadcast from 14:30 to 16:00 and ended in September 1992. His move to Radio 1 was short-lived but seen as a huge success, with controller Johnny Beerling later admitting he wished he'd offered Evans a full-time show there and then. At the time, however, Evans objected that Radio 1 had attempted to constrain his style, preventing him from using the "
zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...
" format, allegedly because Steve Wright was already doing that on the station. In April 1993, Evans left GLR and joined the new Virgin Radio, to host a Saturday morning show.


''The Big Breakfast''

Evans' departure from radio was in part so he could devote his time to the new
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
breakfast television Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...
show, '' The Big Breakfast'', from 28 September 1992. He co-hosted the show with Gaby Roslin. Evans left ''The Big Breakfast'' on 29 September 1994 and formed his own television production company, Ginger Productions. Its first major programme, ''
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush ''Don't Forget Your Toothbrush'' was a British light entertainment TV programme that aired on Channel 4 from 12 February 1994 to 25 February 1995 and was hosted by Chris Evans. Background ''Don't Forget Your Toothbrush'' was written ...
'', was broadcast between 1994 and 1995. The original concepts proved to be lucrative for Evans as its format was sold to numerous foreign broadcasters.


''The Radio 1 Breakfast Show''

In April 1995, Evans returned to radio to host the flagship ''
Radio 1 Breakfast Show ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' is a radio show that is broadcast across the UK on BBC Radio 1. It is hosted by Greg James since 20 August 2018 as the show's 16th presenter. The show ran six days a week until February 1968 (seBBC Genome Project, then fi ...
''. Evans negotiated into his contract with Radio 1 a clause allowing him to still make television programmes, and specifically an option to make a Friday night programme for Channel 4. A further clause required the ''Breakfast Show'' to be produced independently by Evans' Ginger company, rather than in-house by BBC Radio. Allowed to create the "zoo" format he had previously been disallowed from performing on Radio 1, Evans was given a free rein by his friend, the station's controller Matthew Bannister. Critics hated
innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
-laden features like Honk Your Horn and in Bed with Your Girlfriend, but Evans put on 600,000 new listeners over Steve Wright – one for every £5 spent on salary and advertising. The effect also flowed through into the listening figures for later programmes. The audience grew as the breakfast format became more outrageous: humiliating assistant
Holly Samos Holly Samos (born 23 December 1970 in Guildford, Surrey) is a radio broadcaster. A former member of Chris Evans's ''breakfast show team'' from the 1990s, she continued her career as the Formula 1 pit lane reporter for BBC Radio 5 Live for five y ...
by repeatedly asking her about her sex life (Evans and Samos were reportedly in a relationship at periods through their time working together), and encouraging two female guests to perform a strip show on live radio. The show's highest listening figure reached 7.5 million. Evans began making editions of Channel 4's '' TFI Friday'' from 1996. The show – devised, produced and hosted by Evans through his Ginger Media company – combined celebrity interviews, musical guests and daft games and competitions. Largely based on the successful formula of his radio show, it was initially a big success. However, as the success of both shows peaked, combined with a string of celebrity relationships and highly publicised nights drinking with friends Danny Baker and Paul Gascoigne, the strain began to show, and a model emerged described as a "template for his approach to all his subsequent projects – an abundance of enthusiasm at the beginning which eventually falls prey to boredom and shiftlessness." Beginning to think he was indispensable at Radio 1, the first big falling-out with management came in December 1995 after taking his crew out on a 17-hour pub-crawl which ended two hours before they were due on air: Evans was fined one day's pay, £7,000. In 1996, broadcasting watchdogs investigated a continual trail of complaints against the show: Radio 1 refused to comment, Evans never said sorry. Evans also made increasing public demands of the Radio 1 management: after taking an extra week of unplanned holiday, Evans chose to turn up half an hour late for his 06:30 show and then demanded that his hours were changed so that it was a permanent fixture – this request was accepted. However, following the summer break things got decidedly worse. Criticised by the broadcasting watchdog for a tasteless joke about
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
victim Anne Frank, Evans countered with an item about haemorrhoids. Asked by Bannister to watch the rules, Evans the next day branded Bannister " The Fat Controller". In November, Evans announced on air that he was medically unfit to be on the radio – Bannister re-negotiated his contract to double his holiday to twice that of other Radio 1 DJs. After more publicised public drinking and self-confessed illness, Evans' spell at the station ended in January 1997 when he quit after his demand not to host the show on Friday (to have a full day getting ready for his TV show) was not accepted. ''The Radio 1 Breakfast Show'' was taken over by Mark and Lard ( Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley). When Evans found out that they were a ratings disaster, he quickly got in touch with BBC Radio 1 management to ask whether he could take back the show again. Station management declined but did offer him a weekend slot, which he turned down. In response to the falling ratings, bosses decided to replace its presenters with the relatively unknown
Kevin Greening Kevin Greening (30 December 1962 – 29 December 2007) was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 with Zoe Ball from 13 October 1997 to 25 September 1998. Early career Kevin Greening grew up in Bristol wh ...
and the well-known children's TV presenter Zoe Ball. Their tenure started on 13 October 1997.


Virgin Radio

During a holiday in Killarney, Evans listened to the Irish broadcaster Gerry Ryan on the radio. Evans claims the variety on Ryan's show made him want to return to radio. Evans was then hired by Virgin Radio to host its breakfast show, prompting an immediate upsurge in station listening figures of 1.8 million to 2.6 million. His first show was on 13 October 1997, the same day as Kevin Greening and Zoë Ball on Radio 1. Starting at 7:00 am, Evans' crew presented the show from Monday to Friday, but without Evans on a Friday. As Richard Branson had decided to reduce his media holding, he began talks to sell the station to Capital Radio in a deal that would have given him 10% of holding company
Capital Group Capital Group is an American financial services company. It ranks among the world's oldest and largest investment management organizations, with over $2.6 trillion in assets under management. Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1931, it is pr ...
. As this became public knowledge, Evans, who did not want to work for Capital, publicly dismissed them as "a bleating, blowing asthmatic dog." On 9 December, with the assistance of investors, Evans' vehicle Ginger Media Group bought Virgin Radio from Branson for £85m, to control the interests both of Ginger Productions and Virgin Radio. Both
Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of December 2017, the firm, including its ...
and Branson each owned 20% of Ginger Media Group, while Evans and his investors owned the remaining 60%. The group later engaged in the prospect of buying the '' Daily Star'' newspaper, but decided against from commercial angles.


Sale of GMG – dismissal and legal cases

On 14 March 2000, Evans agreed the sale of Ginger Media Group to
Scottish Media Group STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and ...
for £225m. The sale made Evans the highest-paid entertainer in the UK in 2000, estimated by the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List to have been paid around £35.5million. Following poor reviews of ''TFI Friday'', and Evans himself handing over presentation of the last series of the show to a series of "friends", the show was cancelled in December 2000. Evans continued to host the station's breakfast show, but echoes of his earlier dismissal from Radio 1 began to emerge. In May 2000, the station was fined £75,000 (then the largest penalty imposed by the Radio Authority) for his repeated on-air endorsement of Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral elections. Virgin Radio's new programme controller Paul Jackson, in light of audience figures which had dropped from a peak of 2.7 million to 1.7 million, had pruned Evans's "zoo" team and installed a music policy which replaced more eclectic choices with a strict diet of chart pop. As a result, on 20 June Evans was followed throughout the day by tabloid newspaper photographers, and undertook an "18-hour bender" which started after his show at 9.30 in the morning, and ended – after numerous pints of
Kronenbourg Kronenbourg Brewery (french: Brasseries Kronenbourg, German: ''Kronenbourg Brauerei'', ) is a brewery founded in 1664 by Geronimus Hatt in the Free Imperial City of Straßburg, Holy Roman Empire (today Strasbourg, France). The name comes from ...
and Guinness, plus five bottles of Dom Pérignon – with Evans asleep in front of a lap-dancer at Stringfellows. Later photographed by the tabloids that week with new wife Billie Piper in the nearest pub to their home in Hascombe, Surrey while claiming he was too ill to present his show, he was dismissed on 28 June 2001 for repeatedly failing to arrive at work. Evans was replaced by the older Steve Penk, whom Evans criticised for his age – 39 versus Evans's then 35. Evans attempted to sue Virgin Radio, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed and denied share options worth £8.6 million. On 26 June 2003, in the judgement of ''Evans v SMG Television Ltd. & Ors'' 2003 EWHC 1423 (Ch), Justice Lightman found that he had been fairly dismissed and was not entitled to the share options. Giving his ruling at the High Court, Evans was publicly criticised for his attitude by the judge, who said of Evans: "He has the temperament of a prima donna." Virgin Radio/SMG later countersued, with Evans ordered to pay £1m towards their legal costs. In his autobiography, Evans writes that shortly after the sale of Virgin Radio he was offered £56m for his SMG shares by Goldman Sachs. He declined the offer and eventually sold them for £250,000.


UMTV

In August 2002 Chris Evans set up a radio and television production company, UMTV, with the aim of specialising in live, cutting-edge, entertainment programming. Over the next 3 years UMTV produced more than 375 hours of television, with mixed success. TV shows included '' Boys and Girls'' hosted by Vernon Kay for Channel 4, '' Johnny Vegas: 18 Stone of Idiot'' for Channel 4 / E4; '' OFI Sunday'' for ITV; ''Live with Christian O'Connell'' and '' Live with Chris Moyles'' for
Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
; and the BAFTA award-winning ''School of Hard Knocks'' for 4 Learning. Following two high-profile shows which failed to perform in the ratings, UMTV hired Terry Wogan and Evans' former ''Big Breakfast'' co-host Gaby Roslin to host a weekday morning magazine show, '' The Terry and Gaby Show.'' Evans said publicly that if this show failed he would set up a market stall. Despite critical acclaim the audience numbers never took off and Channel 5 axed the show after its year-long run, citing its high cost as a reason. True to his word, Evans was pictured at the end of the final show with a market stall and later he opened it for real at
Stables Market The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead R ...
, Camden.


Radio 2

Evans re-entered public life in early 2005, presenting the breakfast slot of
UK Radio Aid UK Radio Aid was a charitable event in the United Kingdom held on Monday 17 January 2005 to raise money for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for the victims of the Asian tsunami. Format The event consisted of a twelve-hour radio sh ...
's day of programming for the victims of the
Asian tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...
, which was aired on most of the UK's commercial radio stations, and also The BRIT Awards in 2005 and 2006. From April 2005, Evans presented a number of one-off Bank holiday shows for
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
, including coverage of the Live 8 concert in London.


Saturday afternoon show

Evans then joined Radio 2 on a permanent basis in September 2005, presenting a weekly Saturday afternoon show from 14:00 to 17:00. His first show featured singer
Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
, and accompanied by a posse including friend "Big" Pete Winterbottom and newsreader Andrew Peach. Evans told listeners to his first show: "We've had a couple of test drives over the summer and we've decided to take it. Yes, we like this vehicle."


Move to ''Drivetime''

The show was well received by listeners and critics, and Evans was announced as the successor to Radio 2's '' Drive time'' show on 2 March 2006, succeeding long-time host Johnnie Walker, beginning on 18 April. RAJAR audience figures published in August 2006 showed Evans had 150,000 fewer listeners than his predecessor's last show but was on par with previous years. The second set of RAJAR's published in October 2006 showed his audience was up by 109,000-year-on-year, and up by 33,000 compared with the previous quarter. Figures showed he was drawing an average audience of 4.9 million a day on his drivetime show. By the end of 2007, the show was averaging over five million listeners. On 7 September 2009 it was announced that Evans would take over breakfast show from Sir Terry Wogan after Wogan announced his intention to leave the show at the end of the year. Evans hosted his final drivetime show on Christmas Eve 2009.


The Chris Evans Breakfast Show

Evans took over the Radio 2 breakfast show on 11 January 2010, succeeding Sir Terry Wogan. The show was originally 30 minutes longer than the Wogan incarnation and began at 07:00 am, but following the departure of Sarah Kennedy from early breakfast, the show was extended by another 30 minutes and began at 06:30 am. The show always ended with a handover to Ken Bruce at 09:30 am. While Evans replaced Wogan owing to his long-planned retirement, supporters of Kennedy alleged there was a deliberate intention to force her out so that Evans' show could be lengthened. His first three songs were
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' " All You Need Is Love" and "
Got to Get You into My Life "Got to Get You into My Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, first released in 1966 on their album ''Revolver''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is a homage to the Motown Sound, wit ...
"; and Frank Sinatra's " Come Fly with Me". His co-presenters included ex-BBC TV newsreader Moira Stuart, sports presenter
Jonny Saunders Jonny Saunders (born 31 March 1975) is a British former radio sports reporter, presenter and commentator. He worked for the BBC and featured on Radios 1, 2, 4, 5 live and 6 Music. He was the drivetime and later morning sports presenter on BBC ...
(who was replaced in June 2011 by
Vassos Alexander Born Vassos Alexander Georgiadis is a British sports reporter, presenter, author and endurance runner. He is currently the sports presenter of ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show'' on Virgin Radio. Alexander hosts the Parkrun podcast, he is a moti ...
), and travel reporter Lynn Bowles. Features included The Gobsmackers (two songs selected by a listener that sound good played back-to-back). On 3 September 2018, Evans announced live on air that he would be leaving the show and the station in December for Virgin Radio. On 11 September the BBC Director General Lord Tony Hall told the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that, as well as wanting a new challenge, releasing the salaries of those at the BBC earning more than £150,000 had been a contributing factor in Evans' leaving. A month later, Evans confirmed live on air that Zoe Ball would replace him on the show from January 2019. The show officially ended on 24 December 2018. Evans moved to Virgin with most of his Radio 2 team including sports reporter
Vassos Alexander Born Vassos Alexander Georgiadis is a British sports reporter, presenter, author and endurance runner. He is currently the sports presenter of ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show'' on Virgin Radio. Alexander hosts the Parkrun podcast, he is a moti ...
and Rachel Horne who provides regular news bulletins expanded her role as the show's travel expert. Ellie Davis leads the show as Executive Producer and producer Meera Depala is also part of the team. Supporting Davis are David Brain (Producer) and Jayne Cheeseman (Assistant Producer) who produced the previous breakfast show on Virgin Radio.


Sony Music Radio Personality of the Year

In May 2006, Evans was named Music Radio Personality of the Year at the annual Sony Radio Academy Awards, defeating rivals Jamie Theakston, Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley and Tim Lovejoy to win. When accepting the award, Evans thanked the BBC for giving him "a second chance." Evans won 'music radio personality' the following year, while his show won the Entertainment award. "I didn't expect this," he said. "I wouldn't have minded if I didn't win, but I really love the fact I have won." Evans was voted the 82nd most influential media personality in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' newspaper's 2007 poll.


Return to television

Following his success in the 1990s, Evans' attempts at a TV comeback in the 21st century have been mixed with a record of poor ratings and cancellations, including falling viewing figures for his recent role as co-host of Friday editions of ''The One Show''. In November and December 2005 Evans presented '' OFI Sunday'' on ITV. In a move described by Private Eye as '' Partridgean'', ex-wife Billie Piper was the first guest on the programme. ''OFI Sunday'' was cancelled after just five shows following poor reviews and low viewing figures. Its cancellation led Evans to complain on air during his Saturday BBC Radio 2 slot that he no longer knew how to be successful on television. In 2009 Evans narrated the CBeebies Christmas pantomime.


''The One Show'' (2010–15)

In 2010, it was announced that Evans would be replacing
Adrian Chiles Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for fo ...
as the Friday co-presenter of ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...
'' on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
. Chiles and then co-host
Christine Bleakley Christine Louise Lampard (''née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish broadcaster. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–11), while ...
left the show to join ITV. Evans presented the show on Fridays with Alex Jones, and occasionally covered other weekdays. Matt Baker presented and still presents (as of 2018) the show on a regular Monday to Thursday basis. In 2015, Evans announced he was quitting ''
The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...
'' to focus on '' Top Gear''.


Return to Channel 4

In January 2011 Evans returned to
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
to present a new reality show '' Famous and Fearless'', in which eight celebrities were arranged into two teams, 'Boys' and 'Girls'. The celebrities taking part on the boys' team were: Rufus Hound, Charley Boorman, Sam Branson (son of Richard Branson) and Jonah Lomu. On the girls' team were Jenny Frost, Kacey Ainsworth, Sarah Jayne Dunn and Dame Kelly Holmes. Holmes won the girls'; Boorman won the boys' and the show outright. In February 2011, it was reported that the show had been axed after one series due to poor ratings.


''Top Gear''

On 16 June 2015, the BBC announced that Evans had signed a three-year deal to be the main presenter on the
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...
motoring show ''Top Gear'', following the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. On his radio show the next morning he confirmed his acceptance and explained the offer came after James May and Richard Hammond had confirmed to the BBC they would not be returning to the show. Before the announcement, he sent texts to May, Hammond and Clarkson and received supportive replies from all three. In February 2016, it was confirmed that Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris and Eddie Jordan would also be joining Evans for the twenty third series of ''Top Gear''. It was also revealed that the new series would begin airing in May 2016. The first episode of the new series of six episodes was broadcast 29 May 2016. In June 2016 it was reported that fellow presenter LeBlanc had threatened to quit the show unless Evans was sacked, because of inappropriate behaviour on set. The source alleged that Evans had become jealous of the attention the other presenters were getting and had become distanced from the group. On 4 July 2016 Evans announced that he had stepped down as presenter of the show and cutting his contract with ''Top Gear'' short by two years. Throughout the duration of the new series, Evans had received strong criticism due to his presenting style. In the tax year to April 2017, he was the BBC's highest paid presenter, earning between £2.2m and £2.25m.


Personal life

Evans has a daughter, Jade (born 1986), by former fiancée Alison Ward. In 1998, after a long-running dispute, the couple reached an out-of-court arrangement whereby Evans provided a home for his daughter and an allowance to Ward. On 7 September 2013, Evans walked Jade down the aisle when she married her boyfriend Callum. On 9 January 2015, Evans became a grandfather when Jade gave birth to her son. Evans married Carol McGiffin in 1991. Their 1993 break up was not amicable and McGiffin has been scathing about Evans in newspaper articles in the years since. The two divorced in 1998. During his time at BBC Radio 1 and Virgin, Evans had well publicised relationships with Kim Wilde, model Rachel Tatton-Brown (whose sister was a researcher on ''The Big Breakfast''), assistant producer Suzi Aplin, Anthea Turner, Geri Halliwell, and
Melanie Sykes Melanie Ann Sykes (born 7 August 1970) is an English television and radio presenter. She is best known for co-hosting '' Today with Des and Mel'' with Des O'Connor and '' Let's Do Lunch'' with Gino D'Acampo. She also co-hosted ''Going Out with A ...
. In May 2000, Evans met teenage pop star Billie Piper, whom he dated for a while. As a present to him, she proposed on his 35th birthday, and the couple married in a £200 ceremony at the Little Church of the West in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
, Nevada on 6 May 2001, in a ceremony attended by six guests including best man Danny Baker. In September 2004, news stories circulated regarding a
trial separation Marital separation occurs when spouses in a marriage stop living together without getting divorced. Married couples may separate as an initial step in the divorce process or to gain perspective on the marriage and determine whether divorce is warra ...
; Evans at the time had a stall at Camden Market, where he was found selling furniture and paintings from his
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
and
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
homes, commenting: "I just want to get rid of it all, it's just a headache." In 2005, it was confirmed that Evans and Piper would divorce, with Piper publicly stating that she would take no money from Evans. Almost three years after they had separated, Evans and Piper divorced in May 2007. A keen golfer who plays with a handicap of 15, Evans met professional golfer, part-time model and columnist for '' Golf Punk'' magazine Natasha Shishmanian when they became golf partners in the
All*Star Cup ''The All-Star Cup'' (stylised as "All*Star Cup") is a celebrity Golf match first held at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport in 2005 that pitted two teams of celebrities against each other in a Ryder Cup-style competition. The first series was a ...
celebrity tournament in Newport – Evans gave his 17-year-old caddy at the 2005 event, Natalie Harrison, a £10,000 Russian Kristall Smolensk diamond he won for the quality of his play. Evans and Shishmanian married in August 2007, and held a reception in
Faro, Portugal Faro ( , ) is a municipality, the southernmost city and capital of the district of the same name, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. With an estimated population of 60,995 inhabitants in 2019 (with 39,733 inhabitants in the city proper, ...
the following weekend that was attended by Evans's former wife Piper. The couple have four children. Their two eldest sons have appeared a number of times on their father's Breakfast Radio show. In March 2008, Evans said in his Radio 2 blog that he had taken "magic mushrooms" two days before attending a Meat Loaf concert at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
. He said: "I thought I was chronicling the Albert Hall moving sideways on the back of a giant rock and roll crab, something I didn't think the world should miss." A
Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
spokeswoman said the force would investigate any reports of class A drug-taking. A fan of fast cars, and particularly
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
s, Evans was banned from driving for 56 days in 2001 and fined £600 after admitting to a speeding charge at Staines
Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...
after being stopped by Surrey Police when driving at on the A3 road in Esher in January 2001. In 2005 Evans crashed his silver 575M Maranello into a verge near his then Surrey home. On 18 May 2008, Evans attended RM Auctions/
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
auction in
Maranello Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula 1 ...
, Italy, and bought a 1961 250 GT Spyder California SWB formerly owned by US actor James Coburn for the then world record price of 6.4 million euros. In May 2010 he bought a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, one of only thirty-six built, for £12 million. Reportedly he sold three Ferraris from his collection to pay for it. He sold it three years later for $25 million to a Swiss collector. In August 2002, Evans was a member of crew aboard the sailing yacht ''Nausicaa'' with six other people, when James Ward – landlord of the White Horse in Hascombe, Surrey, which was then Evans' local pub – drowned in an accident in The Solent. In September 2007, Evans and Shishmanian started taking
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
lessons at Shoreham Airport. Evans is a first cousin of the father of former Scottish Rugby internationals Max Evans and Thom Evans. Evans is a supporter of the Labour Party; he also donated £100,000 to former Labour MP Ken Livingstone's mayoral campaign when he stood as an independent candidate in 2000. Evans is also an ambassador for
The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was fo ...
. On 15 November 2016, Evans was awarded an honorary degree from York St John's University, he was presented this by university's chancellor Archbishop Dr John Sentamu at York Minster. On 3 May 2018, Evans' mother Minnie died, at the age of 92. His Radio 2 Breakfast show was presented, until 8.30, by regular co-presenter
Vassos Alexander Born Vassos Alexander Georgiadis is a British sports reporter, presenter, author and endurance runner. He is currently the sports presenter of ''The Chris Evans Breakfast Show'' on Virgin Radio. Alexander hosts the Parkrun podcast, he is a moti ...
.


Shows hosted

The following lists are the main shows Evans has presented:


Television


Radio

* Piccadilly Radio, Saturday afternoons & weekday evenings (1986–1987) * BBC GLR, Saturday afternoons, 3–5 pm (1990) * BBC GLR, ''The Greenhouse'', Mondays–Thursdays, 7:30–10 pm (1990) * BBC GLR, ''Round at Chris's'', Saturdays, 10 am – 1 pm (January 1991– April 1993) *
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...
, ''Too Much Gravy'', Sundays, 2:30 pm – 4 pm (March – September 1992) * Virgin Radio, Saturday mornings, 10 am – 1 pm (May -July 1993) * BBC Radio 1, Weekday Breakfast Show, 6:30–9 am (April 1995 – January 1997) * Virgin Radio, Weekday Breakfast Show, 6–10 am (October 1997 – June 2001) *
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
, Saturday afternoons, 2–5 pm (September 2005– April 2006) * BBC Radio 2, Weekday Drivetime Show, 5–7 pm (18 April 2006 – 24 December 2009) * BBC Radio 2, Weekday Breakfast Show, 7:00–9:30 am (11 January 2010 – 24 September 2010); 6:30–9:30 am (11 October 2010 – 24 December 2018) * Virgin Radio UK, Weekday Breakfast Show, 6:30–10:00 am (21 January 2019–present)


Bibliography

To date, Evans has written three autobiographies: * * (also advertised as ''It's Not About Me: From Billie to Breakfast'') *


References


External links


The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky on Virgin Radio UK
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Chris 1966 births Living people BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters British car collectors Drinking establishment owners English radio DJs Businesspeople from Lancashire English television presenters English television producers Labour Party (UK) people People educated at Boteler Grammar School People from Warrington Broadcasters from Lancashire Virgin Radio (UK) English people of Welsh descent Top Gear people