Jonathan Wilkes (born 1 August 1978) is an English television presenter and singer.

Early life and career

Jonathan Wilkes was born in Baddeley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, to Eileen Wilkes and Graham Wilkes, and spent most of his childhood in Packmoor, an outlying village of Chell. He resided near the home of

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

, with whom he is best friends. He has one older sister called Kay. He signed for Port Vale FC, aged seven, and played for Everton FC as a teenager. He said that he was dropped from the team due to his "unwillingness to eat, sleep and breathe football". His first stage role was in a Stoke Amateur Operatic Society production of Hans Christian Andersen. In 1996, he won the

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...

Young Entertainer of the Year Award. From this, he went on to work in Blackpool under the name 'Jonathan and the Space Girls', until being spotted by

Kevin Bishop Kevin Brian Bishop (born 1980) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his roles as Jim Hawkins (character), Jim Hawkins in ''Muppet Treasure Island'', Stupid Brian in ''My Family'', and Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 rev ...

of 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 ...

, who employed him as a presenter for the precursor channel to BBC3. He has since gone on to work in West End Musicals, and has presented ''

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.'' After signing a record deal with Virgin, Wilkes had a brief spell as a pop-music singer, his single " Just Another Day" reached No. 24 in the UK Singles Chart. The single hit the Top 5 in 18 countries worldwide. During his brief singing career, he performed with his friend Robbie Williams at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

and sang Me And My Shadow together which received positive reviews. However, Wilkes later opted to stop making music in order to move back into TV and stage work, the latter being his biggest passion, of which he often works with Robbie Williams. Since 2005 Wilkes has been a regular performer in pantomimes at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent.

Soccer Aid

Wilkes participates and assists in the organisation of Soccer Aid, an event he has been involved in since 2006, in collaboration with co-founder and friend Robbie Williams. To date, the event has raised over £100 million for Unicef. Wilkes’ last appearance on the pitch on match day came in 2017 owing to a recurring hamstring injury, but is still heavily involved in the organisation and promotion of the event.

Personal life

Wilkes attended City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. He is a boyhood fan of Port Vale. While working for the

, he lived in London. Also while at the BBC, he met his wife Nikki. The couple live in Royal Wootton Bassett. In September 2013, Wilkes opened his own full-time performing arts college called Wilkes Academy. The patrons of the academy include Ant and Dec, and

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004-2008) a ...

. The college is based in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Discography

Single

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkes, Jonathan English male musical theatre actors English male singers English male stage actors English television presenters People from Baddeley Green 1978 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position Male actors from Stoke-on-Trent Mass media people from Staffordshire Musicians from Stoke-on-Trent