Robert Anthony Beckett (born 2 January 1986) is an English comedian, narrator, and presenter. He was a co-host on the

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial station ...

spin-off show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!'' from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team captain on the E4 panel show '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'' and the narrator of the reality series '' Celebs Go Dating''. He presents

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

entertainment series ''Wedding Day Winners'' and '' All Together Now''.

Early life

Beckett was born on 2 January 1986 in Mottingham,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He has four brothers. He went to Edgebury Primary School and then Coopers School in Chislehurst. He attended

Canterbury Christ Church University , mottoeng = The truth shall set you free , established = 2005 – gained University status 1962 – teacher training college , type = Public , religious_affiliation = Church of England , city ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

from 2004 to 2007, where he studied

Tourism Management Hospitality Management and Tourism is the study of the hospitality industry. A degree in the subject may be awarded either by a university college dedicated to the studies of hospitality management or a business school with a relevant departme ...

Career

Beckett started performing stand-up in 2009. His performances lead to a third place in '' So You Think You're Funny,'' and winning the Amused Moose Laugh-Off which earned him an invitation to perform at the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

in Australia. In

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, Beckett was nominated for the best newcomer award in 2011. He made his debut at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 2012 with his solo show "Rob Beckett's Summer Holiday". In 2011, Beckett made a guest appearance as Mike in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series '' Fresh Meat''. From 2012 until 2014, Beckett co-hosted '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!'', the

spin-off from the main show. He presented the show with

Laura Whitmore Laura Whitmore (born 4 May 1985) is an Irish media personality and model based in London. She was a video jockey for MTV in 2008, and has since presented television shows, such as ''This Morning'' (2014), ''Survival of the Fittest'' (2018) a ...

and Joe Swash. He announced his departure from the show in October 2015, to concentrate on his tour. He was replaced by David Morgan. Beckett also presented the ''Rock'N'Roll Football'' Sunday show on

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British Independent National Radio, National radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and ...

from August 2014 until 2018. Alongside fellow comedian

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

and former footballer Jimmy Bullard, Beckett hosts UK television channel

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

's comedy-football podcast ''The Magic Sponge''; an irreverent look at the lives of professional footballers. Beckett narrated the 2016 E4 series '' Celebs Go Dating''. In February 2017, the second series of ''Celebs Go Dating'' began airing with him writing and narrating once again, this time with some overseas celebrities in tow. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team captain on the

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 When ...

panel show '' 8 Out of 10 Cats''. Beckett was a contestant and eventual winner on the third series of ''

Taskmaster A taskmaster is a supervisor who imposes hard or burdensome work. Taskmaster may also refer to: * ''Taskmaster'' (TV series), a British comedy panel show ** ''Taskmaster'' (American TV series), an American version of the British show ** ''Taskm ...

'', which aired in October 2016. In 2018, he presented ''Wedding Day Winners'', with Lorraine Kelly, and '' All Together Now'', with Geri Halliwell, both Saturday-night entertainment series for

. The following year, in 2019, Beckett started presenting a Sky TV series ''Rob & Romesh vs...'' where he and fellow comic and presenter Romesh Ranganathan travel around the world, delve into the lives and careers of celebrities and take on various challenges. As of April 2020, Beckett has co-hosted a podcast named Lockdown Parenting Hell, with fellow comedian Josh Widdicombe. The pair frequently interview celebrities regarding the trials and tribulations of parenting during the Coronavirus lockdown. On 20 February 2022, Beckett started his new 5-7pm Sunday Show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

, a timeslot he will be sharing throughout the year with '' Paul O'Grady on the Wireless''.

Filmography

Television

Film

Personal life

In September 2016, Beckett announced on his YouTube channel that he recently had a child. In March 2019, Beckett told his good friend

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

that he has two daughters, during a Radio 2 interview. Beckett is a supporter of

Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inclu ...

and Bromley F.C.

References

External links

* *
''Rob Beckett''
(BBC Radio 2) {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Rob 1986 births Living people 21st-century English comedians BBC Radio 2 presenters Comedians from London Comic Relief people English male comedians People from Mottingham