Christopher James Evans

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Christopher James Evans (born 1 April 1966) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, businessman, voice actor, and television producer.

As a youth, he began his broadcasting career with Piccadilly Radio, Manchester, before heading to London as a host for BBC Greater London Radio and then Channel 4 television, where The Big Breakfast made him a celebrity.

He was soon able to control favourable terms, allowing him to air on competing radio and television stations.

A number of celebrity interviews, music, and video games were included in an irreverent style that attracted high audience ratings, but then also generated a lot of complaints.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, he was the UK's top-paid entertainer by 2000.

He was the BBC's highest-paid presenter, making between £2.2 million and £2.25 million per year in the tax year from April 2017. He began his career on BBC Radio 2, hosting his long-running Drivetime show, before moving to host The Chris Evans Breakfast Show every weekday morning in 2010.

He appeared on Fridays from 2010 to 2015.

He hosted Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park from 2011 to 2018. Evans signed a three-year contract to lead a new Top Gear line-up in 2015. On Friday, TFI's revival was shown.

On July 4, 2016, he announced that he would be leaving his BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Christmas Eve and will be returning to Virgin Radio UK to host its breakfast show.

He went from BBC Radio 2 to the majority of his regular staff.

Early life

Evans was born in Warrington, England, as the youngest child of bookmaker and health authority wage clerk Martin Joseph Evans (12 November 1921 – 25 April 1979), and Minnie Beardsall (1926–2018), who operated a corner shop. David (born 1953) and his sister Diane (born 1963). He began attending St Margaret's Infants and Junior School, as well as the Junior School in Orford, Warrington. Evans' father died of colorectal cancer, and his mother was a breast cancer survivor.

He took the Eleven-Plus exam and began attending Boteler Grammar School in Warrington. Evans, the 13-year-father of his father, died on April 25, 1979, after a brief stint at a T. J. store. B. McLoughlin, a newsagent-tobacconist in Woolston, ran an alternative tuck-shop at Padgate High School, which was a comprehensive school he attended for the final three years of his secondary education. Evans left secondary school at the age of 16, transitioning to the sixth form, and then had a variety of dead-end careers in and around Warrington, including at a private detective company and, more commonly, as a "Tarzan-ogram."

Personal life

Former fiancée Alison Ward has an infant daughter, Jade (born 1986). The couple reached an out-of-court deal in 1998, whereby Evans gave his daughter a home and Ward an allowance. When she married her boyfriend Callum on September 7, Evans walked Jade down the aisle. Evans became a grandfather on January 9, 2015, when Jade gave birth to her son.

In 1991, Evans married Carol McGiffin. Evans' 1993 break up was not amicable, and McGiffin has been scathing about him in newspaper columns for years. In 1998, the two couples divorced. During his time at BBC Radio 1 and Virgin, Evans had strong links with Kim Wilde, model Rachel Tatton-Brown (whose sister was a researcher on The Big Breakfast), assistant producer Suzi Aplin, Geri Halliwell, and Melanie Sykes.

Billie Piper, a teen pop star who dated for a time, met Evans in May 2000. She proposed on his 35th birthday and the couple married in a £200 ceremony at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada, attended by six people, including best man Danny Baker. News of a trial separation emerged in September 2004; Evans, who was found selling furniture and paintings from his London and Los Angeles homes at Camden Market, saying, "I just want to get rid of it all; it's just a headache." Evans and Piper would divorce in 2005, according to Piper's public announcement that she would not receive no funds from Evans. Evans and Piper divorced in May 2007, nearly three years after they had separated.

Evans, a keen golfer with a handicap of 15, met professional golfer, part-time model and columnist for Golf Punk magazine Natasha Shishmanian when they became golfers in the All Star Cup celebrity tournament in Newport, Rhode Island – he was rewarded for the quality of his play. Evans and Shishmanian married in August 2007, and the following weekend, Evans's ex-wife Piper attended a reception in Faro, Portugal, which was attended by Evans's former wife Piper. The couple have four children. Both their two eldest sons have appeared on several occasions on their father's Breakfast Radio show.

Evans revealed in his Radio 2 blog that he had "magic mushrooms" two days before going to a Meat Loaf concert at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2008. "I thought I was chronicling Albert Hall's walk on the back of a massive rock and roll crab, something I didn't believe." Any evidence of class A drug use, according to a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman, would be investigated by the police.

After being barred by Surrey Police from driving at 105 mph (169 km/h) on the A3 road in Esher in January 2001, Evans, a fan of fast cars and particularly Ferraris, was banned from driving for 56 days and fined £600. Evans crashed his silver 575 million Maranello into a verge near his Surrey home in 2005. Evans attended a RM Auctions/Sotheby's Ferrari auction in Maranello, Italy, on May 18th and purchased a 1961 250 GT Spyder California SWB once owned by US actor James Coburn for $6.4 million euros, the then world record. He bought a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO, one of only thirty-six built, for £12 million in May 2010. He reportedly sold three Ferraris from his collection to pay for it. He sold it three years later to a Swiss collector for $25 million.

In August 2002, Evans, a member of crew on the sailing yacht Nausicaa with six others, drowned when James Ward, the owner of the White Horse in Hascombe, Surrey, which was then Evans' local pub, drowned in a drowning in The Solent. Evans and Shishmanian began instructing helicopters at Shoreham Airport in September 2007.

Evans is a first cousin of former Scottish Rugby internationals Max Evans and Thom Evans.

Evans is a promoter of the Labour Party, and he has contributed £100,000 to former Labour MP Ken Livingstone's mayoral bid when he ran as an outsider in 2000. Evans is also a Scout Ambassador for The Scout Association.

Evans was given an honorary degree from York St John's University on November 15, 2016, he was given this by the university's chancellor Archbishop Dr John Sentamu at York Minster.

Minnie Evans' mother Minnie died on May 3, 2018, at the age of 92. Vassos Alexander, a regular co-presenter, began his Radio 2 Breakfast show on Sunday, which was on until 8.30.

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Career

Evans began his education at Piccadilly Radio, Manchester, in 1983, where he had previously been unpaid schoolboy work. Before 1984, Evans had three jobs: as an assistant and a character on his television show 'No 'O' Level' (No 'O' Level'); as a disc jockey in the evenings at local pubs when he was not at Piccadilly Radio; and as a newspaper delivery man, opening up every day at 5 a.m. to sort out the newspaper deliveries.

Evans converted to a full-time job at the station in 1984, when his new job included being driven around the Manchester area in the radio car to turn up at listeners' houses. In addition, he was a producer to presenter James H. Reeve. Following this, he hosted a week-day graveyard slot with challenges and segments in which listeners had the opportunity to sell their possessions on air.

Evans began as a producer on Richard Branson's service The Superstation, where he produced content for Jonathan Ross, and then moved to BBC Greater London Radio, first as a producer on Emma Freud's midmorning display and then as a producer on Weekend Breakfast with Danny Baker.

Evans was offered a producer position on both shows but was reluctant to remain in GLR after station manager Matthew Bannister gave him the opportunity to host his own show in early 1990. He began presenting The Greenhouse, a Monday-to-Thursday evening show; he stayed in this position until 1990.

Evans moved from 10:00 am to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday mornings as a result of his first regular TV broadcasting job on The Power Station for British Satellite Broadcasting, beginning with his first regular television viewing job on The Power Up breakfast show, he continued to attend every Saturday morning until April 1993.

In March 1992, Evans began presenting a Sunday afternoon show on BBC Radio 1, replacing Phillip Schofield, who appeared on GLR for the first time. In September 1992, his show, Too Much Gravy, was broadcast from 14:30 to 16:00 and ended. His Radio 1 debut was short lived, but it was seen as a huge success, with boss Johnny Beerling later admitting to wishing he'd given Evans a full show both now and then. Evans, at the time, protested Radio 1's attempt to dictate his style, preventing him from using the "zoo" style, presumably because Steve Wright was already doing that on the radio.

Evans left GLR in April 1993 and joined Virgin Radio to host a Saturday morning show.

Evans' departure from radio was in part due to his availability to the new Channel 4 breakfast television show The Big Breakfast, which aired on September 28, 1992. Gaby Roslin and him co-hosted the program.

Evans left The Big Breakfast on September 29, 1994, establishing Ginger Productions, his own television production company. Don't Forget Your Toothbrush was the first major program on television between 1994 and 1995. Evans' original plans were extremely successful, as its format was given to many foreign broadcasters.

Evans returned to radio in April 1995 to host the flagship Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Evans negotiated with Radio 1 a clause that allows him to continue to produce television shows, as well as the ability to produce a Friday night show for Channel 4. According to a subsequent clause, the Breakfast Show had to be produced by Evans' Ginger company rather than in-house by BBC Radio.

Evans, who had been barred from appearing on Radio 1, was given a free rein by his companion, station's controller Matthew Bannister, who was pled to create the "zoo" style. Critics hated innuendo-laden services such as Honk Your Horn and Your Girlfriend, but Evans introduced 600,000 new listeners over Steve Wright, one for every £5 invested on salary and advertisement. The result also extended to later programs' listening figures. The audience grew as the breakfast format became more ridiculous: humiliating assistant Holly Samos repeatedly asking her about her sex life (Evans and Samos were reportedly in a relationship at one point during their time together), and inducing two female guests to perform a strip show on live radio. The show's highest listening figure hit 7.5 million.

On Friday, Evans started making TFI versions of Channel 4's TFI from 1996. Celebrities, musical guests, and competitions were mixed in the show, which was devised, produced, and hosted by Evans' Ginger Media company. It was initially a huge success, largely based on his radio show's profitable formula. However, as the success of both shows rose, as well as a string of celebrity friendships and well-publicised nights drinking with friends Danny Baker and Paul Gascoigne, the strain began to rise, and a model appeared as a "template for his future projects" – an abundance of hope at the start that eventually fades prey to boredom and shiftlessness.

Beginning to believe he was indispensable at Radio 1, the first big loss with management came in December 1995 after his crew was forced to leave for a 17-hour pub-crawl, which ended two hours before they were scheduled on television: Evans was fined £7,000 for one day's work. Broadcasting watchdogs investigated a slew of reports against the show in 1996: Evans never said sorry; radio 1 refused to comment; Evans' public demands of the Radio 1 crew were also on the rise: after taking an additional week of unplanned holiday, Evans opted to turn up half an hour for his 06:30 show and then demanded that his hours be changed to ensure it was a permanent fixture.

However, conditions in the summer were decidedly worse. Evans was chastised by the broadcasting watchdog for a tasteless joke about Holocaust survivor Anne Frank, but she countered with a piece about haemorrhoids. Evans branded Bannister "The Fat Controller" after Bannister asked to observe the rules, the next day. Evans revealed on television that he was medically ill to be on the radio in November. Bannister re-negotiated his deal to double his holiday to twice that of other Radio 1 DJs. Evans' time at the station began in January 1997, when he resigned after his plea not to host the show on Friday (to have a full day preparing for his TV show) was not accepted.

Mark and Lard (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley) took over the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Evans landed out that they were a ratings disaster, and he quickly reached out to BBC Radio 1's chief to ask if the show could be revived. However, station administration turned down a weekend slot, but he did give him a weekend slot, which he turned down. Managers decided to swap its presenters with Kevin Greening, a little-known kids' TV host, and Zoe Ball, due to the decreasing ratings. Their tenure began on October 13, 1997.

On a holiday in Killarney, Evans listened to Gerry Ryan, an Irish broadcaster, on the radio. Evans says that the variety on Ryan's show made him want to return to radio. Evans was then recruited by Virgin Radio to host its breakfast show, sparking an immediate increase in station listening figures from 1.8 million to 2.6 million. On October 13, 1997, his first show was on Radio 1. Kevin Greening and Zo Ball were on Radio 1. Evans' crew ran the show from Monday to Friday from Monday to Friday, but not without Evans on Friday.

Richard Branson began discussions to sell the station to Capital Radio in a deal that would have given him 10% of Capital Group. Evans, who did not want to work for Capital, had publicly sluggishly dismissed them as "a bleating, blowing asthmatic dog." Ginger Media Group purchased Virgin Radio from Branson for £85 million on December 9th to regulate both Ginger Productions and Virgin Radio's interests. Evans' team was aided by investors, Evans' vehicle. Both Apax Partners and Branson owned 20% of Ginger Media Group, while Evans and his investors owned the remaining 60%. The company speculated at purchasing the Daily Star newspaper but decided against from commercial perspectives.

Evans decided to sell Ginger Media Group to Scottish Media Group for £225 million on March 14, 2000. Evans was the country's highest-paid entertainer in 2000, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, who estimated that the sum was around £35.5 million. Following poor reviews of TFI Friday and Evans' hand-over the show's final series of "friends" was cancelled in December 2000.

Evans continued to host the station's breakfast show, but echoes of his earlier dismissal from Radio 1 appeared. In May 2000, the station was fined £75,000 (then the highest fine levied by the Radio Authority) for its continued on-air support of Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral elections.

Paul Jackson, Virgin Radio's current program controller, had reduced Evans' "zoo" staff and instituted a music policy that replaced more eclectic choices with a strict diet of chart pop, considering the fact that audience figures had decreased from a peak of 2.6 million to 1.7 million. As a result, Evans was followed throughout the day by tabloid newspaper photographers, and he finally completed an "18-hour bender" after a preview of a lap dancer at Stringfellows that culminated in late night, with Evans asleep in front of a lap-dancer at Stringfellows. Billie Piper, Billie Piper's new wife, was shot by the tabloids in Hascombe, Surrey, later this week after complaining he was too ill to show his show, but was dismissed on June 28 2001 for persistently failing to arrive at work. Evans was fired by the younger Steve Penk, whom Evans chastised for his age – 39 compared to Evans' 35.

Evans attempted to sue Virgin Radio, alleging that he was wrongfully dismissed and denied share options worth £8.6 million. Justice Lightman found that he had been fairly dismissed and was not entitled to the shares on June 26, 2003. Evans was publicly chastised for his behavior by the judge, who wrote about Evans, "He has the temperament of a prima donna." Virgin Radio/SMG were later sued, with Evans compelled to pay £1 million towards their court fees.

Evans writes in his autobiography that shortly after the auction of Virgin Radio, he was given £56 million for his SMG shares. Goldman Sachs offered him. He turned down the bid and eventually sold them for £250,000.

Chris Evans formed UMTV, a radio and television production company, with the intention of specializing in live, cutting-edge, entertainment programming. UMTV produced more than 375 hours of television over the past three years, with mixed success. Boys and Girls hosted by Vernon Kay for Channel 4; One of Idiot, John O'Connell, and Live with Chris Moyles for Five; and the BAFTA award-winning School of Hard Knocks for 4 Learning on Sunday.

Following two high-profile shows that failed to make it to the charts, UMTV has recruited Terry Wogan and Evans' former Big Breakfast co-host Gaby Roslin to host The Terry and Gaby Show, a weekday morning magazine show. Evans said in advance that if this performance was unsuccessful, he would set up a market stall. Despite critical praise, the audience numbers never took off and Channel 5 pulled the show after its year-long run, citing the show's high price as a cause. Evans was shown at the end of the final show with a market stall and later opened it for real at Stables Market, Camden, true to his word.

Evans re-entered public life in early 2005, presenting the breakfast slot of UK Radio Aid's day of programming for the victims of the Asian tsunami, which was broadcast on most of the UK's commercial radio stations, as well as the BRIT Awards in 2005 and 2006. Evans appeared on BBC Radio 2 in April 2005, including coverage of the Live 8 concert in London.

In September 2005, Evans joined Radio 2 on a permanent basis, hosting a weekly Saturday afternoon show from 14:00 to 17:00. Robbie Williams of his first appearance on television, as well as a posse of friends "Big" Pete Winterbottom and newsreader Andrew Peach. "We've had a few test drives over the summer, and we've decided to go for it," Evans said to listeners. Yes, we like this car.

Listeners and reviewers alike applauded Evans as the successor to Radio 2's Drivetime show on March 2, 2006, after long-time host Johnnie Walker, who was to begin on April 18th. According to RAJAR's audience estimates, Evans had 150,000 fewer followers than his predecessor's last show, but it was on par with previous years. RAJAR's second series, which was released in October 2006, had a tenfold increase in the second year, while the previous quarter saw up by 33,000 people per year. On his drivetime display, he was expected to have a 4.9 million-person audience. The show had averaging of over five million viewers by the end of 2007. Evans will take over Sir Terry Wogan's breakfast show on September 7, 2009, shortly after Wogan announced that he would no longer be present at the festival at the end of the year. On Christmas Eve 2009, Evans hosted his final drivetime show.

On January 11, 2010, Evans took over the Radio 2 breakfast show, replacing Sir Terry Wogan. The original 30 minutes was longer than the Wogan incarnation and opened at 07:00 a.m., but following Sarah Kennedy's departure from early breakfast, the performance was extended by another 30 minutes and opened at 06:30 a.m. Ken Bruce's handover at 09:30 a.m. was always ended with a handover. Although Evans resigned Wogan due to his long-awaited retirement, Kennedy supporters argued that there was a deliberate attempt to lure her out so that Evans' appearance could be postponed. "All You Need Is Love" and "Got to Get You into My Life," The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" and "Come Fly with Me" were two of Frank Sinatra's first three songs. Moira Stuart, sports anchor Jonny Saunders (who was fired by Vassos Alexander in June 2011), and travel reporter Lynn Bowles were among his co-presenters. The Gobsmackers were among the songs ranked by a listener who likes back-to-back (two songs that sound well played back-to-back).

Evans revealed on Sunday that he will be leaving the show and the station in December for Virgin Radio. Lord Tony Hall, the BBC's director general, told the House of Commons that, in addition to wanting a new challenge, the department's digital, culture, media, and sport select committee found that releasing the salaries of those at the BBC earning more than £150,000 was a contributing factor in Evans' departure. Evans revealed on air that Zoe Ball would be removed from the show starting in January 2019. On December 24, 2018, the season officially ended. Evans, along with sports reporter Vassos Alexander and Rachel Horne, who provides regular news bulletins, expanded her role as the show's travel specialist. Meera Depala, the show's executive producer and producer, is also a member of the team. David Brain (Producer) and Jayne Cheeseman (Assistant Producer) who created the previous breakfast show on Virgin Radio are supporting Davis.

Evans was named Music Radio Personality of the Year at the annual Sony Radio Academy Awards in May 2006, defeating Jamie Theakston, Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, and Tim Lovejoy to win. Evans thanked the BBC for giving him "a second shot" when accepting the award. Evans was named as the'most popular radio personality' the following year, while his show received the Entertainment award. "I didn't expect this," he said. "I wouldn't have cared if I didn't win, but I would have loved the fact that I have won." In the 2007 survey conducted by The Guardian newspaper, Evans was voted the 82nd most influential media celebrity.

Evans' attempts at a TV comeback in the 21st century have been marred by poor ratings and cancellations, including dropping viewing figures for his new role as co-host of The One Show on Friday. On ITV, Evans hosted OFI in November and December 2005. Billie Piper, the first guest on the program, was the first guest on the programme in a move referred to by Private Eye as Partridgean. Following poor reviews and poor viewing numbers, OFI's Sunday was cancelled after just five shows. Evans narrated the CBeebies christmas pantomine in 2009, prompting him to rant on air during his Saturday BBC Radio 2 slot that he no longer knew how to be profitable on television.

Evans will be replacing Adrian Chiles as the co-presenter of The One Show on BBC One on Friday in 2010. Chiles and then co-host Christine Bleakley left the show to join ITV. On Fridays with Alex Jones, Evans appeared on the show, as well as on other weekdays. Matt Baker performed and still does (as of 2018) the show is broadcast on a regular Monday to Thursday basis.

Evans revealed in 2015 that he would leave The One Show to concentrate on Top Gear.

In January 2011, Evans returned to Channel 4 to host a new reality show Famous and Fearless, in which eight celebrities were divided into two teams, 'Boys' and 'Girls,' Rufus Hound, Charley Boorman, Sam Branson (son of Richard Branson) and Jonah Lomu were among the boys' squad members. Jenny Frost, Kacey Ainsworth, Sarah Jayne Dunn, and Dame Kelly Holmes were on the girls' team. Holmes won the girls'; Boorman took the boys' and the show went outright. After one series of poor ratings, it was announced in February 2011.

Following the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, Evans signed a three-year contract to be the main presenter on the BBC Two motoring show Top Gear on June 16, 2015.

On his radio show the next morning, he confirmed his admission and explained that the bid was made after James May and Richard Hammond announced to the BBC that they would not be returning to the show. He sent texts to May, Hammond, and Clarkson before the announcement, and all three were given encouraging responses.

Matt LeBlanc, Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris, and Eddie Jordan had been confirmed by Evans in February 2016 that they would be joining Evans for the twenty third series of Top Gear. It was also announced that the new series would premiere in May 2016.

On the first episode of the new series of six episodes, which was broadcast on May 29, 2016. In June 2016, it was reported that LeBlanc, a fellow presenter, had threatened to leave the show unless Evans was fired due to inappropriate conduct on set. Evans, according to the report, had become jealous of the attention the other presenters were getting and had withdrawn from the group.

Evans revealed on July 4th, 2016 that he had stepped down from his role as show host and that his deal with Top Gear had been cut short by two years. Evans' presenting style had been chastised throughout the course of the new series.

He was the BBC's highest paid presenter, earning between £2.2 million and £2.25 million in the tax year 2017 and was the highest paid presenter.

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