Bradley Walsh

Bradley Walsh
Walsh in July 2012.
Born Bradley John Walsh
(1960-06-04) 4 June 1960
Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Occupation Actor, television presenter, comedian, singer, footballer
Spouse(s)
Donna Derby (m. 1997)
Children 2
Association football career
Playing position Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1982 Brentford 0 (0)
1978–1979Barnet (loan) 5 (0)
1981–1982Dunstable Town (loan) 25 (15)
Tring Town
Boreham Wood
Chalfont St Peter
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960)[1][2] is an English actor, comedian, singer,[3] television presenter and former professional footballer, known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in Coronation Street and the lead role of DS Ronnie Brooks in Law & Order: UK, as well as hosting ITV game shows The Chase and Cash Trapped.

Walsh also hosts the annual Crime Thriller Awards and the Specsavers Crime Thriller Club on ITV3, he hosts the variety show Tonight at the London Palladium and is a team captain on the sports-themed panel show Play to the Whistle.

In October 2017, the BBC announced that Walsh had been cast as Graham O'Brien in the eleventh series of Doctor Who.[4]

Early life

Walsh was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, and grew up nearby in Leavesden. He attended what is now Francis Combe Academy, a comprehensive school in Garston, Hertfordshire.[5] At school, Walsh showed a particular interest in sports and media, and passed O-levels in both subjects. He was also a prominent member of the school's football squad, scoring 64 goals during his time there.[6]

Football career

In late 1978, at the age of eighteen, Walsh became a professional football player for Brentford and although he failed to make the first team, he was regularly a member of the reserves.[7] Separate ankle fracture injuries finished his career in the game in the early-1980s after a promising loan spell with non-league Dunstable Town, for whom he scored 15 goals in 25 league appearances.[8]

Walsh's time at Brentford also saw him play for Barnet on loan, making five Southern Football League appearances in the 1978–79 season. He also played for Tring Town, Boreham Wood and Chalfont St Peter.[9]

Walsh often participates in Soccer Aid, a charity football match where England takes on The Rest of the World with teams made up of celebrities and football legends,[10] he helped England win the 2006 edition as a player and the 2012 and 2016 editions as a coach.

Television

Following his football career, Walsh had a variety of jobs including working as a bluecoat at Pontins[11] in Morecambe for three months.[12] He first came to prominence on television in 1994 after he won a role as one of the presenting team on the National Lottery which was regularly broadcast on Saturday and Wednesday evenings on BBC One.

After Walsh became a public favourite, he was quickly snapped up by rival television channel ITV, who offered him the role as presenter on one of the network's new game shows, Midas Touch. In 1997, Walsh was asked to front the British adaptation of the popular US game show Wheel of Fortune following the decision of long-time presenter Nicky Campbell to leave the show after more than eight years.

Walsh's tenure on Wheel of Fortune lasted just one year, when he decided to turn his hand to acting. He also appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.[13]

Acting

Walsh's first acting job was a minor role in the Channel 4 series, Lock, Stock.... Channel 4 later approached him for a role in their 2001 TV film Mike Bassett: England Manager.

Walsh returned to ITV in 2002, after landing a regular role in the short lived British soap opera Night and Day. He featured in a total of 52 episodes. In 2003, Walsh played a minor role in an episode of The Bill spin-off M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team.

In 2004, Walsh was approached for a role in soap opera Coronation Street. On 31 May 2004, Walsh made his first appearance in Weatherfield as factory boss Danny Baldwin. It was originally envisaged that Walsh's character would be called Vic, however, Walsh asked for the character's name to be changed to Danny after his late father. He also commented that "people had previously called me Young Danny, so I thought it would not be so bad when people called me by my character name."

In December 2006, Walsh was written out of the series at his own request.[14] During his time in Coronation Street, Walsh also appeared as Burglar Bill in the one-off play The Queen's Handbag.

In October 2007, he appeared in TV drama Torn.

In 2008, Walsh appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, in the second story of series two, The Day of the Clown, as a sinister entity that fed off other people's fear. In his role, he played three parts of the same ego – a sinister American-sounding clown called Odd Bob, a mysterious European-sounding ringmaster called Elijah Spellman, and the infamous Pied Piper of Hamelin.

In January 2009, Walsh and his son Barney featured in a special edition of the Channel 5 TV series, Dangerous Adventures for Boys, based on the best-selling book by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys. Walsh and his son took part in hill-climbing before learning how to pilot a biplane.

In January 2009, Walsh began appearing in ITV crime drama Law & Order: UK. Walsh plays the character of DS Ronnie Brooks, a recovering alcoholic who has been in the police force for more than twenty years. From 2009 until 2014, Walsh starred in a total of 53 episodes. After the eighth series, Walsh decided to take a break from the programme and ITV decided to rest the show, but it has not been cancelled and is simply on a hiatus. Walsh said he would "like the opportunity to pursue other drama projects which ITV are developing."[15]

On 21 March 2013, Walsh appeared in an episode of The Spa on Sky Living.

In May 2014, Walsh was cast as Brutus in a BBC One comedy series called SunTrap, starring alongside Kayvan Novak and Keith Allen. The show premiered on 27 May 2015.[16][17]

In October 2017, the BBC announced that Walsh had been cast as a companion Graham O'Brien in the eleventh series of Doctor Who.[18]

Presenting

On 9 September 2007, Walsh hosted the countdown 50 Greatest Stars Polls on ITV, in which people had to vote for their favourite polls on celebrities. Later that year, on 29 December 2007, Walsh hosted the countdown for the No. 1 Soap Fan on ITV.

In August 2008, Walsh fronted his own ITV series entitled My Little Soldier, in which young contestants are required to do "grown-up things" such as travelling on their own by train. In November and December 2008, Walsh hosted another game show for ITV called Spin Star.[19]

In June 2009, Walsh became the presenter of ITV game show The Chase as well as the celebrity editions of the programme.[20] The Chase has become very popular, beating rival BBC quiz show Pointless regularly. The show features contestants who take on the "Chaser" in a series of general knowledge quiz rounds. There have also been a number of series of celebrity versions of the show, also hosted by Walsh.

Walsh hosted a pilot for an American version of The Chase in 2012. However, it was decided that Brooke Burns would host the show instead.[21]

Between 2010 and 2011, Walsh was the presenter of Saturday panel show Odd One In, with regular panellists Peter Andre and Jason Manford.[22]

Since 2012, Walsh has hosted the Crime Thriller Awards on ITV3. He also hosted the Crime Thriller Club on ITV3 in 2013.[23] Walsh also narrated a one-off documentary for ITV called The Circus.

In August 2014, Walsh hosted an ITV series called Come on Down! The Game Show Story, which looks back on the history of British game shows.[24]

On 26 October 2014, after two successful pilots, Walsh began hosting the first series of Keep It in the Family. He returned to host a second series in 2015.[25][26]

In 2014, Walsh presented an episode of Sunday Night at the Palladium. He returned to the show to present another episode in 2015. In 2016, he presented eight episodes of Tonight at the London Palladium, a spin-off from the Sunday night series.[27] A second series began airing in April 2017. On 26 December 2014, Walsh hosted an entertainment special called A Christmas Cracker, filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.[28]

In May 2016, Walsh guest presented an episode of The One Show with Alex Jones. In 2016, Walsh began presenting Cash Trapped, a daytime game show for ITV. A second series was aired in 2017.

Other work

In 2007, Walsh took part in Northern Rock's All Star Golf Tournament on ITV, in which his team, Team Europe, won. Walsh stated that he has been playing golf since he was twenty years old.

In August 2008, Walsh appeared in talent show Maestro on BBC Two where he placed sixth.

Since 2015, Walsh has been a team captain on the sports-based panel show Play to the Whistle. Hosted by Holly Willoughby, the first series lasted for seven episodes, beginning in April 2015. The second series began in April 2016, followed by a third in 2017.

In November 2016, Walsh released his debut album, Chasing Dreams, consisting of covers of jazz standards such as "That's Life" and "Mr. Bojangles" as well as the title track, an original song written by Walsh.[3] It became the biggest-selling debut album by a British artist in 2016, selling 111,650 copies.[29]

Theatre

Year Title Role Location
1988 Aladdin Wishee Washee Theatre Royal, Norwich
1991–92 Liverpool Empire Theatre
1994–96 Peter Pan Smee The Alban Arena, St Albans
1996–97 Cash on Delivery Whitehall Theatre
1997–98 Cinderella Buttons Theatre Royal, Nottingham
1998 Wimbledon Theatre
1999 Run For Your Wife Churchill Theatre
2000–01 Dick Whittington Dick Orchard Theatre, Dartford
2001–02 Snow White Muddles White Rock Theatre, Hastings
2002–03 Cinderella Buttons The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage
2003 Tom, Dick and Harry Theatre Royal, Windsor
2003–04 Jack & the Beanstalk The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage
2006–07 Cinderella Buttons Milton Keynes Theatre
2007–08 Aladdin Wishee Washee
2008–09 New Victoria Theatre, Woking
2010–11 Peter Pan Smee Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
2013–14 Cinderella Buttons Orchard Theatre, Dartford
2014–15 Peter Pan[30] Smee Milton Keynes Theatre
2015 Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure Captain Hook Adelphi Theatre, London (one-off concert)
Cinderella – The World's Biggest Panto[31] Buttons Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
2017 Peter Pan – The World's Biggest Panto[32] Smee Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
SSE Arena, Wembley

Awards

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Mike Bassett: England Manager Dave Dodds
The Glow George
2007 To Each His Own Cinema Father (segment "Happy Ending")
2013 Imagine Africa Himself

Television

Year Title Role Channel Notes
1995–1996 Midas Touch Presenter ITV
1997 Wheel of Fortune 1 series
2000 Lock, Stock... Larry Harmless Channel 4
The Thing About Vince Perry ITV
2001 Hotel Henry Channel 5
2002–2003 Night and Day Eddie "Woody" Dexter ITV
2003 Reps Terry Arnold
M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team Phil Seagrove
2004 The Basil Brush Show Mr. Savage CBBC
Murder City Ken Hill ITV
2004–2006 Coronation Street Danny Baldwin Regular cast member
2007 Torn Steven Taylor
The Old Curiosity Shop Mr. Liggers
2007–2008 The National Lottery Draws Presenter BBC One Occasional episodes
2008 The Sarah Jane Adventures Odd Bob
Elijah Spellman
The Pied Piper
CBBC 2 episodes
Spin Star Presenter ITV 1 series
2009–2014 Law & Order: UK DS Ronnie Brooks 8 series
2009–present The Chase Presenter 10 series (regular)
6 series (celebrity)
2010–2011 Odd One In 2 series
2012 The Revolting World of Stanley Brown Headmaster CBBC 1 episode
2012–2014 The Crime Thriller Awards Annually ITV3 Presenter
2013 Crime Thriller Club One-off special
2014 Come on Down! The Game Show Story Presenter ITV 1 series
A Christmas Cracker One-off special
2014, 2015 Sunday Night at the Palladium Guest presenter 2 episodes
2014–2015 Keep it in the Family Presenter 2 series
2015 SunTrap Brutus BBC One 1 series
2015–2017[33] Play to the Whistle Team captain ITV 3 series
2016–present Tonight at the London Palladium Presenter 2 series
Cash Trapped Presenter 2 series
2016 Drunk History Arthur Conan Doyle Comedy Central 1 episode
The One Show Guest presenter BBC One 1 episode
2017 The Nightly Show Guest presenter ITV 5 episodes
The Family Chase[34] Presenter 6 episodes
2018–present Doctor Who[35] Graham O'Brien[36] BBC One regular (companion to the Thirteenth Doctor)

Discography

Albums

Title Year Chart (2016) Peak
position
Chasing Dreams 2016 Scottish Albums (OCC)[37] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[38] 10
When You're Smiling 2017 Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[40] 11

References

  1. "findmypast.co.uk".
  2. "Bradley John Walsh". Company Check. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 Anisiobi, John James (21 October 2016). "The Chase presenter Bradley Walsh announces debut album Chasing Dreams with exclusive clip on Good Morning Britain". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  4. Sirani, Jordan (23 October 2017). "Doctor Who: 13th Doctor's Companions Revealed". IGN.
  5. "School reunion marks end of an era". Watford Observer. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  6. "Students". Franciscombe.herts.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  7. "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | EX BEES ROVER RETURNS". world.brentfordfc.co.uk. 16 August 2006. Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  8. "Bradley Walsh: 8 things you never knew about the Doctor Who and Chase star". 23 October 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  9. Griffin Gazette: Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus Chesterfield 30/09/95. 1995. p. 13.
  10. "Soccer Aid Teams". Unicef UK. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  11. "The 5-Minute Interview: Bradley Walsh, Comedian and actor". The Independent. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  12. "Bradley Walsh: 'Credit card? Never had one, never will'". The Daily Telegraph. 10 June 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  13. Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. 11 March 2001. ITV.
  14. "Bradley Walsh: 'I can't rule out Coronation Street return'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  15. "ITV to rest Law & Order: UK as Bradley Walsh quits". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  16. "Woody – brand new BBC One comedy starring Bradley Walsh and Kayvan Novak goes into production – Media Centre". BBC. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  17. "Bradley Walsh – The Sun Trap". bradleywalsh.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  18. "Doctor Who: Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill and Sharon D Clarke join Jodie Whittaker as regular cast members". Radio Times. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  19. "Ex-Corrie star lands ITV quiz role – TV News". Digital Spy. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  20. "Ann Widdecombe, Alex James, Eamonn Holmes for ITV1's 'Celebrity Chase'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  21. "Bradley Walsh to film 'The Chase' US pilot". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  22. "Bradley Walsh to host 'Odd One In'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  23. "Bradley Walsh on ITV3's new Crime Thriller Club series". ITV. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  24. "Come On Down! The Game Show Story". ITV. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  25. Richards, Chris (6 January 2014). "Simon Cowell new TV show: Keep It In The Family 'is inspired by the Generation Game'". Mirror. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  26. "Keep It In The Family". ITV. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  27. "Bradley Walsh to host Tonight At The London Palladium".
  28. "A Christmas Cracker". ITV. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  29. Read-Dominguez, Jennifer (4 January 2017). "You'll never guess which unlikely TV star had 2016's best-selling debut album". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  30. "Peter Pan – Milton Keynes Theatre – ATG Tickets". atgtickets.com. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  31. "Cinderella Panto – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham". Barclaycard Arena Birmingham.
  32. "Worlds Biggest Panto | Barclaycard Arena Birmingham | Peter Pan". Barclaycard Arena Birmingham. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  33. User, Super. "Play to the Whistle Will Not Get Series 4". premieredate.news.
  34. "The Chase lands Saturday slot". m.broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  35. Office, BBC Press. "Meet the Doctor's new team. Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill join Jodie Whittaker for #DoctorWho: http://bbc.in/2yIY5c2 pic.twitter.com/cupmAeBSwY". Retrieved 22 October 2017. External link in |title= (help)
  36. Grady, Constance (19 July 2018). "Watch: the first footage of Doctor Who's first woman Doctor is here". Vox. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  37. December 2016/40/ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  38. December 2016/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  39. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  40. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
Preceded by
Nicky Campbell
Host of Wheel of Fortune
1997
Succeeded by
John Leslie
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