Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974)
is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of ''
The Chris Moyles Show'' on
Radio X.
Previously he presented ''
The Chris Moyles Show'' on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
from 2004 to 2012 and ''
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night'' from 2009 to 2012 on
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 ...
.
Moyles worked at various radio stations, including
Radio Luxembourg (under the pseudonym Chris Holmes) and
Capital FM. Moyles moved to
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
in July 1997 and left the station in September 2012. He has presented the early breakfast show, a Saturday morning show, and the drive time show (from September 1998 to December 2003), before presenting the breakfast show from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012. Moyles is BBC Radio 1's longest serving breakfast presenter. Moyles became famous for his maverick bad-boy broadcasting style on BBC Radio 1 and was embroiled in numerous controversies, including accusations of sexism and homophobia, due to statements he made on the air and in the press.
Early life and career
Moyles was born in
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, to Christopher, a postman, and housewife Hannah Veronica "Vera" Moyles, (from Dublin) and he was educated at
Mount St Mary's Catholic High School.
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.
After WBHS, Moyles moved to local radio 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 7.00 pm–10.00 pm. He remained there until early 1994 when he was dismissed
[Moyles's autobiography ''The Gospel According to Chris Moyles''] for comments made about the station's previous programme controller. Moyles subsequently joined
Signal 1 in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
– again presenting ''The Evening Bit'' from 7.00 pm–10.00 pm. He remained there until he was dismissed by the station's programme controller, who he refers to as a "spineless bastard"
in his first autobiography. In 1995 Moyles was heard on the
Chiltern Radio Network, presenting the evening show from 7.00 pm–10.00 pm, before taking on the late show from 10.00 pm–1.00 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 Friday and Saturday evenings, and covering for other DJs. It was at Capital that Moyles fell out with fellow DJ
Neil Fox. After declining the offer of presenting the breakfast show on rival station
Kiss 100, Moyles joined Radio 1 in July 1997.
Radio 1
Moyles was voted one of the Faces for 97 by ''SKY magazine'' and presented his first show on Radio 1 on 28 July 1997, hosting the 4.00 am–7.00 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 10.00 am–1.00 pm. At Radio 1, he presented most of his shows with
David "Comedy Dave" Vitty, who worked behind the scenes at the station before Moyles' arrival.
After standing in regularly for
Kevin Greening and
Zoe Ball on the ''Radio 1 Breakfast Show'', Moyles' next promotion came in October 1998 when he took control of the drivetime show from 4.00 pm–5:45 pm. The show was extended to 3.00 pm–5:45 pm in February 2001. Moyles presented the show from 1998 with his
sidekick.
On 5 January 2004, Moyles started presenting Radio 1's breakfast programme, named ''
The Chris Moyles 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
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
''.
By 2005, Moyles and his team had succeeded in increasing the morning audience, with his programme's audience rising 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' audience ratings 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
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (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 BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...
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
Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (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 BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was c ...
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 highest-rated radio show in the UK at the time. The station's overall listener figure is now over 11 million.
On 12 May 2008 ''The Chris Moyles 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 7.00 am–10.00 am to 6.30 am–10.00 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 his colleague
David 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
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
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 Moyles would remain within the
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 ...
until at least 2014, ending speculation that he would move to a commercial rival. The deal was estimated to be worth £1 million. This would have allowed the presenter to reach his 10-year anniversary on ''
The Chris Moyles Show''. However, on 11 July 2012, Moyles announced that he would be leaving the breakfast show and the station on 14 September. It was announced later the same day that
Nick Grimshaw
Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), nicknamed "Grimmy", is an English broadcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a television presenter for his Channel 4 rol ...
would replace him.
Radio X
On 7 September 2015, it was announced Chris Moyles would return to radio on the newly re-branded
Radio X (previously XFM) hosting the new ''Chris Moyles Show''. The show began airing on 21 September 2015 from 6.30 am–10.00 am, returning to his former breakfast slot and was going head to head with his BBC Radio 1 breakfast show replacement,
Nick Grimshaw
Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), nicknamed "Grimmy", is an English broadcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a television presenter for his Channel 4 rol ...
. Chris Moyles stated
Dominic Byrne
Dominic Anthony Byrne (born 10 November 1972) is a British newsreader, presenter, songwriter, musician, and professional comedian. Byrne currently works on the Chris Moyles Breakfast show on Radio X (United Kingdom), Radio X, having previous ...
, who read the news on his BBC Radio 1 show, would return with him, as would producer Pippa Taylor.
On 19 April 2016 it was announced that there would be an additional pre-recorded show on Saturday mornings between 8 am-11.00 am featuring clips from the week, interviews with studio guests plus new content, which means that Chris is on air on Radio X 6 days a week.
Work outside radio
BT Red Nose Climb and Speaking Clock
Moyles was one of a team of celebrities who climbed
Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief, reaching the summit on 7 March 2009. He was joined by his show's producers, Rachel Mallender and Pippa Taylor, and BBC Radio 1 controller,
Andy Parfitt. Also on the climb were
Girls Aloud members
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The R ...
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
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a Pop music, pop girl group created through ITV (TV network), ITV's reality competition show ''Popstars: The R ...
,
Gary Barlow,
Ronan Keating,
Ben Shephard and
Fearne Cotton to help raise money for charity by reading the time on the
Speaking Clock.
Film voice work
Moyles has provided his voice and/or likeness to a number of films and games. His face was used in ''
24: The Game'', 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.
Television presenting
Moyles has branched out his work into television. In 2002, his own
Channel 5 show, ''
Live with Chris Moyles'', ran five shows a week for 13 weeks. Moyles was replaced by
Christian O'Connell, before the programme was cancelled.
He and sidekick Dave Vitty had their own TV show, also entitled ''
The Chris Moyles Show'' like their former Radio 1 show, which was aired from 1998–99 on the now-defunct UK
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
and
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
channel
UK Play.
Moyles voiced the fourth and final series of
Sky1 show ''
The Villa'' and has occasionally presented ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
''. He has also worked for the
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
and
Children in Need
''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...
charities on their telecasts.
Moyles has presented a number of episodes of ''
Big Brother's Big Mouth''. ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' 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
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 ...
several times between 2000 and 2002.
Moyles launched a new show on
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 ...
, called ''
Chris Moyles' Quiz Night'' on 22 March 2009. The show consisted 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. After 5 series, the show was shelved.
On 24 October 2011, ''The Metro'' announced that Moyles would co-present a new dating show, ''
The Love Machine'', alongside
Stacey Solomon for Sky. Moyles confirmed this on his radio show that morning.
Other television appearances
Moyles appeared on the
ITV 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
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' and ''
The Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' 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 TV, but otherwise has thus far stayed clear of a conventional TV format.
Moyles regularly appears on ''
This Morning'' and ''
Celebrity Juice''.
Moyles played himself in an episode of the drama ''
Hotel Babylon'' which aired on 15 February 2007 and appeared on a celebrity version of ''
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'', which immortalised Moyles as an "oily pig in a dunce hat" ''
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
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 ...
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, Moyles 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
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
documentary series ''
Who Do You Think You Are?'' on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
where he explored his Irish ancestry. He visited
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, where his great-grandfather fought and died in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. On the programme Moyles discovered that his surname means ''bald servant'' from the Irish "''Ó Maolmanach''".
[CastRoller – Best of Chris Moyles](_blank)
podcast He also co-presented
Children in Need Rocks Manchester in November 2011. Moyles appeared on the quiz show ''The Million Pound Drop'' along with
Andi Peters in February 2012, they won £25,000 to divide between their chosen charities. Moyles appeared on ''Behind the Music: Remastered'' as one of the interviewees for the remastered version of
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
's ''
Behind the Music'' episode.
Moyles appeared on
Children in Need
''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...
on 16 November 2012, performing ''Bring Me Sunshine'' on stage with holograms of comedy duo
Morecambe and Wise in an effort to raise money for the charity.
On 31 October 2022 Moyles was announced by ITV as a campmate of the 2022 series of ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. On the promo video Moyles says "It's only three weeks in the middle of a jungle; What could possibly go wrong?" He was voted out sixth on 24 November.
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, 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.
Stage work
On 16 May 2012 it was announced that Chris Moyles had been cast to play the part of
King Herod in an arena tour of
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical
Jesus Christ Superstar. Moyles reprised his role as
King Herod when
Jesus Christ Superstar began another arena tour on 1 October 2013. Moyles also toured a solo stage show, "Chris Moyles Live".
Presenting style
Moyles uses a
zoo format, and therefore 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 boorish 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 radio, 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
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
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
Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
" 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
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
. At the time of its release, it was the fastest selling download on UK charts.
Moyles has parodied several
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...
songs under the name "The Kaiser Chefs". These include "I Predict A Diet" (Parody of
I Predict a Riot) and "Donny" (Parody of
Ruby
Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
). Chris and
Ricky Wilson of the
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...
(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
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, Moyles organised a parody of England World Cup songs, to ridicule the number of songs there were out at the time. "José – The Special One" (a parody of "
Rosé
A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...
" by
The Feeling was written on team manager
José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...
's departure from
Chelsea and was banned after the club complained to the BBC (although subsequently played repeatedly on Moyles' show and on
Radio 5 Live). He made a parody of "We Have Got to Zero Baby", a take on
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...
's "
Hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
", 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 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" 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
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
'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
Baked beans is a Dish (food), dish traditionally containing white Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans that are parboiling, parboiled and then baking, baked in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. Canned baked beans are not baked, but ar ...
, 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
Jordin Sparks (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the American Idol (season 6), sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. He ...
's "No Air (ft
Chris Brown
Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...
)".
Another two of Moyles' recent parodies are "Lorry Driver" which is a cover of
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
' 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
Kings of Leon is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in 1999. The band includes brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill and their cousin Matthew Followill.
The band's early music was a blend of Southern roc ...
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
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
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.
Personal life
Moyles resides in
Highgate
Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with his girlfriend Tiffany Austin.
Moyles is a supporter of
Leeds United F.C. and a critic of
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
and
Matt Hancock.
Controversies
Moyles has been censured several times by the
Broadcasting Standards Commission and
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
. This happened during his time at both Capital and Radio 1. For example, the regulatory bodies upheld complaints when Moyles threatened and bullied
Neil 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 is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereo ...
of
Charlotte Church", when the child star 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
Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English radio Disc Jockey, DJ and television entertainer, known for his zany comedic style. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the m ...
-in-waiting, because Kenny Everett's dead and it's only a matter of time before John pops his clogs".
In his biography Moyles said that he mended his relationship with Peel and felt a sense of loss that he had not got to know him before his death.
In September 2008, Moyles, along with other British radio presenters, was criticised for on-air promotion of drinking to excess.
On-air profanity
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
Newcastle 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
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
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.
Pay fracas
Alongside a number of other Radio 1 and
Radio 2 presenters, Moyles crossed a strike picket line 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.
Moyles revealed in September 2009 that he took a 20 per cent 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
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
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 that this use of the word 'gay' in a derogatory sense could cause offence to some listeners and counselled caution on its use.
In June,
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
charity
Stonewall marched with placards demanding the dismissal of Moyles during
Europride
EuroPride is a pan-European identity, pan-European international event dedicated to Gay pride, LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride, pride event or a significan ...
in London. According to Stonewall, "Chris Moyles is not helping young LGBT people struggling to come out through his comments". Stonewall gave Moyles the award of "Bully of the Year" at their annual
Stonewall Awards that same year.
Those defending Moyles have noted that
Aled Haydn Jones, his show's producer who has worked with Moyles since 2001, is openly gay.
Moyles 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
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
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
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
" and "
Leave Right Now" in a high pitched and
effeminate voice, changing the lyrics to references to Young's
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
. Ofcom stated that the language used could have been "interpreted by listeners as promoting and condoning certain negative
stereotypes
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
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".
Auschwitz comments
On 20 January 2009, Moyles made comments on his radio show regarding the family history programme ''
Who Do You Think You Are?'' and the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. Referring to his trips while filming 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 Florida". Celebrities featured on ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' including
Stephen Fry
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
,
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) was a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician. He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' from 1991 to 2 ...
and
Natasha Kaplinsky, have traced their family histories back to Jews murdered by the Nazis during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The
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 ...
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 behaviour
On 12 January 2010, hip-hop trio
N-Dubz appeared on the ''Chris Moyles Show'' on 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 one 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
chavs, they're really good'. So for him to go and do something like that is a bit rubbish".
Tax avoidance
In 2012 Chris Moyles was involved in a
tax avoidance
Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...
scheme and requested a court order to prevent the press from reporting it, because he claimed it would infringe his human rights. In February 2014 it was reported that he had attempted to avoid up to £400,000 in income tax by claiming losses of £1,000,000 on a used car dealership scheme.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
The Parody Album'' (2009) UK Chart No. 17
* ''
The Difficult Second Album'' (2012) UK Chart No. 13
Awards and honours
Moyles has won several
Sony Radio Awards: Silver in 1998; Gold in 2006; nominated in 2007: Gold in 2008; Bronze in 2009; and Silver in 2010.
He was voted "Best DJ" by readers of ''The Sun'' newspaper and readers of ''
Loaded'' magazine.
In 2007 the
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
team
Featherstone Rovers named their ground after him. Historically 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
Live Earth was an event developed to increase Environmentalism, environmental awareness through entertainment.
Background
Founded by producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
Live Earth 2007
The 1st series ...
in
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in London.
Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
''ChrisMoyles.net''*
The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moyles, Chris
1974 births
Living people
Mass media people from Leeds
English people of Irish descent
English radio DJs
English radio presenters
British radio show creators
English television presenters
British parodists
People educated at Mount St Mary's Catholic High School, Leeds
The X Factor (British TV series) contestants
BBC Radio 1 presenters
Capital (radio network) presenters