Chris Moyles
Encyclopedia
Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English
radio
and television
presenter
and author
, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show
on BBC Radio 1
and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
on Channel 4
.
Born in Leeds, he attended Mount St Mary's Catholic High School in Leeds and volunteered to work at WBHS (Wakefield's Broadcast to Hospitals Service). He has worked at various radio stations including Radio Luxembourg
(under the pseudonym Chris Holmes) and Capital FM. Moyles moved to BBC Radio 1
in 1997 and has remained there ever since, presenting an overnight show, drive time show and currently, the breakfast show. On 7 September 2009 he became Radio 1's longest serving breakfast presenter. Moyles has become famous for his irreverent broadcasting style on Radio 1 and has been embroiled in numerous controversies, including homophobic and sexist accusations, due to statements he has made on the air and in the press. Despite that, Moyles' regular audience figures averages 8 million listeners per annum, and remains one of the more popular presenters on BBC Radio 1.
He has achieved various Radio awards, and has helped raise money for charity by taking part in challenges, aired on T.V on behalf of Comic Relief
. He has recorded a parody
album and written two autobiographies. He frequently appears on television having appeared on Hotel Babylon
, a celebrity version of Dale's Supermarket Sweep
, Top Gear, The Charlotte Church Show
, The F-Word
, The Friday Night Project
, Richard & Judy
and The New Paul O'Grady Show. In 2009 he launched his own show, Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
for Channel 4
which is currently in its fifth series.
and was educated at the Mount St Mary's Catholic High School
in Leeds. While at school, he began his broadcasting career at WBHS (Wakefield's Broadcast to Hospitals Service), a voluntary staffed hospital radio station in the West Yorkshire city.
He then started out at local station Aire FM as an assistant for DJ Carl Kingston. During this time, he was also a presenter on Radio Top Shop in the Leeds Briggate branch. After hosting his own Saturday Evening Show on Aire FM (and occasionally serving as a stand-in presenter), he was then employed as a presenter at Radio Luxembourg in 1992, until the station closed.
In 1993, he gained a job at The Pulse of West Yorkshire
, presenting the evening show from 7–10 pm. He remained there until early 1994 when he was dismissed for comments made about the station's previous programme controller. Moyles subsequently turned up at Signal 1
in Stoke-on-Trent
– again presenting The Evening Bit from 7–10 pm. In 1995 Moyles was heard on the Chiltern Radio Network
, presenting the evening show from 7–10 pm, before taking on the late show from 10 pm–1 am. This show was simulcast on Horizon Radio, Chiltern Radio, Severn Sound
and Northants 96
.
In 1996, Moyles joined London station Capital FM hosting his weekend show 'The Late Bit', which went out on a Friday & Saturday evening, and covering for other DJs. It was at Capital that Moyles fell out with fellow DJ 'Doctor' Neil Fox. After declining the offer of presenting the breakfast show on rival station Kiss 100
, Moyles joined Radio 1 in July 1997.
and presented his first show on Radio 1 on 28 July 1997, hosting the 4–7 am Early Breakfast show – soon called The Early Bit. In May 1998, his work was recognised with the award of the Silver Sony Awards
DJ of the Year, and he was styling himself as 'The Saviour Of Early Morning Radio'. Within the year Moyles was promoted to a Saturday breakfast, then Saturday mid-morning slot from 10 am–1 pm. Since joining Radio 1, he has presented all his shows with David "Comedy Dave" Vitty, who worked behind the scenes at the station prior to Moyles' arrival.
After standing in regularly for Kevin Greening
and Zoe Ball
on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Moyles's next promotion came in October 1998 when he took control of the drivetime show from 4–5.45 pm. The show was extended to 3–5.45 pm in February 2001. Moyles has co-presented the show from 1998, with his sidekick
.
On 5 January 2004, Moyles started presenting Radio 1's flagship programme The Breakfast Show, switching places with Sara Cox
. He had been appointed to increase the ratings for the show and did so, putting on an extra 1,000,000 listeners to the audience in the first quarter of 2004. After a successful first year, Moyles was awarded 'DJ of the Year' by readers of The Sun
.
By 2005, Moyles and his team had succeeded in hugely increasing the morning audience, with his programme's audience swelling to 6.5 million. This was coupled with an increase in the overall Radio 1 audience share. With 895,000 listeners in London
in the third quarter of 2005, he succeeded in overtaking Johnny Vaughan
to take the position of the capital's most listened to youth breakfast show. Moyles's audience rating's continued to increase each week and led to him winning a gold Sony Radio Award in 2006 for best entertainment show
.
With the release of the RAJAR
listening figures on 3 August 2006, Moyles had added a further 470,000 listeners to the Breakfast Show, taking the average listenership up to 6.79 million. On 10 May 2007, RAJAR
figures confirmed that Moyles had increased his listening figures to 7.06 million, breaking the seven million barrier for the first time with the station having 10.55 million listeners overall. Moyles again increased his audience to 7.72 million as of 1 May 2008 slightly narrowing the gap between him and Terry Wogan
, the current highest rated radio show in the UK. The station's overall listener figure is now over 11 million.
On 12 May 2008 The Chris Moyles Breakfast Show won its second Sony radio gold award for 'best breakfast show'. At this time he was given another half hour on his show going from 7 am–10 am to 6.30 am–10 am.
On 7 September 2009 Moyles became the longest serving breakfast presenter on Radio 1, breaking the record previously set by Tony Blackburn
.
In March 2011, Moyles and on-air radio personality Dave Vitty beat the record for the longest continuous Radio 1 show, on Radio 1's Longest Show Ever with Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave for Comic Relief. Between 16 and 18 March they beat both Simon Mayo
's 1999 record of 37 hours and the 'Radio DJ Endurance Marathon (Team)' Guinness World Record by broadcasting for 52 hours for Comic Relief
initially raising £2.4 million, and with an audience of 2.84 million, it was the most popular live BBC Red Button radio feature ever. The event raised a final total of £2,821,831.
On 1 July 2011 it was announced that Chris will remain within the BBC
until at least 2014, ending speculation that he would move to a commercial rival. This would allow the presenter to reach his 10-year anniversary on The Chris Moyles Show
. It is estimated that the deal is worth £1 million.
breakfast show in the UK
, and has been since Chris Moyles
became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from 6:30 am. It is the longest running Radio 1 breakfast show in the station's history. On the 1st of July 2011 it was announced that Moyles had signed a contract to keep him on the show until 2014 making it a decade on the breakfast show.
, sports reader Tina Daheley, producer Aled Haydn Jones
; Day producer Freya Mehta and assistant producer Matt Fincham. Moyles friends also contribute to the show such as "Longman" (until 2007) and "Rob DJ". Presenters such as Andi Peters
, Davina McCall
Keith Chegwin
and impressionist Jon Culshaw
, contribute, albeit infrequently. Roy Walker
appear's as "Roy" the voice of the daily quiz show "Car Park Catchphrase".
Tedious Link : This feature was carried forward from Moyles' afternoon show and is a parody of Jo Whiley
's now defunct feature Tenuous Link. Comedy Dave plays one song, first explaining how this song is linked to the last show's feature song with a deliberately ramshackle and vague succession of linking 'facts', some real and some ludicrous.
The Golden Hour : A well-established feature, previously on Radio 1 from 1973 to 2001. For the first half, records are played that all charted in the UK Singles Chart
in a certain year and listeners are invited to guess the year. The second half are random songs chosen by each member of the team.
Rob DJ's Monday Night Pub Quiz : The team play a 5-question pub quiz against each other. The questions are taken from a real pub quiz run the previous evening by one of Chris's friends, Rob DJ, in their mutual home town of Leeds
. Running totals of each team member's recent scores are kept and analysed. Listeners are able to play along via SMS
, Facebook
and Twitter
.
. The previous record of 37 hours was set by Simon Mayo
in 1999.
Moyles and Vitty began their record attempt on the morning of 16 March 2011. At the beginning of the show, Moyles announced that they would attempt to break the Guinness World Record for "Radio DJ Endurance Marathon (Team)" and attempt to continuously broadcast for 51 hours 30 minutes. At 19:30 on 17 March they were joined by Simon Mayo who held the previous record and also revealed that they had raised £1,009,033. Moyles and Vitty were presented with a cake by Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt
.
On Friday 18 March 2011 at 08:30 Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave broke the Guinness World Record for the 'Longest Marathon Radio DJ (team)' and by the end of the show (at 10:00), they had hit the 51 and a half hour mark. The duo opted to 'round it off' by going to 10:30 and thus set a new record of 52 hours. In doing, so they raised a final total of £2,406,648 for Comic Relief, which is an average of £46,282 for each hour they were on air. During the attempt the duo were joined by many celebrity guests including The Wanted
, Chipmunk
, Jimmy Carr
, Craig David
, Katy Perry
and Ricky Gervais
. The grand total has since increased to £2,821,831 and with an audience of 2.84 Million, the event was the most popular live BBC Red Button radio feature ever. 3.8 Million people watched on the Radio 1 Website.
to raise money for Comic Relief reaching the summit on 7 March 2009. He was joined by his show's producer, Rachel Mallender and BBC Radio 1 controller, Andy Parfitt
. Also on the climb were Girls Aloud
members Cheryl Cole
and Kimberley Walsh
, Fearne Cotton
, Ben Shephard
, Gary Barlow
, Ronan Keating
, Denise Van Outen
and Alesha Dixon
. He recorded a parody song around this time to promote the climb, mentioning all the names of the people that were also taking part – it was based on Lily Allen's "The Fear", and was called "(A month off of) The Beer".
From 3 February – 23 March 2009, Moyles was joined by Kimberley Walsh, Cheryl Cole
, Gary Barlow
, Ronan Keating
and Fearne Cotton
to help raise money for charity by reading the time on the Speaking Clock.
, and his voice can be heard in the films Wimbledon
, War of the Worlds
and Robots
. In some of these films, his voice was only used for the UK version.
, ran five shows a week for 13 weeks. Chris was replaced by Christian O'Connell
, before the programme was shelved altogether.
He and sidekick Dave Vitty had their own TV show, also entitled The Chris Moyles Show
like their current Radio 1 show, which was aired from 1998–99 on the now-defunct UK satellite
and cable
channel UK Play.
Moyles voiced the fourth and final series of Sky One
show The Villa
and has occasionally presented Top of the Pops
. He has also worked for the Comic Relief and Children in Need
charities on their telecasts.
Moyles has presented a number of episodes of Big Brother's Big Mouth. Daily Mirror journalist Rob Leigh once said of his Big Brother's Big Mouth presenting that "Chris Moyles may be Marmite for the ears on radio but never quite nails it on TV, even with his relative star power". He also presented The Big Breakfast
on Channel 4
several times between 2000 and 2002.
On 24 October 2011, The Metro announced that Moyles would be presenting a new dating show, The Love Machine, alongside Stacey Solomon
for Sky. Moyles confirmed this on his radio show that morning.
, called Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
on 22 March 2009. The show consists of Moyles alongside three other celebrities partaking in a traditional pub-style quiz. The original series had the four competing to win an item that belonged to Moyles but this has since developed into a more traditional quiz with the loser singing karaoke-style at the end of the show.
The opening show received poor viewing figures attracting just 6% of total audience for the timeslot. It was continued for a second series between 26 February and 11 April 2010, a third series following between 1 November and 22 December 2010 and fourth between 15 July and 2 September 2011. The show is currently in its fifth series.
show The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars
and had minor success. He was voted out of the show on 4 June 2006 in the semi-final. Following this appearance, stories in the New Statesman
and The Sun
both reported that Moyles was looking to relaunch his television career; rumours suggested that he had been offered his own show by ITV
. Moyles has spoken of a desire to transfer the format of his radio show to the T.V, but otherwise has thus far stayed clear of a conventional TV format.
Moyles played himself in an episode of the drama Hotel Babylon
which aired on 15 February 2007 and appeared on a celebrity version of Dale's Supermarket Sweep
that broadcast on the same day. He has appeared as a guest on numerous British television shows, including the ninth series of Top Gear
, Never Mind The Buzzcocks
, The Charlotte Church Show
, The F-Word
, The Friday Night Project
, Richard & Judy
and The New Paul O'Grady Show.
In 2008, Moyles appeared on the Brit Awards
to present the award for the best live act, and appeared in the BBC
documentary series Comedy Map of Britain
. He has appeared on Channel 4's Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
TV programme as well as an appearance as a team captain on the Channel 4 show Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong
and on 18 July 2008 he appeared on Jimmy Carr's show on Channel 4, 8 out of 10 Cats
.
On 23 February 2009, Chris was the guest on BBC One's The One Show
to promote the BT Red Nose climb of Mount Kilimanjaro
. He appeared again on the show on 26 February 2010 to talk about and promote the second series of Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
. In July 2009, he featured in an episode of the genealogy
documentary
series
Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC One
where he explored his Irish
ancestry. He visited Ireland and Belgium, where his great grandfather fought and died in World War One. On the programme Moyles discovered that his last name means bald servant from the Irish
"Ó Maolmanach". He also co-presented Children in Need Rocks Manchester
in November 2011.
On 4 October 2007 a follow-up book Chris Moyles: The Difficult Second Book, published by Ebury Press, was officially released. The Difficult Second Book was released in paperback on 1 May 2008. Stewart Lee
, on his own programme Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
, commented that the title of the book suggests "a degree of irony and self-awareness largely absent from the text itself" and then went on to deconstruct and mock the book's contents.
, Moyles regularly discusses the process of making the show, often spoofing clichéd radio practices. Many of his show's features are homages to or exaggerations of other radio features.
song "Stan" that was No.1 in the charts at the time, with a seasonal Christmas themed variation called "Stanta", instead. It became one of the most popular requested parodies, and was often played more than once during the course of a show.
In October 2004, Moyles and The Chris Moyles Show
team replaced U2
's "Vertigo" at number one in the UK Official Download Chart
with their download-only charity song "Dogz Don't Kill People (Wabbitz Do)", under the name 'Mouldie Lookin' Stain'. The song was a spoof
of Goldie Lookin' Chain's "Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do
" (itself a spoof rap song) and proceeds went to Comic Relief. At the time of its release, it was the fastest selling download on UK charts.
Moyles has parodied several Kaiser Chiefs
songs under the name "The Kaiser Chefs". These include "I Predict A Diet" (Parody of I Predict a Riot
) and "Donny" (Parody of Ruby
). Chris and Ricky Wilson
of the Kaiser Chiefs
(both Leeds United
fans) said they had accidentally given Doncaster Rovers
fans an unofficial anthem with "Donny" after Doncaster Rovers
beat Leeds United
1–0 in the 2008 League One Play Off Final.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup
in Germany, Chris organised a parody of England World Cup songs, to ridicule the number of songs there were out at the time. Listener favourite "Jose
– The Special One" a parody of "Rosé
" by The Feeling
, was written on team manager José Mourinho's departure from Chelsea and was banned after Chelsea FC
complained to the BBC (although subsequently played repeatedly on his show and on Radio 5 Live). He made a parody of "We Have Got to Zero Baby", a take on Enrique Iglesias
's "Hero
", which describes how his football team, Leeds United
, managed to claw back a 15-point deficit in League One in only 5 games. In November 2007, he used Hoosiers
– "Goodbye Mr A
" for "Goodbye Mr. M" where he sings about the Ex-England football manager Steve McClaren
being sacked.
Often Moyles will pick a track because of the silliness of its lyrics, for instance "Smile" by Lily Allen
was parodied by Moyles's invention "Silly Allen", in a song called "Piles" and Natasha Bedingfield
's "I Wanna Have Your Babies" written by Comedy Dave and performed in May 2007. In the same month, he performed a parody of Hellogoodbye
's hit "Here (In Your Arms)
" called "Beer In My Arms" in which he describes how much he really dislikes the song, calling it 'daft'. Moyles also covered Puretone "Addicted to Bass
" with "Addicted to Plaice", which covers the subject of being addicted to fish. In September 2007, he performed "Suicidal" a parody of the UK number one Sean Kingston
's "Beautiful Girls", in which he talks about how the song makes him feel suicidal and wonders why it reached number one.
Although of 2008, UK's chart no.1 Basshunter
was renamed "Chuffhunter" in which he mocks the song and those that would buy it, Kylie Minogue
's "Bow Wow Wow" and a re-write of the Estelle
song "American Boy
", named "Somerset Boy". In the past, he has parodied include Billie Piper's "Honey to the Bee
" as "Guinness
For Me", All Seeing Eye's "Walk Like a Panther", Will Smith's "Gettin Jiggy Wit It", and McFly
's "All About You
" as "He Don't Use Shampoo". Moyles has also written Baked Beans
, a parody of Same Jeans
by The View
, and "Lunch in this Pub", originally the Usher
single "Love in this Club". One of his recent parodies, "No Hair" – sung by "follicly-challenged" newscaster Dominic Byrne – is a cover of Jordin Sparks
's "No Air (ft Chris Brown)".
Another two of Moyles' recent parodies are "Lorry Driver" which is a cover of Britney Spears
' song "Womanizer
" and "The Boy Does Plenty" by "Adrian Dixon", originally a song by Alesha Dixon
, both of which are written by 'Comedy Dave' Vitty.
In March 2009 Moyles released a parody song called "Dreaming of Debbie McGee
". The song was about a man who has recurring dreams of the assistant on The Paul Daniels Magic Show. Comedy Dave wrote the song, and Paul Daniels
asked for it to be made into an MP3 file after hearing it on air. It was a parody of the Kings of Leon
song "Revelry
". In April 2009, McGee recorded a reply which was played on air and was a parody of the same song called Dreaming of Moylesy.
Moyles released "Waterproof" in July 2009, a parody of the La Roux
song "Bulletproof". This song has an approved record deal to be used on a parody album, should Chris wish to do so.
Moyles has released an album entitled The Parody Album
. Recording began in September 2009, and the album was released on 23 November
The official Moyles Parody Album game entitled Parody Island was released to help promote the album and allow players to hear snippets from his new album
The Chris Moyles Show was credited with the debut of the unofficial England
World Cup Song, written and performed by Chico Slimani
a parody of his hit single "It's Chico Time
" and originally named "It's England Time. Slimani recorded the single after having a 'vision' that England won the 2010 World Cup and that in the celebrations, commentators made reference to his song. The single debuted, Monday 8 February 2010.
. These have occurred during his time at both Capital FM and Radio 1
. For example, these regulatory bodies upheld complaints when Moyles threatened Dr Fox in October 2002 with the claim that "I'm gonna tear his head off and poo down his neck"; and also in early 2002, when he said "he would take the virginity
of Charlotte Church
", when she reached sixteen.
When he first arrived at Radio 1, John Peel
took an instant dislike to Moyles and accused him of being a "DLT
-in-waiting". Moyles retorted that Peel was a "Kenny Everett
-in-waiting, because Kenny Everett’s dead and it’s only a matter of time before John pops his clogs". Later, Moyles and Peel became very close friends, with Peel appearing on his show a couple of times, and Moyles being one of the DJs to broadcast an emotional show on 26 October 2004, the day after Peel's death.
In September 2008, Moyles, along with other British radio presenters, was criticised for on-air promotion of drinking to excess.
during an on-air feature which her children had interrupted. "You've got three kids from some fuckin'..." he blurted out, before apologising profusely for his mistake.
The BBC issued six apologies, adding that such mistakes could occur during live broadcasts such as Moyles' show. The BBC was later cleared by broadcasting regulator Ofcom
over the incident.
In July 2006, communications watchdog Ofcom found Moyles in Breach of rule 1.5 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code Rules for an incident in which he referred to female listeners as "dirty whores". A listener objected to an item in which the presenter discussed people who urinated in the shower. He considered that the presenter’s reference to women who did this as “dirty whores” was unacceptable at this time of the morning.
On 5 June 2008, when former Spice Girls
singer Melanie Brown
was on the programme, much to his enjoyment, she consensually let him fondle both of her breasts live on air, to which he gave a running commentary of the precise topography
of each. It arose from his enquiry into whether her breasts had been surgically enhanced.
and Radio 2
presenters, Moyles crossed a strike picketline in 2005. BBC staff were striking over recently announced job cuts. A report by the BBC Trust
on 2 June 2008 revealed that Moyles was paid £630,000 in 2007.
However, Moyles revealed in September 2009 that he took a 20% pay cut three months earlier, quoting the reason "I want to work at the BBC, which is trying to save some of its gazillions".
On 22 September 2010 Moyles spoke out on air about not being paid by the BBC in two months.
in May 2006, when he rejected a ringtone by saying "I don't want that one, it's gay
", live on air. This led to a number of complaints to the BBC. They argued that the use of the word gay in this context was homophobic. The BBC governors said that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage.
The programme complaints committee said that, "The word 'gay', in addition to being used to mean 'homosexual' or 'carefree', was often now used to mean 'lame' or 'rubbish'. In describing a ringtone as gay, the DJ was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish' rather than 'homosexual'. Moyles was not being homophobic." The panel acknowledged, however, that this use of the word 'gay' in a derogatory sense could cause offence to some listeners and counselled caution on its use.
Subsequently in June, LGBT
charity Stonewall
marched with placards demanding the dismissal of Moyles during Europride
in London. According to Stonewall, “Chris Moyles is not helping young LGBT people struggling to come out through his comments.”
Those defending Moyles have noted that Aled Haydn Jones
, his show's producer who has worked with Moyles since 2001, is openly
gay. He was quoted in The Guardian by Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill
as saying "Yeah, I'm homophobic, I don't like the gays. Sorry, it just does my head in. We have a token
gay on the show!" In his book The Difficult Second Book, Moyles says that he was responding to another article with sarcasm
, and was subsequently quoted out of context.
Moyles was censured by Ofcom
following eight complaints made after a broadcast on 20 January 2009 in which he told listeners it was the birthday of Will Young
and then went on to sing "Evergreen
" and "Leave Right Now
!" in a high pitched and effeminate voice, changing the lyrics to references on Young's sexuality
. Ofcom stated that the language used could have been "interpreted by listeners as promoting and condoning certain negative stereotypes based on sexual orientation" and whilst acknowledging the intention was to be humorous in their opinion it could have been perceived as hostile and pejorative
. The media regulator also said in their view that because of the show's breakfast time slot that attracts a young audience it had the potential to encourage children to discriminate against others based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation and ran the risk of being imitated on the playground causing "unnecessary distress".
". Celebrities featured on Who Do You Think You Are? including Stephen Fry
, Jerry Springer
and Natasha Kaplinsky
, have traced their family histories back to Jews murdered during the Holocaust. The BBC
quickly released a statement: “Anyone who listens to the Chris Moyles Show will know he has an irreverent style. However, we regret that on this occasion his comments were misjudged and we are speaking to Chris and his team about them.”
appeared on the Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1
. The show received a text message from a female listener saying that band member Dappy
was "vile" and "a little boy with a silly hat" and that N-Dubz were "losers". Dappy secretly copied her phone number from the studio console and sent abusive and threatening text messages to the woman the following day including telling her she was "gonna die!". Moyles said of the resulting criticism: "I feel let down by him, I've supported them and said, 'Do you know what, N-Dubz aren't just a bunch of dippy chav
s, they're really good.' So for him to go and do something like that is a bit rubbish."
for three years, but the couple split in 2002. The same year he met Sophie Waite, and the couple dated for eight years. The relationship ended in September 2010.
He was voted "Best DJ" by readers of The Sun newspaper and readers of Loaded
magazine.
In 2006 he was nominated and won "Bully of the Year" at the annual Stonewall Awards
..
In 2007 the rugby league
team Featherstone Rovers
named their ground after him. Traditionally known as Post Office Road
, it was renamed via a sponsorship deal as the Chris Moyles Stadium. On 7 July 2007 Moyles appeared as a presenter at the UK leg
of Live Earth
in Wembley Stadium
in London
.
In March 2011, Chris Moyles and David Vitty
broke the Guinness World Records
for Worldwide Longest Marathon Radio DJ (Team). They totalled 52 consecutive hours on air and raised £2,622,421 for Comic Relief
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
presenter
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the current BBC Radio 1 breakfast show in the UK, and has been since Chris Moyles became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from...
on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night is a British television comedy game show, presented by Chris Moyles. It was first broadcast on 22 March 2009 and is in its fifth series....
on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
Born in Leeds, he attended Mount St Mary's Catholic High School in Leeds and volunteered to work at WBHS (Wakefield's Broadcast to Hospitals Service). He has worked at various radio stations including Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg (English)
Radio Luxembourg is a commercial broadcaster in many languages from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is nowadays known in most non-English languages as RTL ....
(under the pseudonym Chris Holmes) and Capital FM. Moyles moved to BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
in 1997 and has remained there ever since, presenting an overnight show, drive time show and currently, the breakfast show. On 7 September 2009 he became Radio 1's longest serving breakfast presenter. Moyles has become famous for his irreverent broadcasting style on Radio 1 and has been embroiled in numerous controversies, including homophobic and sexist accusations, due to statements he has made on the air and in the press. Despite that, Moyles' regular audience figures averages 8 million listeners per annum, and remains one of the more popular presenters on BBC Radio 1.
He has achieved various Radio awards, and has helped raise money for charity by taking part in challenges, aired on T.V on behalf of Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
. He has recorded a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
album and written two autobiographies. He frequently appears on television having appeared on Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon was a BBC television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that aired from 19 January 2006 to 14 August 2009, produced by independent production company Carnival Films for BBC One...
, a celebrity version of Dale's Supermarket Sweep
Dale's Supermarket Sweep
Dale's Supermarket Sweep was a UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format.-1993 - 2001:The original show was recorded in the Television House in Nottingham, which was renamed the Carlton Studios in 1996...
, Top Gear, The Charlotte Church Show
The Charlotte Church Show
The Charlotte Church Show was a Channel 4 entertainment television show presented by Welsh singer Charlotte Church. It was first broadcast on 1 September 2006 and ran for 6 subsequent Fridays. The show was commissioned for a further two series, the first of which aired from 23 February to 6 April...
, The F-Word
The F-Word
The F Word is a British food magazine and cooking show featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme is made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4...
, The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
, Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...
and The New Paul O'Grady Show. In 2009 he launched his own show, Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night is a British television comedy game show, presented by Chris Moyles. It was first broadcast on 22 March 2009 and is in its fifth series....
for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
which is currently in its fifth series.
Pre-Radio 1
Chris Moyles was born on 22 February 1974 in LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and was educated at the Mount St Mary's Catholic High School
Mount St Mary's Catholic High School (Leeds)
-Admissions:It is a faith school for ages 11-16 in Richmond Hill. Catholic education after 16 is found at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College . It is just north of the A61, next to the derelict church of which opened in 1857, closed in 1989 and has now been vandalised...
in Leeds. While at school, he began his broadcasting career at WBHS (Wakefield's Broadcast to Hospitals Service), a voluntary staffed hospital radio station in the West Yorkshire city.
He then started out at local station Aire FM as an assistant for DJ Carl Kingston. During this time, he was also a presenter on Radio Top Shop in the Leeds Briggate branch. After hosting his own Saturday Evening Show on Aire FM (and occasionally serving as a stand-in presenter), he was then employed as a presenter at Radio Luxembourg in 1992, until the station closed.
In 1993, he gained a job at The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse is a British Independent Local Radio station that serves the Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas of West Yorkshire. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio...
, presenting the evening show from 7–10 pm. He remained there until early 1994 when he was dismissed for comments made about the station's previous programme controller. Moyles subsequently turned up at Signal 1
Signal 1
Signal One is a British Independent Local Radio station broadcasting from studios in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent to Staffordshire and Cheshire on 96.4 , 96.9 and 102.6 MHz FM for Cheshire, Stafford and North Staffordshire respectively. It also broadcasts on the Stoke "UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-Trent"...
in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
– again presenting The Evening Bit from 7–10 pm. In 1995 Moyles was heard on the Chiltern Radio Network
Chiltern Radio Network
The Chiltern Radio Network was the parent group of several radio stations which operated two radio brands in the UK in the 1990's.-Branding:The two main brands were:...
, presenting the evening show from 7–10 pm, before taking on the late show from 10 pm–1 am. This show was simulcast on Horizon Radio, Chiltern Radio, Severn Sound
Severn Sound
Heart Gloucestershire is an Independent Local Radio station that broadcasts to Gloucestershire, England. The station now has just two programmes a day broadcasting live from Gloucestershire with the majority of its output being the same as most other stations in the Heart network, owned by Global...
and Northants 96
Northants 96
Heart Northants was a local commercial radio station serving Northamptonshire.The station broadcasted on 96.6 FM from studios in Northampton town centre, via the transmitter located in the Kingsthorpe area...
.
In 1996, Moyles joined London station Capital FM hosting his weekend show 'The Late Bit', which went out on a Friday & Saturday evening, and covering for other DJs. It was at Capital that Moyles fell out with fellow DJ 'Doctor' Neil Fox. After declining the offer of presenting the breakfast show on rival station Kiss 100
Kiss 100 London
Kiss is a UK radio station broadcasting on FM and Digital Radio, specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music. It also broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio around the UK & nationally on Freeview, Sky and TalkTalk TV...
, Moyles joined Radio 1 in July 1997.
Radio 1
Moyles was voted one of the Faces for 97 by SKY magazineSKY magazine
Sky Magazine was a UK magazine that started in the late 1980s and ceased publication in 2001. It was an entertainment magazine dealing mainly in celebrities featured in film, television and music. It should not be confused with the Sky magazine sent free to subscribers to British Sky Broadcasting...
and presented his first show on Radio 1 on 28 July 1997, hosting the 4–7 am Early Breakfast show – soon called The Early Bit. In May 1998, his work was recognised with the award of the Silver Sony Awards
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...
DJ of the Year, and he was styling himself as 'The Saviour Of Early Morning Radio'. Within the year Moyles was promoted to a Saturday breakfast, then Saturday mid-morning slot from 10 am–1 pm. Since joining Radio 1, he has presented all his shows with David "Comedy Dave" Vitty, who worked behind the scenes at the station prior to Moyles' arrival.
After standing in regularly for Kevin Greening
Kevin Greening
Kevin Greening was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show with Zoe Ball from 1997 to 1998.-Early career:...
and Zoe Ball
Zoë Ball
Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Moyles's next promotion came in October 1998 when he took control of the drivetime show from 4–5.45 pm. The show was extended to 3–5.45 pm in February 2001. Moyles has co-presented the show from 1998, with his sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
.
On 5 January 2004, Moyles started presenting Radio 1's flagship programme The Breakfast Show, switching places with Sara Cox
Sara Cox
Sara Cox , known as "Coxy", is an English TV presenter and radio DJ, most well known for presenting the breakfast show on BBC Radio 1 between 2000 and 2003...
. He had been appointed to increase the ratings for the show and did so, putting on an extra 1,000,000 listeners to the audience in the first quarter of 2004. After a successful first year, Moyles was awarded 'DJ of the Year' by readers of The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
.
By 2005, Moyles and his team had succeeded in hugely increasing the morning audience, with his programme's audience swelling to 6.5 million. This was coupled with an increase in the overall Radio 1 audience share. With 895,000 listeners in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the third quarter of 2005, he succeeded in overtaking Johnny Vaughan
Johnny Vaughan
Jonathan Randall Vaughan is an English broadcaster and journalist. Vaughan has become well known as a television and radio personality and has also built a reputation as a film critic. He co-presented Capital Breakfast alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011...
to take the position of the capital's most listened to youth breakfast show. Moyles's audience rating's continued to increase each week and led to him winning a gold Sony Radio Award in 2006 for best entertainment show
24th Sony Radio Academy Awards
The 24th Sony Radio Academy Awards were held on 8 May 2006 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in London.There were 29 categories of award and two special awards.-Programme awards and winners:...
.
With the release of the RAJAR
RAJAR
RAJAR was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the RadioCentre...
listening figures on 3 August 2006, Moyles had added a further 470,000 listeners to the Breakfast Show, taking the average listenership up to 6.79 million. On 10 May 2007, RAJAR
RAJAR
RAJAR was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the RadioCentre...
figures confirmed that Moyles had increased his listening figures to 7.06 million, breaking the seven million barrier for the first time with the station having 10.55 million listeners overall. Moyles again increased his audience to 7.72 million as of 1 May 2008 slightly narrowing the gap between him and Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
, the current highest rated radio show in the UK. The station's overall listener figure is now over 11 million.
On 12 May 2008 The Chris Moyles Breakfast Show won its second Sony radio gold award for 'best breakfast show'. At this time he was given another half hour on his show going from 7 am–10 am to 6.30 am–10 am.
On 7 September 2009 Moyles became the longest serving breakfast presenter on Radio 1, breaking the record previously set by Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
.
In March 2011, Moyles and on-air radio personality Dave Vitty beat the record for the longest continuous Radio 1 show, on Radio 1's Longest Show Ever with Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave for Comic Relief. Between 16 and 18 March they beat both Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...
's 1999 record of 37 hours and the 'Radio DJ Endurance Marathon (Team)' Guinness World Record by broadcasting for 52 hours for Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
initially raising £2.4 million, and with an audience of 2.84 million, it was the most popular live BBC Red Button radio feature ever. The event raised a final total of £2,821,831.
On 1 July 2011 it was announced that Chris will remain within the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
until at least 2014, ending speculation that he would move to a commercial rival. This would allow the presenter to reach his 10-year anniversary on The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the current BBC Radio 1 breakfast show in the UK, and has been since Chris Moyles became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from...
. It is estimated that the deal is worth £1 million.
The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the current BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
breakfast show in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and has been since Chris Moyles
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter and author, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Channel 4....
became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from 6:30 am. It is the longest running Radio 1 breakfast show in the station's history. On the 1st of July 2011 it was announced that Moyles had signed a contract to keep him on the show until 2014 making it a decade on the breakfast show.
The team
Comedy Dave (Dave Vitty) has worked with Moyles longer than any other team member; and currently is the self appointed "Director of Comedy" for the show. The rest of the team include the show's news reader Dominic ByrneDominic Byrne
Dominic Anthony Byrne is a newsreader for BBC Radio 1 and a presenter on the BBC News Channel.-Biography:Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Byrne attended St Ivo School before attending Bournemouth University for two weeks. However, he dropped out to work at a local radio station...
, sports reader Tina Daheley, producer Aled Haydn Jones
Aled Haydn Jones
Aled Haydn Jones is a Welsh radio producer and radio presenter. Since 2004 he has worked on The Chris Moyles Show.-Personal history:...
; Day producer Freya Mehta and assistant producer Matt Fincham. Moyles friends also contribute to the show such as "Longman" (until 2007) and "Rob DJ". Presenters such as Andi Peters
Andi Peters
Andi Eleazu Peters is an English television presenter and television producer.-Education:Peters was educated at Emanuel School, a co-educational independent school in Battersea, in south-west London.-Life and career:...
, Davina McCall
Davina McCall
Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :...
Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin
Keith Chegwin is an English television presenter, former child actor and singer.-Early career:Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double Egghead's Robot . He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch episode...
and impressionist Jon Culshaw
Jon Culshaw
Jonathan Peter Culshaw is an English impressionist and comedian. He was educated at St Bede's RC High School, Ormskirk and St John Rigby College, in Orrell, Wigan....
, contribute, albeit infrequently. Roy Walker
Roy Walker
Robert "Roy" Walker is a television personality and comedian from Northern Ireland, who worked for many years as both a television presenter and comedy actor...
appear's as "Roy" the voice of the daily quiz show "Car Park Catchphrase".
Features
Car Park Catchphrase : Two listeners in their cars have to guess a catchphrase answer from an anecdote-style clue.Tedious Link : This feature was carried forward from Moyles' afternoon show and is a parody of Jo Whiley
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley is a British radio disc jockey and television presenter. She was the host of the long running weekday Jo Whiley Show on Radio 1.-Early life and education:...
's now defunct feature Tenuous Link. Comedy Dave plays one song, first explaining how this song is linked to the last show's feature song with a deliberately ramshackle and vague succession of linking 'facts', some real and some ludicrous.
The Golden Hour : A well-established feature, previously on Radio 1 from 1973 to 2001. For the first half, records are played that all charted in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in a certain year and listeners are invited to guess the year. The second half are random songs chosen by each member of the team.
Rob DJ's Monday Night Pub Quiz : The team play a 5-question pub quiz against each other. The questions are taken from a real pub quiz run the previous evening by one of Chris's friends, Rob DJ, in their mutual home town of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. Running totals of each team member's recent scores are kept and analysed. Listeners are able to play along via SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
Radio 1's Longest Show Ever
On 28 February 2011, it was announced that Moyles and Vitty would attempt to beat the record for the longest continuous Radio 1 show in aid of Comic ReliefComic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
. The previous record of 37 hours was set by Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...
in 1999.
Moyles and Vitty began their record attempt on the morning of 16 March 2011. At the beginning of the show, Moyles announced that they would attempt to break the Guinness World Record for "Radio DJ Endurance Marathon (Team)" and attempt to continuously broadcast for 51 hours 30 minutes. At 19:30 on 17 March they were joined by Simon Mayo who held the previous record and also revealed that they had raised £1,009,033. Moyles and Vitty were presented with a cake by Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt
Andy Parfitt
Andrew Parfitt is an English radio administrator who was the Controller of BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, He held that role from 1998-2011, taking over from Matthew Bannister...
.
On Friday 18 March 2011 at 08:30 Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave broke the Guinness World Record for the 'Longest Marathon Radio DJ (team)' and by the end of the show (at 10:00), they had hit the 51 and a half hour mark. The duo opted to 'round it off' by going to 10:30 and thus set a new record of 52 hours. In doing, so they raised a final total of £2,406,648 for Comic Relief, which is an average of £46,282 for each hour they were on air. During the attempt the duo were joined by many celebrity guests including The Wanted
The Wanted
The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band based in London, England. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week...
, Chipmunk
Chipmunk (rapper)
Jahmaal Noel Fyffe known by his stage name Chipmunk, is a British hip hop rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, London....
, Jimmy Carr
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr is an English-Irish comedian and humourist. He is known for his deadpan delivery and dark humour. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television....
, Craig David
Craig David
Craig Ashley David is an English singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., Trust Me, Signed Sealed Delivered and a Greatest Hits album...
, Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
and Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
. The grand total has since increased to £2,821,831 and with an audience of 2.84 Million, the event was the most popular live BBC Red Button radio feature ever. 3.8 Million people watched on the Radio 1 Website.
Work outside radio
BT Red Nose Climb and Speaking Clock
Moyles was one of a team of celebrities who climbed Mount KilimanjaroMount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
to raise money for Comic Relief reaching the summit on 7 March 2009. He was joined by his show's producer, Rachel Mallender and BBC Radio 1 controller, Andy Parfitt
Andy Parfitt
Andrew Parfitt is an English radio administrator who was the Controller of BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, He held that role from 1998-2011, taking over from Matthew Bannister...
. Also on the climb were Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
members Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
and Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Jane Walsh is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, television presenter and actress. She is best known for being a member of girl group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...
, Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show...
, Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
, Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
, Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
, Denise Van Outen
Denise van Outen
Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.- Early life :Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the...
and Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
. He recorded a parody song around this time to promote the climb, mentioning all the names of the people that were also taking part – it was based on Lily Allen's "The Fear", and was called "(A month off of) The Beer".
From 3 February – 23 March 2009, Moyles was joined by Kimberley Walsh, Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
, Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
, Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
and Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show...
to help raise money for charity by reading the time on the Speaking Clock.
Voice work in film
Moyles has provided his voice and/or likeness to a number of films and games. His face was used in 24: The Game24: The Game
24: The Game is a third-person shooter video game, based on the FOX television series, 24. The game was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Cambridge Studios and was published by 2K Games for PlayStation 2. It was announced on March 30, 2005 and first released in North America on February...
, and his voice can be heard in the films Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
, War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds (2005 film)
War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction film adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It is one of three film adaptations of War of the Worlds released that year, alongside The Asylum's version and...
and Robots
Robots (film)
Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of...
. In some of these films, his voice was only used for the UK version.
Television presenter
Moyles has branched out his work into television. In 2002, his own Five show, Live With Chris MoylesLive With Chris Moyles
Live With Chris Moyles was a British comedy chat show on five, which aired weekdays at 7pm. The show was filmed in front of a live audience in a bar in London....
, ran five shows a week for 13 weeks. Chris was replaced by Christian O'Connell
Christian O'Connell
Christian O'Connell is an English radio DJ who presents the Absolute Radio weekday breakfast show.He has formerly hosted BBC Radio Five Live's weekend sports game show Fighting Talk alongside the weekday breakfast show on indie music station Xfm London...
, before the programme was shelved altogether.
He and sidekick Dave Vitty had their own TV show, also entitled The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the current BBC Radio 1 breakfast show in the UK, and has been since Chris Moyles became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from...
like their current Radio 1 show, which was aired from 1998–99 on the now-defunct UK satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
and cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
channel UK Play.
Moyles voiced the fourth and final series of Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
show The Villa
The Villa
The Villa was a reality TV show, originally produced by Talent TV from 1999, and aired on Sky1 for four series until 2003. Reruns currently air on Fox Reality....
and has occasionally presented Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
. He has also worked for the Comic Relief and Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
charities on their telecasts.
Moyles has presented a number of episodes of Big Brother's Big Mouth. Daily Mirror journalist Rob Leigh once said of his Big Brother's Big Mouth presenting that "Chris Moyles may be Marmite for the ears on radio but never quite nails it on TV, even with his relative star power". He also presented The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...
on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
several times between 2000 and 2002.
On 24 October 2011, The Metro announced that Moyles would be presenting a new dating show, The Love Machine, alongside Stacey Solomon
Stacey Solomon
Stacey Solomon is a British singer, television presenter, model and reality TV star. She rose to fame during her time on the sixth series of The X Factor, coming third overall on the show...
for Sky. Moyles confirmed this on his radio show that morning.
Chris Moyles Quiz Night
Moyles launched a new show on Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, called Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night is a British television comedy game show, presented by Chris Moyles. It was first broadcast on 22 March 2009 and is in its fifth series....
on 22 March 2009. The show consists of Moyles alongside three other celebrities partaking in a traditional pub-style quiz. The original series had the four competing to win an item that belonged to Moyles but this has since developed into a more traditional quiz with the loser singing karaoke-style at the end of the show.
The opening show received poor viewing figures attracting just 6% of total audience for the timeslot. It was continued for a second series between 26 February and 11 April 2010, a third series following between 1 November and 22 December 2010 and fourth between 15 July and 2 September 2011. The show is currently in its fifth series.
Other television appearances
Moyles appeared on the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
show The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
and had minor success. He was voted out of the show on 4 June 2006 in the semi-final. Following this appearance, stories in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
both reported that Moyles was looking to relaunch his television career; rumours suggested that he had been offered his own show by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Moyles has spoken of a desire to transfer the format of his radio show to the T.V, but otherwise has thus far stayed clear of a conventional TV format.
Moyles played himself in an episode of the drama Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon was a BBC television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that aired from 19 January 2006 to 14 August 2009, produced by independent production company Carnival Films for BBC One...
which aired on 15 February 2007 and appeared on a celebrity version of Dale's Supermarket Sweep
Dale's Supermarket Sweep
Dale's Supermarket Sweep was a UK game show based on the American Supermarket Sweep TV show format.-1993 - 2001:The original show was recorded in the Television House in Nottingham, which was renamed the Carlton Studios in 1996...
that broadcast on the same day. He has appeared as a guest on numerous British television shows, including the ninth series of Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)
Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
, Never Mind The Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
, The Charlotte Church Show
The Charlotte Church Show
The Charlotte Church Show was a Channel 4 entertainment television show presented by Welsh singer Charlotte Church. It was first broadcast on 1 September 2006 and ran for 6 subsequent Fridays. The show was commissioned for a further two series, the first of which aired from 23 February to 6 April...
, The F-Word
The F-Word
The F Word is a British food magazine and cooking show featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme is made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4...
, The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
, Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy
Richard & Judy was a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...
and The New Paul O'Grady Show.
In 2008, Moyles appeared on the Brit Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
to present the award for the best live act, and appeared in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary series Comedy Map of Britain
Comedy Map of Britain
Comedy Map of Britain is a BBC documentary series which visits the places that have inspired many of Britain's leading comedians. It first aired on BBC Two in 2007 and 2008....
. He has appeared on Channel 4's Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was an E4 temporary replacement to Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off series of the British reality television programme Big Brother, airing on E4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on the same channel...
TV programme as well as an appearance as a team captain on the Channel 4 show Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong
Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong
Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong was an entertainment show on Channel 4, presented by Alan Carr. During the first series, voice-over commentary in between rounds on the scores is provided by Leslie Phillips...
and on 18 July 2008 he appeared on Jimmy Carr's show on Channel 4, 8 out of 10 Cats
8 Out of 10 Cats
8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by...
.
On 23 February 2009, Chris was the guest on BBC One's The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
to promote the BT Red Nose climb of Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
. He appeared again on the show on 26 February 2010 to talk about and promote the second series of Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night is a British television comedy game show, presented by Chris Moyles. It was first broadcast on 22 March 2009 and is in its fifth series....
. In July 2009, he featured in an episode of the genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
where he explored his Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
ancestry. He visited Ireland and Belgium, where his great grandfather fought and died in World War One. On the programme Moyles discovered that his last name means bald servant from the Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
"Ó Maolmanach". He also co-presented Children in Need Rocks Manchester
Children in Need Rocks Manchester
Children in Need Rocks Manchester is a charity music concert held at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England. The concert was organised by Take That singer and The X Factor judge Gary Barlow as one of a series of events to raise money for Children in Need 2011...
in November 2011.
Autobiography
Moyles' autobiography, The Gospel according to Chris Moyles: The Story of One Man and His Mouth was released by Ebury Press on 5 October 2006.On 4 October 2007 a follow-up book Chris Moyles: The Difficult Second Book, published by Ebury Press, was officially released. The Difficult Second Book was released in paperback on 1 May 2008. Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
, on his own programme Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle is a comedy series created by Stewart Lee.The BBC Two series debuted on 16 March 2009, and featured stand-up routines and sketches performed by Simon Munnery, Kevin Eldon and Paul Putner amongst others. Peter Serafinowicz recorded voice-over parts. The series is...
, commented that the title of the book suggests "a degree of irony and self-awareness largely absent from the text itself" and then went on to deconstruct and mock the book's contents.
Presenting style
Moyles relies on his team members and audience participation for his show's games and quizzes and for other sources of comedy. He is renowned for his sharp manner, quick temper and put-downs. It is this approach which most commonly leads to criticism of Moyles. It has also caused him to become involved in numerous controversies related to perceived offensive statements. However, Moyles generally accepts counter-attacks in the same manner and routinely derides himself for being overweight and so forth, often in the lyrics of jingles. Due to his fascination with radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, Moyles regularly discusses the process of making the show, often spoofing clichéd radio practices. Many of his show's features are homages to or exaggerations of other radio features.
Parody songs
In December 2000, he parodied the EminemEminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
song "Stan" that was No.1 in the charts at the time, with a seasonal Christmas themed variation called "Stanta", instead. It became one of the most popular requested parodies, and was often played more than once during the course of a show.
In October 2004, Moyles and The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the current BBC Radio 1 breakfast show in the UK, and has been since Chris Moyles became the station's breakfast show presenter on 5 January 2004. From 2004 to 2007, the show was broadcast 6:55–10:00 am each weekday, but since 15 October 2007 it has started from...
team replaced U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's "Vertigo" at number one in the UK Official Download Chart
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...
with their download-only charity song "Dogz Don't Kill People (Wabbitz Do)", under the name 'Mouldie Lookin' Stain'. The song was a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Goldie Lookin' Chain's "Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do
Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do
"Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do" is a song by the Welsh Rap act Goldie Lookin Chain from their Greatest Hits album. In August, 2004 the song reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart...
" (itself a spoof rap song) and proceeds went to Comic Relief. At the time of its release, it was the fastest selling download on UK charts.
Moyles has parodied several Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
songs under the name "The Kaiser Chefs". These include "I Predict A Diet" (Parody of I Predict a Riot
I Predict a Riot
"I Predict a Riot" is a song by Kaiser Chiefs, appearing on their debut album Employment. It was originally released as their second single on 1 November 2004, and was the band's first release on the B-Unique label. It entered at #22 on the UK Singles Chart, a move which started the band's rise to...
) and "Donny" (Parody of Ruby
Ruby (song)
"Ruby" is a song by English rock band Kaiser Chiefs and is the lead track on their second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob. It was released as the lead single from that album in the United Kingdom as a download on February 5, 2007 and as a limited edition 7 in and CD single on February 19 that year...
). Chris and Ricky Wilson
Ricky Wilson
Ricky Wilson may refer to:*Ricky Wilson , guitarist of The B-52's*Ricky Wilson , singer of Kaiser Chiefs*Ricky Wilson , former NBA player...
of the Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
(both Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
fans) said they had accidentally given Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
fans an unofficial anthem with "Donny" after Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
beat Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
1–0 in the 2008 League One Play Off Final.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
in Germany, Chris organised a parody of England World Cup songs, to ridicule the number of songs there were out at the time. Listener favourite "Jose
José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....
– The Special One" a parody of "Rosé
Rosé (song)
"Rosé" is the lead single from The Feeling's compilation album Singles: 2006-2011. This new version of "Rosé" was recorded for Burberry's Burberry Body fragrance campaign and was released on 26 September 2011...
" by The Feeling
The Feeling
The Feeling are a BRIT award-nominated English pop band from West Sussex and London. The band categorise their music as "pop".Following a limited release of their first single "Fill My Little World" in late 2005, the band entered the UK Singles Chart at #7 with their first full release "Sewn" in...
, was written on team manager José Mourinho's departure from Chelsea and was banned after Chelsea FC
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
complained to the BBC (although subsequently played repeatedly on his show and on Radio 5 Live). He made a parody of "We Have Got to Zero Baby", a take on Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
's "Hero
Hero (Enrique Iglesias song)
"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape and was written for his good friend Simon Baxendale, by Iglesias, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Enrique first released the song to radio in early September 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception...
", which describes how his football team, Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
, managed to claw back a 15-point deficit in League One in only 5 games. In November 2007, he used Hoosiers
The Hoosiers
The Hoosiers are an English pop/rock band, consisting of members Irwin Sparkes , Martin Skarendahl and Alan Sharland ....
– "Goodbye Mr A
Goodbye Mr A
"Goodbye Mr A" is the second single by UK pop rock band The Hoosiers from their debut album The Trick to Life. The song, released on 8 October 2007, has been noted by Digital Spy’s Alex Fletcher for its similarities to Electric Light Orchestra's single "Mr. Blue Sky"...
" for "Goodbye Mr. M" where he sings about the Ex-England football manager Steve McClaren
Steve McClaren
Stephen "Steve" McClaren is an English football manager and former player.McClaren was previously manager of VfL Wolfsburg in Germany between May 2010 and February 2011, having left his post at Dutch side FC Twente, with whom he won the club's first Eredivisie championship in the 2009–10 season...
being sacked.
Often Moyles will pick a track because of the silliness of its lyrics, for instance "Smile" by Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
was parodied by Moyles's invention "Silly Allen", in a song called "Piles" and Natasha Bedingfield
Natasha Bedingfield
Natasha Anne Bedingfield is a British pop singer and songwriter. Bedingfield debuted in the 1990s as a member of the Christian dance/electronic group The DNA Algorithm with her siblings Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle...
's "I Wanna Have Your Babies" written by Comedy Dave and performed in May 2007. In the same month, he performed a parody of Hellogoodbye
Hellogoodbye
Hellogoodbye is a power pop band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. They were signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! in 2006, in addition to their previously released EP Hellogoodbye...
's hit "Here (In Your Arms)
Here (In Your Arms)
"Here " is the lead single from Hellogoodbye's debut album Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!, released in 2006. The song was certified platinum in the United States and remains the band's most successful song to date.-Chart performance:...
" called "Beer In My Arms" in which he describes how much he really dislikes the song, calling it 'daft'. Moyles also covered Puretone "Addicted to Bass
Addicted to Bass
"Addicted to Bass" is a pop single with drum and bass influences by Puretone aka Josh Abrahams featuring Amiel Daemion on vocals. It reached the top 20 of the Australian charts in 1998 and #2 in the UK in 2002.-Australian video:...
" with "Addicted to Plaice", which covers the subject of being addicted to fish. In September 2007, he performed "Suicidal" a parody of the UK number one Sean Kingston
Sean Kingston
Sean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
's "Beautiful Girls", in which he talks about how the song makes him feel suicidal and wonders why it reached number one.
Although of 2008, UK's chart no.1 Basshunter
Basshunter
Jonas Erik Altberg , better known by his stage name Basshunter, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, record producer and DJ. He is best known for his number one hits "Boten Anna", "Dota", "Now You're Gone" and "All I Ever Wanted". Basshunter has so far released a total of six albums, two of which have...
was renamed "Chuffhunter" in which he mocks the song and those that would buy it, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
's "Bow Wow Wow" and a re-write of the Estelle
Estelle (singer)
Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...
song "American Boy
American Boy
"American Boy" is the second single from the album Shine by British R&B singer Estelle and features American rapper Kanye West. The song is her first international single...
", named "Somerset Boy". In the past, he has parodied include Billie Piper's "Honey to the Bee
Honey to the Bee
"Honey to the Bee" is a song from Billie Piper released in 1999. It peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart and was released on March 15, 1999. In January 2007, the song was championed by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles as part of an experiment to test out the new UK Singles Chart rules that came into effect...
" as "Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
For Me", All Seeing Eye's "Walk Like a Panther", Will Smith's "Gettin Jiggy Wit It", and McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
's "All About You
All About You/You've Got a Friend
"All About You"/"You've Got a Friend" is the first single from British band McFly's second studio album, Wonderland. The single was the official Comic Relief charity single for 2005, with all royalties being donated to the charity. The single was also used to promote Make Poverty History. The...
" as "He Don't Use Shampoo". Moyles has also written Baked Beans
Baked beans
Baked beans is a dish containing beans, sometimes baked but, despite the name, usually stewed, in a sauce. Most commercial canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans – a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris – in a sauce. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, a tomato...
, a parody of Same Jeans
Same Jeans
"Same Jeans" is the third single by Dundee band The View, with the B-Sides being "Cherry Girl" and "Screamin' n Shoutin'". It appears on the album Hats Off to the Buskers. It was Radio 1's Jo Whiley's record of the week commencing 27 November 2006 and was released on 15 January 2007. The single...
by The View
The View (band)
The View are a Scottish indie rock band. They incorporate various styles such as punk, pop, alternative rock, pop punk, powerpop, folk, and acoustic in their music....
, and "Lunch in this Pub", originally the Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
single "Love in this Club". One of his recent parodies, "No Hair" – sung by "follicly-challenged" newscaster Dominic Byrne – is a cover of Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Brianna Sparks is an American pop / R&B singer-songwriter and actress. She hails from Glendale, Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in Idol history...
's "No Air (ft Chris Brown)".
Another two of Moyles' recent parodies are "Lorry Driver" which is a cover of Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
' song "Womanizer
Womanizer (song)
"Womanizer" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, Circus. It was released on September 26, 2008 by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. Produced and co-written by Nikesha Briscoe and Rafael Akinyemi of The Outsyders, the song had to be...
" and "The Boy Does Plenty" by "Adrian Dixon", originally a song by Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
, both of which are written by 'Comedy Dave' Vitty.
In March 2009 Moyles released a parody song called "Dreaming of Debbie McGee
Debbie McGee
Debbie McGee is an English television, radio and stage performer who is best known as the wife and assistant of magician Paul Daniels. McGee is a former ballet dancer and, for three years, she was artistic director of her own ballet company...
". The song was about a man who has recurring dreams of the assistant on The Paul Daniels Magic Show. Comedy Dave wrote the song, and Paul Daniels
Paul Daniels
Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer. He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.-Early life:...
asked for it to be made into an MP3 file after hearing it on air. It was a parody of the Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
song "Revelry
Revelry (song)
"Revelry" is the third single from Kings of Leon's fourth studio album Only by the Night, released on March 2, 2009. The single debuted in the UK Singles Chart at #55 via download sales alone on March 1, 2009, and peaked at #29 the following week. It dropped only two places to #31 during its second...
". In April 2009, McGee recorded a reply which was played on air and was a parody of the same song called Dreaming of Moylesy.
Moyles released "Waterproof" in July 2009, a parody of the La Roux
La Roux
La Roux are an English electropop duo made up of singer, keyboardist, co-writer and co-producer Eleanor Kate Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their relationship as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also...
song "Bulletproof". This song has an approved record deal to be used on a parody album, should Chris wish to do so.
Moyles has released an album entitled The Parody Album
The Parody Album
The Parody Album is the debut album by DJ Chris Moyles, host of The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1. It was released on 23 November 2009 and charted at number 17 in the UK Official Album Chart and has since sold over 100,000 copies....
. Recording began in September 2009, and the album was released on 23 November
The official Moyles Parody Album game entitled Parody Island was released to help promote the album and allow players to hear snippets from his new album
The Chris Moyles Show was credited with the debut of the unofficial England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
World Cup Song, written and performed by Chico Slimani
Chico Slimani
Yousseph "Chico" Slimani is a Welsh born singer of Moroccan descent who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show The X Factor. In 2006, he had a number 1 hit on the British charts entitled "It's Chico Time"...
a parody of his hit single "It's Chico Time
It's Chico Time
"It's Chico Time" is the first single by The X Factor contestant Chico . Chico performed the song on the show on 19 November 2005. It is the only time that a contestant has performed an original song in the live stages of the show...
" and originally named "It's England Time. Slimani recorded the single after having a 'vision' that England won the 2010 World Cup and that in the celebrations, commentators made reference to his song. The single debuted, Monday 8 February 2010.
Controversies
Moyles has come into conflict with the Broadcasting Standards Commission and OfcomOfcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
. These have occurred during his time at both Capital FM and Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
. For example, these regulatory bodies upheld complaints when Moyles threatened Dr Fox in October 2002 with the claim that "I'm gonna tear his head off and poo down his neck"; and also in early 2002, when he said "he would take the virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
of Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
", when she reached sixteen.
When he first arrived at Radio 1, John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
took an instant dislike to Moyles and accused him of being a "DLT
Dave Lee Travis
Dave Lee Travis , also known professionally as DLT and the Hairy Cornflake, is a British radio presenter, best known for his career on BBC Radio 1.-Early life:...
-in-waiting". Moyles retorted that Peel was a "Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett was an English comedian, radio DJ and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.-Early life:...
-in-waiting, because Kenny Everett’s dead and it’s only a matter of time before John pops his clogs". Later, Moyles and Peel became very close friends, with Peel appearing on his show a couple of times, and Moyles being one of the DJs to broadcast an emotional show on 26 October 2004, the day after Peel's death.
In September 2008, Moyles, along with other British radio presenters, was criticised for on-air promotion of drinking to excess.
Accusations of sexism
In February 2006, Moyles apologised, along with the BBC, after swearing when speaking to a caller live on air. He made the outburst while teasing a mother-of-three from NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
during an on-air feature which her children had interrupted. "You've got three kids from some fuckin'..." he blurted out, before apologising profusely for his mistake.
The BBC issued six apologies, adding that such mistakes could occur during live broadcasts such as Moyles' show. The BBC was later cleared by broadcasting regulator Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
over the incident.
In July 2006, communications watchdog Ofcom found Moyles in Breach of rule 1.5 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code Rules for an incident in which he referred to female listeners as "dirty whores". A listener objected to an item in which the presenter discussed people who urinated in the shower. He considered that the presenter’s reference to women who did this as “dirty whores” was unacceptable at this time of the morning.
On 5 June 2008, when former Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
singer Melanie Brown
Melanie Brown
Melanie Janine "Scary Spice" Brown , often better known as Mel B, is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter...
was on the programme, much to his enjoyment, she consensually let him fondle both of her breasts live on air, to which he gave a running commentary of the precise topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
of each. It arose from his enquiry into whether her breasts had been surgically enhanced.
Pay controversies
Alongside a number of other Radio 1BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
presenters, Moyles crossed a strike picketline in 2005. BBC staff were striking over recently announced job cuts. A report by the BBC Trust
BBC Trust
The BBC Trust is the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and aims to act in the best interests of licence fee payers....
on 2 June 2008 revealed that Moyles was paid £630,000 in 2007.
However, Moyles revealed in September 2009 that he took a 20% pay cut three months earlier, quoting the reason "I want to work at the BBC, which is trying to save some of its gazillions".
On 22 September 2010 Moyles spoke out on air about not being paid by the BBC in two months.
Accusations of homophobia
Moyles was accused of homophobiaHomophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
in May 2006, when he rejected a ringtone by saying "I don't want that one, it's gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
", live on air. This led to a number of complaints to the BBC. They argued that the use of the word gay in this context was homophobic. The BBC governors said that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage.
The programme complaints committee said that, "The word 'gay', in addition to being used to mean 'homosexual' or 'carefree', was often now used to mean 'lame' or 'rubbish'. In describing a ringtone as gay, the DJ was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish' rather than 'homosexual'. Moyles was not being homophobic." The panel acknowledged, however, that this use of the word 'gay' in a derogatory sense could cause offence to some listeners and counselled caution on its use.
Subsequently in June, LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
charity Stonewall
Stonewall (UK)
Stonewall is a lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity in the United Kingdom named after the Stonewall Inn of Stonewall riots fame. Now the largest gay equality organization not only in the UK but in Europe, it was formed in 1989 by political activists and others lobbying against section 28 of the...
marched with placards demanding the dismissal of Moyles during Europride
Europride
Europride is a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride event or a significant LGBT community....
in London. According to Stonewall, “Chris Moyles is not helping young LGBT people struggling to come out through his comments.”
Those defending Moyles have noted that Aled Haydn Jones
Aled Haydn Jones
Aled Haydn Jones is a Welsh radio producer and radio presenter. Since 2004 he has worked on The Chris Moyles Show.-Personal history:...
, his show's producer who has worked with Moyles since 2001, is openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay. He was quoted in The Guardian by Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill
Ben Summerskill
Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill OBE is a British businessman and journalist, who is the Chief Executive of the UK-based Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual equality organisation Stonewall, now the largest gay equality body in Europe...
as saying "Yeah, I'm homophobic, I don't like the gays. Sorry, it just does my head in. We have a token
Tokenism
In the arts, employment, and politics, tokenism is a policy or practice of limited inclusion or artistic and/or political representation of members of a traditionally marginalized group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices rather than discrimination, intentional or not...
gay on the show!" In his book The Difficult Second Book, Moyles says that he was responding to another article with sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
, and was subsequently quoted out of context.
Moyles was censured by Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
following eight complaints made after a broadcast on 20 January 2009 in which he told listeners it was the birthday of Will Young
Will Young
William Robert "Will" Young is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominenceafter winning the 2002 inaugural series of the British music contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the now-worldwide Idols-format franchise...
and then went on to sing "Evergreen
Evergreen (Westlife song)
"Evergreen" is a pop song, co-written by Jörgen Elofsson, Per Magnusson and David Kreuger, and originally recorded by Westlife. The song appears on their album World of Our Own, and was released as a single, only in the Philippines, where it reached number 3 due to the insistent demand of their fans...
" and "Leave Right Now
Leave Right Now
"Leave Right Now" is a popular song written by Eg White and performed by Will Young. It appears on Young's second album, Friday's Child, and was released as the first single from the album, and Young's fifth overall. The single went to number one in the UK Singles Chart, selling 117,700 in its...
!" in a high pitched and effeminate voice, changing the lyrics to references on Young's sexuality
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Ofcom stated that the language used could have been "interpreted by listeners as promoting and condoning certain negative stereotypes based on sexual orientation" and whilst acknowledging the intention was to be humorous in their opinion it could have been perceived as hostile and pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
. The media regulator also said in their view that because of the show's breakfast time slot that attracts a young audience it had the potential to encourage children to discriminate against others based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation and ran the risk of being imitated on the playground causing "unnecessary distress".
Auschwitz controversy
On 20 January 2009, Moyles provoked controversy with comments regarding the family history programme Who Do You Think You Are? during his radio show. Referring to his recent trips to Ireland while filming for the programme, Moyles said "I went off to Ireland and other places to film and unlike a lot of the Who Do You Think You Are? shows I didn't go to Auschwitz. Pretty much everyone goes there whether or not they're Jewish. They just seem to pass through there on their way to FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
". Celebrities featured on Who Do You Think You Are? including Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
and Natasha Kaplinsky
Natasha Kaplinsky
Natasha Margaret Kaplinsky is a British newsreader and television presenter, currently employed by ITV having previously worked for Channel 5, Sky News and the BBC...
, have traced their family histories back to Jews murdered during the Holocaust. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
quickly released a statement: “Anyone who listens to the Chris Moyles Show will know he has an irreverent style. However, we regret that on this occasion his comments were misjudged and we are speaking to Chris and his team about them.”
N-Dubz controversy
On 12 January 2010, hip-hop trio N-DubzN-Dubz
N-Dubz are a British hip hop group from Camden Town, London. The group consists of members Dappy, Tulisa Contostavlos and Fazer.N-Dubz were previously signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the World Records...
appeared on the Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
. The show received a text message from a female listener saying that band member Dappy
Dappy
Costadinos Contostavlos better known by his stage name Dappy, is a British singer-songwriter, rapper, actor of Greek descent. He is best known for being the lead singer of the Camden-based Grime/hip hop/R&B trio N-Dubz, with his cousin Tulisa and their friend Fazer...
was "vile" and "a little boy with a silly hat" and that N-Dubz were "losers". Dappy secretly copied her phone number from the studio console and sent abusive and threatening text messages to the woman the following day including telling her she was "gonna die!". Moyles said of the resulting criticism: "I feel let down by him, I've supported them and said, 'Do you know what, N-Dubz aren't just a bunch of dippy chav
Chav
A chav is a term that is used in the United Kingdom to describe a stereotype of teenagers and young adults from an underclass background.-Etymology:...
s, they're really good.' So for him to go and do something like that is a bit rubbish."
Personal life
Chris dated former children's T.V presenter Ana BoulterAna Boulter
Ana Boulter is a British television presenter, who currently lives in Hong Kong. She attended The Minster School in Southwell Notts, and then Nottingham Trent University and studied broadcast journalism. She presented CBBC between 1998 and 2001, as well as BBC regional programme Inside Out and has...
for three years, but the couple split in 2002. The same year he met Sophie Waite, and the couple dated for eight years. The relationship ended in September 2010.
Awards and tributes
Moyles has won several Sony Radio Awards: Silver in 1998; Gold in 2006; nominated in 2007: Gold in 2008; Bronze in 2009; Silver in 2010; Bronze in 2011He was voted "Best DJ" by readers of The Sun newspaper and readers of Loaded
Loaded (magazine)
Loaded, first published in 1994, is a British magazine for men that is considered to be the "original lads' mag". Its motto is "For men who should know better".-History:...
magazine.
In 2006 he was nominated and won "Bully of the Year" at the annual Stonewall Awards
Stonewall Awards
The Stonewall Awards is an annual event to celebrate people who have had a positive impact on the lives of British LGBT people. The event was first held in 2006 at the Royal Academy of Arts and from 2007 were held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.-2006:...
..
In 2007 the rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...
named their ground after him. Traditionally known as Post Office Road
Post Office Road
Post Office Road, currently styled as the Bigfellas Stadium for sponsorship purposes , is a rugby league ground in Featherstone, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England...
, it was renamed via a sponsorship deal as the Chris Moyles Stadium. On 7 July 2007 Moyles appeared as a presenter at the UK leg
Live Earth concert, London
The Live Earth concert in the United Kingdom was held at Wembley Stadium, London, England on 7 July 2007.-Running order:In order of appearance :...
of Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
in Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In March 2011, Chris Moyles and David Vitty
David Vitty
David Lloyd Vitty is a long-term contributor on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 under the nickname Comedy Dave. He was originally a broadcast assistant on the show, but is now the show's head writer and 'Director of Comedy'.-Background:Vitty studied Radio Production at college, but never had...
broke the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
for Worldwide Longest Marathon Radio DJ (Team). They totalled 52 consecutive hours on air and raised £2,622,421 for Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...