Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV's '' This Morning'' on Fridays, school holidays and bank holidays alongside Alison Hammond, a role expanded to the remainder of the week on a rotation with the departures of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in the summer and autumn of 2023. O'Leary began his radio career working as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

at Essex Radio. From 2001 to 2003, he was a presenter for London's

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

station XFM. O'Leary joined BBC Radio 2 in 2004 and currently presents the Saturday morning breakfast show and since April 2022 ''Alternative Sounds of the 90's''.

Early life

Seán Dermot O'Leary was born on 24 May 1973 in Colchester, Essex, the son of Irish parents Maria and Seán both from Co. Wexford. He attended primary school in nearby

Marks Tey Marks Tey is a large village and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Essex, England; it is located six miles west of Colchester. It is one in a group of villages called ''The Teys'', including Great Tey and L ...

and later joined St Benedict's Catholic College in Colchester. His complacent attitude at school caused him to fail all but two of his

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

. Following that, O'Leary re-took his school-leaving qualifications. This allowed him to later start his A-Level courses at Colchester Sixth Form College. He eventually studied for a degree in Media Studies with Politics at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

. Growing up, he was a member of

The Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christianity, Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman William Alexander Smith (Boys' Brigade), Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun acti ...

Christian youth organisation. When he was in his late teens, he played

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

for the Colchester Gladiators and the Ipswich Cardinals, where he wore the number 32.

Career

Early career

O'Leary started as a

at BBC Essex, before becoming a runner on the TV show ''

Light Lunch ''Light Lunch'' (later ''Late Lunch'') was a Channel 4 lunch-time comedy chatshow broadcast on weekdays at 12:30pm between 24 March 1997 and 27 February 1998, which was moved to weeknights at 6:00pm between 31 March 1998 and 5 March 1999. It ...

'' with

Mel Giedroyc Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc ( , ; born 5 June 1968) is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, '' The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC an ...

and

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...

and then a presenter at

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

as part of the original presenting line-up of the channel's '' T4'' strand, before moving on to present '' Big Brother's Little Brother'' (the companion show to '' Big Brother'') on E4 from 2001 onwards. Also in 2001, O'Leary appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. In 2004, O'Leary hosted the TV show '' Shattered''.

ITV

On 29 March 2007, it was announced that O'Leary would replace Kate Thornton as the new host of ITV's ''

'' for at least two series. On 27 March 2015, O'Leary confirmed that he had quit ''The X Factor'' after eight years to pursue other projects. Via his Twitter account, he said: O'Leary was replaced by Olly Murs and

Caroline Flack Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English television presenter and actress. Flack grew up in Norfolk and took an interest in dancing and theatre while at school. She began her professional career as an actress, ...

, who previously co-hosted '' The Xtra Factor'', the behind-the-scenes companion programme, together in 2011 and 2012. On 29 March 2016, O'Leary returned to ''The X Factor'' as a presenter, replacing Murs and Flack, for the show's 13th series. In a statement, he said: From 2010 to 2019, O'Leary presented the '' National Television Awards'' for ITV. Since 2010, O'Leary has hosted '' Soccer Aid'' on ITV, a celebrity football match in aid of the charity

Unicef UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. In 2011, O'Leary hosted the Saturday night entertainment show '' The Marriage Ref'' on ITV. In September 2013, O'Leary hosted ''BRITs Icon: Elton John'', a one-off music celebration for ITV. In 2013, O'Leary presented the ITV campaign '' From the Heart'', which encouraged viewers to consider organ donation. In January 2014, O'Leary filled in for Phillip Schofield for a week when he guest presented '' This Morning'' opposite Holly Willoughby. In 2017, O'Leary co-presented the 37th BRIT Awards with Emma Willis. In March 2017, O'Leary guest-presented nine episodes of '' The Nightly Show'' on ITV. In November 2020, it was announced that Eamonn Holmes and

Ruth Langsford Ruth Wendy Langsford (born 17 March 1960) formerly known as Ruth Holmes is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including ''This Morning (TV programme), This Morning'' (1999–2022), of which she is the ...

had been dropped from their Friday slot on ''This Morning'' after 14 years. Alison Hammond and O'Leary were announced to takeover the slot later that month. They presented their first show in January 2021.

Channel 4

On 27 November 2007, it was announced that '' Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack'' was to be O'Leary's last series of ''Big Brother''. After seven years, he made his final ''Big Brother'' appearance on 28 January 2008. In March 2007, O'Leary signed a year-long contract with Channel 4 to appear on ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

''. However, this was shortened after a series of disputes on set. Jim Rowe, a series writer at the time, said, "He couldn't follow even the simplest commands. It goes to show how vastly different presenting is to acting". O'Leary hasn't acted since. In 2009, O'Leary presented an episode of '' The Paul O'Grady Show'', standing in for Paul O'Grady. In March 2014, O'Leary made a return to Channel 4, where he presented the ''Live From Space'' season for three consecutive nights.

BBC

O'Leary was a presenter for ''

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

'' in 2005, 2011 and 2013. He also presented ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

'' in 2012. In August 2006, O'Leary signed a deal to present the game show '' 1 vs. 100'', which aired on Saturday nights on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in combination with The National Lottery Draws. In May 2009, O'Leary became the presenter of

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain (TV series), Little Britain'' (2003–2006) ...

and David Walliams's show '' Rock Profile'' on BBC. In March 2010, O'Leary hosted a spin-off edition of the BBC One show '' Question Time'' aimed at first time voters, which aired on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. He also presented ''Dermot Meets...'', a series which saw him interview the likes of

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

, and

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

. In November 2015, O'Leary replaced Terry Wogan on ''

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

'' due to Wogan's cancer-related ill health, from which he died a couple of months later. In 2016, O'Leary presented the BBC One Saturday night game show '' The Getaway Car''. The series was filmed in November 2015 and began airing in January 2016. He has also guest-presented two episodes of '' The One Show'' with

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...

Radio

O'Leary joined London's

station XFM in 2001, firstly presenting weekday mid-mornings from 10am to 1pm, before moving to a Saturday evening show in mid-2002, where he remained until late 2003. O'Leary joined BBC Radio 2 in September 2004, presenting a Saturday afternoon show titled ''Dermot's Saturday Club'', which ran from 2pm to 4pm. Following a number of changes to the length and timing of O'Leary's programme, due in part to the arrival of Chris Evans to Radio 2 and his role as presenter of ''The X Factor'', his show was broadcast between 3pm and 6pm from April 2009 until its end on 21 January 2017. It focused on new music and had featured live sessions. O'Leary also hosted Radio 2's coverage of the BRIT Awards and

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. He won Sony Gold Awards for Music Programme of the Year in 2008, 2010, and 2013. Since March 2017, O'Leary has presented the Saturday morning breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 between 8am and 10am, taking over the slot from Brian Matthew and Sounds of the 60s, which moved to an earlier time of 6am with Tony Blackburn as presenter. Since April 2022 he has presented the weekly show ''Alternative Sounds of the 90s with Dermot O'Leary''.

Other work

In March 2009, O'Leary introduced

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

to an audience of fans at

The O2 The O2 (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, Town square, piazzas, ...

in what turned out to be Jackson's final public appearance before his death. In 2015, he was named one of GQ's 50 Best Dressed Men in Britain. He has voiced television advertisements for

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

. In 2017, he released a children's book called ''Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape''. In 2024, he released another children's book called ''Wings of Glory''.

Charity work

O'Leary opened The Rodillian Academy in 2001. He is one of nine presidents of Better Planet Education and is a patron of the international children's film festival CineMagic, a registered charity for young people based in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He has campaigned on behalf of Make Poverty History, and visited

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

with CAFOD accompanied by his father. He is also a patron of the male cancer awareness campaign Everyman. In 2003, he played in a charity match for the Colchester Gladiators as a

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

, helping to raise £2,500 for the Barnardo's children's fund. In 2005, O'Leary ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

for the third time, completing it for his first time under four hours. In March 2014, along with Jeremy Kyle, Bill Bailey, John Prescott,

Richard Osman Richard Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show ''Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows ''Two Tribes ( ...

, Rizzle Kicks, Louis Smith, Levi Roots, and Ricky Wilson, O'Leary went commando for charity to raise awareness of testicular cancer. The promo was released on 24 February 2014. For Red Nose Day 2015, O'Leary participated in a 24-hour dance to raise money for Comic Relief.

Personal life

O'Leary married his long-term girlfriend, Dee Koppang, in Chiddingstone in September 2012. Koppang is of Norwegian descent. They have one son, Kasper, who was born in June 2020. In a 2003 interview, O'Leary praised the Socialist Workers Party but quipped that they would "take all of ismoney", so he instead supported the Labour Party. He supports Arsenal F.C., Celtic F.C. and London Irish RFC. He can be heard on the ''Footballistically Arsenal'' podcast with his friends and fellow Arsenal fans Dan Baldwin and Boyd Hilton; on the show, it was mentioned that he owns shares in the club. He supports Wexford GAA in

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

. During a studio guest appearance on '' Fantasy Football Euro 2004'', he spoke of his support for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

national football team and the national rugby union team. In 2007, O'Leary was an usher at the wedding of Holly Willoughby. He is a practising

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. In an interview with Peter Stanford of the ''Daily Telegraph'' in February 2008, he "cheerfully" admitted using contraception while living with his future wife: "I do get it in the neck from some Catholics who say I am a buffet Catholic, picking and choosing the bits I like or don't like." O'Leary co-owned the Fishy Fishy restaurants in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

. The Poole restaurant closed in 2013, and the Brighton restaurant closed in 2016.

Television

Radio

References

External links

*
''Dermot O'Leary''
(BBC Radio 2)
''Alternative Sounds of the 90s with Dermot O'Leary''
(BBC Radio 2) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Dermot 1973 births Living people Alumni of Middlesex University BBC Radio 2 presenters English people of Irish descent English radio DJs English Roman Catholics English socialists English television presenters People from Colchester Television personalities from Essex