Dale Winton

Dale Winton (born 22 May, 1955 ^[1], London) is an English radio DJ and television presenter.

Early life

Winton was brought up by his mother Sheree Winton, an actress, and left school at 16.^[2]. Dale Winton's mother committed suicide when he was 21 years old and he only came out as a homosexual at the age of 47.^[3]

Career

Winton moved back to London in 1982 and began DJing at the weekends. His first job in entertainment was as a DJ on the London club circuit. From there he went to United Biscuits Industrial Radio where he did a variety of jobs before getting his own morning show.

He then joined Radio Trent in Nottingham, where he presented a weekend show before moving to the weekday mid-morning show, before leaving in 1985. He then joined Blue Danube Radio and had an entertainment show on Chiltern Radio. In 1986 he presented "Pet Watch" with BBC Bristol.

In 1987 he joined Beacon Radio, presenting again the weekday mid morning show before taking on the weekend equivalent. He also worked for Channel Four, the Lifestyle Channel and ITV. ^[1]

From 1993 to 2001, Winton hosted Dale's Supermarket Sweep during the Daytime TV period on ITV 1. In 2007, Supermarket Sweep was revived after a five and a half year absence.

From 1 April 2000 to 28 August 2004 Winton hosted Pick of the Pops from 2.00-3.30 pm on Saturday afternoons on BBC Radio Two, covering for Alan Freeman. From 18 September 2005, Winton returned to Radio 2 presenting Pick of the Pops once again, presenting on Sundays until 4 April 2009, when a Radio 2 weekend line-up shake-up saw it move to Saturday from 13:00 until 15:00.

In 1995, Winton appeared regularly on the TV version of BBC Radio's Just a Minute. Winton was seen as the camp, over-the-top, game show presenter in Danny Boyle's 1996 film of Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel Trainspotting.^[4]

In 1997, he presented the final of The Great British Song Contest, the UK's national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, due to a tie-in with the lottery programme.^[5]

In 1999 he appeared on the sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme with Kathy Burke in the episode Do They Take Sugar?^[6]

In 2001 he presented Channel 5's endurance show Touch The Truck. ^[7]

In 2002 he released his autobiography in which he wrote about his rise to fame, his actress mother's suicide and came out about his homosexuality.

In 2003 he appeared in the BBC Three mock documentary "Dale's Wedding" in which he supposedly married the UK celebrity Nell McAndrew.^[8]

Between 2004 and 2006, he presented three series of the celebrity weight loss "boot camp" programme, Celebrity Fit Club on ITV1.^[9]

In April 2006, he guest presented BBC Two's pop quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks.^[10]

In August 2006 he was chosen to host the pilot of Endemol's new show, Show Me What You've Got, however the show did not receive a full series.^[11]

In 2008, he continued to host the BBC One primetime Saturday night game show In It To Win It.^[12]. In February 2009, he signed a new contract to host at least two further series of the show, plus two series of a new Lotto tie-in.

In February 2008 he completed a pilot show for BBC One called You've Got The Answer, a money game show that surprises the public using hidden cameras.^[13]

In 2008 Winton presented BBC One's Saturday night entertainment programme Hole In The Wall, based on the Japanese original, where contestants in skin-tight Lycra costumes contort themselves to fit through oddly-shaped holes in a moving wall.^[14]

Personal life

Winton currently lives just outside Hatfield, Hertfordshire, a small town just outside London.

References

External links

• Radio 2 Bio
• Podcast Interview with Dale Winton
• IMDb