Gareth Jones (born 5 July 1961), also known as Gaz Top, is a Welsh television presenter. Best known for his work as a presenter of children's television and science programmesGareth Jones
The Right Address. such as ''

How 2 ''How 2'' is an informative educational programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1991, and STV Studios ( Scottish Television) from 1992 to 2006. The original show ('' How)'' was produced by Southern Television from 1966 up until 1981, when ...

'' and '' Get Fresh'', he has more recently moved to presenting motorsport podcasts and directing and producing programmes. In the summer of 2021 he became the first person to swim across Wales from south to north, whilst making a three-part documentary series for Welsh broadcaster S4C called ''Gareth Jones: Nofio Adre''.

Career

Jones was born in St Asaph, Wales, and grew up in

Holywell, Flintshire Holywell ( ; ) is a market town and community in Flintshire, Wales. It lies to the west of the estuary of the River Dee. The community includes Greenfield. In 2011, it had a population of 8,886. Etymology The name Holywell is literally ' + ' ...

. When he began his career in 1979, he used the name "Gaz Top", a name he earned whilst working as a roadie for

The Alarm The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977 under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the group soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language ...

. ''Gareth Jones On Speed'' is a car and motorsport

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

written and performed by Gareth Jones and made by TV and podcasting production company WhizzBang. Hosted by Jones, the show has an irreverent style and features a regular cast of Zog (AKA musician and journalist Paul Ireson) Richard Porter (creator of cult web-site

Sniff Petrol ''Sniff Petrol'' is an inactive online motoring satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomin ...

and Script Editor previously of BBC's

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

and now of Amazon's

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and Andy Wilman, for Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was devised in the wake of the depar ...

) and TV presenter and writer

Violet Berlin Violet Berlin (born 2 January 1968) is a British television presenter, producer and writer, script writer for films, games and immersive experiences, best known for her pioneering coverage of innovative technology and video games. Career Berli ...

. The show began in August 2005 after a visit to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Personal life

Since March 2024, he has lived in north Wales. He moved away from North London after an amicable separation from his long-term partner,

. They have two sons together.FAQ
at Jones's official web site He is a

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

speaker.Gareth 'Gaz Top' Jones
,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Credits

References

External links

* *
Growing up: Gareth Jones
BBC, "my old school, Ysgol Gwenffrwd in Holywell"
YouTube video clip of Gareth Jones interviewing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Gareth 1961 births Living people Welsh television presenters People from St Asaph People educated at Ysgol Glan Clwyd Welsh podcasters