Mark Dolan (born 17 March 1974) is an English presenter and comedian. He has hosted various shows on UK television, including '' Balls of Steel'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

2005 until 2008 and the self titled ''Mark Dolan Tonight'' and ''Friday Night Live with Mark Dolan'' for

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air, editorial, opinion-orientated television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview (UK), Freeview, Freesat, Sky UK, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet on Samsung TV Plus, LG web ...

between 2021 and 2024.

Early life

Dolan grew up above the

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

, with his landlord father, mother Diane, brother and two sisters. Dolan is proud of his background and often refers to his childhood on his

show. Dolan attended

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he received an MA in politics. Whilst an undergraduate at Edinburgh, he performed in the improvisational comedy troupe

The Improverts The Improverts is a improvisational comedy troupe from the Edinburgh University Theatre Company, which primarily performs at the Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh. They perform weekly during Edinburgh University's term time and every night during t ...

Career

Stand-up comedy

Dolan started as a stand-up comedian in 2000.

Radio

In 2017 Dolan returned to radio, presenting a breakfast show on Fubar Radio, an online radio station based in London. In 2019, Dolan joined Talkradio, where he presented ''Drivetime'' from 4pm to 7 Monday to Friday, Saturday nights 10pm to 1am and Sundays 8pm to 10pm. He left the station in July 2021 to join rivals,

. In September 2020, at a time in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

when the wearing of face coverings was compulsory in shops and on public transport in the United Kingdom, Dolan cut up a face mask during a Talkradio broadcast, calling the masks "wretched, godawful, damned, blinking, uncomfortable, scientifically empty, and useless". Dolan's fellow talkRADIO host

Jamie East Jamie Alexander East (born 27 March 1974) is an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and singer-songwriter. Career He was the lead singer of the band The Beekeepers, who signed to Beggars Banquet in the late 1990s. They reform ...

quit the station when Dolan went unpunished by station bosses. Presenter

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

and doctor Hilary Jones criticised his actions on '' Good Morning Britain'' as behaviour that could "cost lives". The next month Dolan clarified that he followed all government rules on mask wearing, but considered the science around them to be "flaky".

Television

Dolan first came to the public's attention in 2002 after writing and performing in a ''

Comedy Lab ''Comedy Lab'' is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998. Several pilots first shown on ''Comedy Lab'' have gone on to spawn full seri ...

'' entitled 'The Richard Taylor Interviews'. Dolan was the host of

show '' Balls of Steel'', which he presented from 2005 to 2008. He was also the presenter of the TV documentary series ''The World's ...And Me.'' The show ran to three series and twelve one-hour films and led to the release of the book ''The World's Most Extraordinary People and Me'', published by HarperCollins. In 2006, Dolan helped launch

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

as the host of ''The Last Word'', a nightly topical discussion show. He has also fronted shows for E4, including its launch comedy series, ''Show Me The Funny'', and provides his voice as presenter of a new series for Five called ''Urban Legends''. For five years, Dolan was the presenter of

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema on ...

' weekly movie-news show ''35mm'' and Channel 4's '' The Mad Bad Ad Show''. In February 2013, Dolan took part in the fifth series of ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The programme ...

'' as a member of "Destiny's Dad" alongside fellow stand-up comedians

Hal Cruttenden Hal Dominic Bart Cruttenden (born 9 September 1969) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. Early life Hal Dominic Bart Cruttenden was born in the Ealing district of London on 9 September 1969. His grandmother, Cynthia Co ...

and Shaun Keaveny. In 2015, Dolan co-hosted '' If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World'' with British reality TV personality

Katie Hopkins Katie Olivia Hopkins (born 13 February 1975) is an English media personality, far-right political commentator, and former columnist and businesswoman. She was a contestant on the third series of the reality show ''The Apprentice'' in 2007; f ...

. In 2016, he won the '' Celebrity Come Dine with Me'' Christmas Special, with a Dickensian themed meal of pea soup, three bird roast and plum duff as dessert. He also appeared in the fourth and final series of the Channel 4 wintersports entertainment show '' The Jump'', alongside

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional Road bicycle racing, road and track cycling, track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but ...

, Robbie Fowler, and Jason Robinson. Dolan joined

on 23 July 2021, presenting various shows on the channel, including ''Mark Dolan Tonight''. Dolan announced on 18 December 2024 that GB News had dropped him from the network.

References

External links

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Chortle Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Mark 1974 births Living people People educated at University College School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Comedians from the London Borough of Camden English game show hosts English male comedians English stand-up comedians English talk radio hosts English television presenters GB News newsreaders and journalists People from Kentish Town Television personalities from the London Borough of Camden