Fred Housego (born 25 October 1944,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland) is a former

London taxi A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...

driver and tour guide who became a television and radio personality and presenter after winning the BBC television quiz ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

'' in 1980. He did not give up his taxi licence when he began his media career and was still driving a cab in 2007.

Early life and career

Housego was educated at Kynaston Comprehensive School, where he passed one GCE O-level, in British Constitution. In addition to driving a taxi he has also worked as a messenger for an advertising agency, a postman and a registered London Tourist Board tour guide.

''Mastermind''

In 1980 Housego won a series of ''

'' in front of 18 million viewers. In an interview with

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, television presenter, comedian, singer, and former professional footballer. Walsh's acting roles on television include Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004 ...

for '' Come on Down! The Game Show Story,'' he said that his knowledge came from being a London Tourist Board-registered tour guide. In 1981 Housego took part in the international version of ''Mastermind'' in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He again used The Tower of London as his subject in the competition, having previously used it as his subject in the ''Mastermind'' final. He came fourth with 16 points.

Television and radio

Housego's specialist subject in the final of ''Mastermind ''was ' The Tower of London'. Apart from ''Mastermind'', his television appearances include ''Blankety Blank'', ''The Pyramid Game'', ''History on Your Doorstep'', the ''Six O'Clock Show'' (on which he was a presenter) and ''This is Your Life''. However it is radio where Housego has spent most of his broadcasting career, and he became the host of an all-night radio phone-in show, in London, on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

for many years during the 1990s. He also presented an LBC series about radio comedy during the same period. More recently he has been heard on BBC Radio 4 presenting a documentary and on various Radio 4 panel games and quizzes such as '' Who Goes There?'' (2000). He has also appeared on '' Start the Week'' and as a contestant on ''

Round Britain Quiz ''Round Britain Quiz'' (''RBQ'') is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio. It was based on a format called ''Transatlantic Quiz'', a contest between American an ...

'' on BBC Radio 4. He was the 'phone a friend' of

Angela Rippon Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944) is an English broadcaster, former newsreader, writer and journalist. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's ''BBC Nine O'Clock News, Nine ...

on ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

''. Housego was asked in which month St Crispin's Day was but chose April despite being born on St Crispin's Day, which is in October. Housego was the Pye TV Personality of the Year in 1981 and spoke to the Oxford and Cambridge Unions. He is a keen

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

supporter and has made several appearances at the ground during half-time presenting awards.

Personal life

Housego lives with his wife, Pat, in

Pevensey Bay Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part of th ...

, East Sussex, England. In 2007 he was still working as a taxi driver. Housego suffers from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and became overweight but by exercise and diet lost in six months.

Publication

Housego has written a book entitled ''London: a portrait of Britain's historic capital'', which was published by Hamlyn in 1982.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Housego, Fred British radio presenters British television presenters Contestants on British game shows British taxi drivers Taxis of London Mass media people from Dundee 1944 births Living people Writers from Dundee People from Pevensey