Alex Zane

Alex Zane (born Faris Alexander L. Albayaty; 3 March 1979) is a British television presenter and DJ.

Alex Zane
Alex Zane at The Other Woman London premiere in April 2014
Born (1979-03-03) 3 March 1979
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationRadio and television presenter
Years active2000–present
Signature

Background

Zane was born in Leeds and attended Boston Spa School before going on to study Medicine at University College London,[1] a course which he left after a year, and then Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College.[1]

Stand-up comedy and radio

Zane began his career at the age of 18 when he became a finalist on an open-mic competition called So You Think You're Funny. He moved to London to concentrate on his career, and before leaving medical school, he presented "The Alex Zane Show" on UCL's student radio station Rare FM. He also presented on Wired FM, which led to his own show on London alternative/Indie station Xfm. His radio show was heard by MTV producers, who subsequently signed him up to present shows such as Screenplay and TRL. From April 2007 to April 2009 he presented the weekday breakfast show on Xfm.[2] Zane and his team (Marc Haynes and Sunta Templeton) were suspended from the show in August 2008 after he broadcast a self-created song called "I Won't Take No For An Answer", deemed to be offensive by the station.[3] All three returned a week later, with Zane accusing Xfm of "over-reacting in the extreme," claiming that his song had been misinterpreted and that the station had not received any complaints.[4][3] Zane left Xfm in April 2009, with the station stating that his sudden departure was by "mutual agreement".[5]

In April 2010 it was announced Alex would jointly present a Friday evening radio show on NME Radio with the creator of the indie club night Propaganda, DJ Dan. The Show launched 30 April and has a 6pm-8pm time slot.[6] The show is presented live and blends Alex and DJ Dan's taste in music with the NME Radio playlist. In 2010 Alex performed at the Edinburgh Festival with his stand-up show 'Just One More Thing...'.

Television presenting

In 2006 Zane was signed by Channel 4 under an exclusive contract. He co-presented Popworld and the accompanying Popworld Radio podcast with Alexa Chung until the programme ended in July 2007. He has narrated an E4 television show, Princess Nikki, and made appearances on Channel 4 entertainment programmes such as The Law of the Playground, 8 out of 10 cats and Balls of Steel. He presented E4's coverage of Channel 4's hoax reality show Space Cadets,[2] as well as Death Wish Live, the BT Digital Music Awards in 2005 and 2006 and Carling Live 24. He has also presented television coverage of several large scale music events, including the V Festival, and the Wireless Festival in London's Hyde Park and more recently Orange Unsigned Act. He presented Celebrity Scissorhands first on BBC Three, then on BBC One, as part of the BBC's Children in Need charity campaign in November 2006.[2] He has presented Channel 4's variety show based on YouTube videos, Rude Tube, four times (February 2008, January 2009, January 2010 and October to November 2010). Zane also co-presented the Kerrang! music awards 2008 with Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil. He has done promotional presenting work with BBC Blast including a piece on what creativity means.

Alex Zane at the Xfm Music Awards, January 2008

He had small acting roles in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005), Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead and The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse

In July 2009, he co-hosted Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: A T4 Special with Rick Edwards and hosted the Channel 4 coverage of Inglourious Basterds.

Between 2008 and 2011 Zane also hosted a film show, Alex Zane's Guest List, on Sky Movies Premiere.[7][8]

In early 2010 he appeared with Bill Bailey as a team captain on birdwatching show Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza for Sky 1.[9] Additionally, he also does the voice-over for Channel 4 TV show 'Ultimate Traveller'.

A Best of Rude Tube DVD, presented by Alex Zane, was released on 21 November 2011.

Writing

Zane has written comedy material for The Eleven O'Clock Show (Channel 4), Smack the Pony (Channel 4), Brain Candy (BBC Three), and The Sketch Show (ITV1). He also presents some shows on Kerrang! TV. He has been the film reviewer for The Sun newspaper since November 2009.[10]

References
  1. "Alex Zane: My Life in Media". The Independent. 29 May 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  2. Brook, Stephen (20 April 2007). "Zane steps into Laverne's shoes". London: Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  3. "DJ Zane's anger at XFM suspension". BBC News. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  4. "'Axed' Alex Zane Accuses XFM of Over-Reacting". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  5. Paul Smith. "Where does Xfm go next?". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  6. Propaganda (30 March 2010). "Propaganda confirms New London Night and Propaganda Radio Show Launch With Alex Zane & DJ Dan!". Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  7. "Alex Zanes guest list". movies.sky.com. BSkyB. Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  8. Alex Zane's GuestList Talk-Show/TV Series (2008–2011) on IMDb, Retrieved 24 November 2016
  9. "TV review: Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza/Silent Witness – The Scotsman". thescotsman.scotsman.com. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  10. Plunkett, John (25 November 2009). "Alex Zane to become the Sun's film critic". the Guardian.
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