Gordon Smart (born 31 March 1980 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and raised in

Kinross Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinross's origins are connect ...

) is a Scottish broadcaster and former journalist and editor of ''The Scottish Sun''.

Journalism career

Smart's career in journalism started at

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor Wull ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

where he was employed as a junior reporter on the

Evening Telegraph ''Evening Telegraph'' is a common newspaper name, and may refer to: * ''Evening Telegraph'' (Dundee), Scotland * ''Evening Telegraph'' (Dublin), Ireland, published 1871–1924. * ''Coventry Evening Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a lo ...

and

Dundee Courier ''The Courier'' (known as ''The Courier & Advertiser'' between 1926 and 2012) is a newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland. As of 2013, it is printed in six regional editions: Dundee, Angus & The Mearns, Fife, West Fife, Perths ...

in June 1998. He studied journalism at

Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

in Edinburgh. Unable to find work in newspapers Smart worked as a football coach for Dutch company Coerver between 2001–02. After two football injuries he returned to Scotland to work for Deadline Press and Picture Agency, covering news in the east of Scotland. When the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

were held in

in 2003, Smart was introduced to Victoria Newton, then editor of the ''Bizarre'' showbiz column of '' The Sun'' newspaper who gave him shifts for the Sun in London, leading to a three month contract with the

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

. Smart joined ''Bizarre'' at ''The Sun'' in 2004 as Victoria Newton's deputy; then became column editor when she was promoted to head of entertainment in November 200. His column comprised a 'cabinet' of Pete Samson ("Office of the minister of music"), Danielle Lawler and other deputies. Lawler left to join The ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' as a 3am Girl soon after, while Samson now holds the US Editor position at The Sun. In 2013, he was one of the witnesses to the

helicopter crash 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 attributes ...

at the "Clutha" Pub in Glasgow, which killed 10 people. Smart became a deputy editor of the Sun in London in May 2016 but left the paper altogether in November 2016 to focus on other business and broadcasting interests.

Radio

Smart hosted a show on

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysa ...

's XFM between 2011 and 2013, returning to the station, rebranded Radio X, in April 2016 to host a Sunday show. In January 2017 he became the host of the weekday evening show . In March 2020, Smart he left Radio X due to ill health and in September 2020, it was confirmed that Smart would not be returning.

Other media work

Smart once appeared on '' The Xtra Factor'' as a part of the celebrity panel. In May 2010 he appeared on

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 ...

's ''Real Stories'' discussing the careers of music stars including

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

and

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

with host Dave Berry. He now works for TalkSPORT on the 4pm to 7pm Drivetime show Gordon started on Good Morning Britain in December 2022 as a cover presenter. As of August 2022, Gordon hosts the Restless Natives weekly podcast via Global Player alongside friend, actor and fellow Scot,

Martin Compston Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) is a Scottish actor and former Association Football, professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach, Ken Loach's '' ...

. https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts/42KuVS/ Restless Natives Podcast hosted by Global Player, launched August 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Gordon Living people 1980 births Scottish people