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Andrew Castle
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Andrew Nicholas Castle (born 15 November 1963 in Epsom, Surrey) is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.
mother Lavinia Pollock (born Mary B), was adopted shortly after her birth. She married fishmonger Frank Castle in 1952. The couple had five children: James, Richard, David, Fiona and Andrew, who was born in 1963.
Castle's father was a master fishmonger who ran the fishmongers in Westerham, Kent where his customers included the lady of nearby Chartwell house, Winston Churchill's wife Clementine.
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Encyclopedia
Andrew Nicholas Castle (born 15 November 1963 in Epsom, Surrey) is an English retired tennis professional, and now television presenter.
Biography
His mother Lavinia Pollock (born Mary B), was adopted shortly after her birth. She married fishmonger Frank Castle in 1952. The couple had five children: James, Richard, David, Fiona and Andrew, who was born in 1963.
Castle's father was a master fishmonger who ran the fishmongers in Westerham, Kent where his customers included the lady of nearby Chartwell house, Winston Churchill's wife Clementine. He went on to own shops in Tadworth, Stoneleigh and Taunton before retiring in the mid seventies
Tennis career
Aged nine, Andrew was asked by a friend to come and play tennis: "I can remember every detail about the day, from the feel of the ball to how it sounded when coming off the net. I insisted we played for eight hours non-stop." His parents supported him, but ran out of money and his father was declared bankrupt, so both of them became taxi drivers. After winning the UK under-12 national tennis championships, Castle was given a full tennis scholarship to Millfield School. When Castle was 15, his parents separated and he had to leave Millfield, taking his A-levels at a local grammar school.
Castle became a professional tennis player in 1986 after completing a Marketing degree whilst on an athletic scholarship in the United States. During his playing career he was regularly ranked number one in Great Britain. He won three tour doubles titles and was a mixed doubles finalist at the 1987 Australian Open. He represented Britain at the Seoul Olympic Games of 1988 and the Barcelona Olympic Games of 1992. Castle was a regular member of the British Davis Cup team and the European Cup team. His career-high rankings were world number 80 in singles and number 45 in doubles.
Castle represents Surrey at Squash and continues to play representative tennis around the world.
TV career
After retiring from professional tennis in 1992, Castle served as a commentator and presenter for BSkyB. He presented basketball, motor racing and golf for Sky.
He joined GMTV in September 2000 as a presenter.
He is also a key member of the Bafta nominated BBC tennis team, covering Wimbledon, the Artois Championships at Queen's Club, the French Open, Australian Open and the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. Castle has been lead commentator on all men's singles finals since 2003 working alongside John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Tim Henman and John Lloyd.
In 2005 he presented ITV's daytime quiz show Perseverance.
He is still with GMTV where he presents alongside Emma Crosby every Thursday and Friday, plus alternate Wednesdays.
Strictly Come Dancing
Castle competed in the sixth series of the celebrity dance competition, Strictly Come Dancing. His partner was Ola Jordan. Castle's appearance marked the third time a main GMTV presenter has participated in the show. After Week 4, he was 11th out of the remaining 12 contestants with an average 22.5/40. Andrew was voted out after round 7 of the competition on Sunday November 2nd. He scored 21 points for his samba which placed him second from bottom on the judges' leader board. He appeared in the dance-off with Heather Small who was saved by all four of the judges.
Personal life
On 18 May 1991 Castle married former Japan Airlines air hostess Sophia, whom he had met in Tokyo whilst competing in The Japan Open tennis tournament.. The couple have two children, Georgina (16) and Claudia (14). Georgina sang for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity at the Inter Continental Hotel in May 2008 and gained considerable attention from press and record companies.Both children are sports scholars at their schools.
Castle is a supporter of Christopher's Hospice in Surrey, England in his role as Patron of Chase. In April 2006, he attempted to run the London Marathon and was hospitalised due to dehydration after managing 25 miles of the 26.2 mile course.
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