Kevin Lygo (born 19 September 1957) is a British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, currently Director of Television at ITV.

Early life

Lygo is the son of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer Raymond Lygo. Educated at

Cranbrook School, Kent Cranbrook School (formerly Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School) is a co-educational state funded boarding and day grammar school in the market town of Cranbrook, Kent, England. Selection is made of pupils at age 11 and 13. History The school wa ...

, Lygo studied Psychology at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, graduating in 1980. After leaving university in 1980 one of his first jobs was at the Half-Price Theatre Ticket Booth in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

, operated by the Society of West End Theatre.The Stage 6 August 1981, p. 20. Lygo is pictured first from left in the front row.

Career

After August 1981, he was one of three trainees to join 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 ...

, alongside Peter Salmon (former BBC head of sport) and multi-award-winning film-maker

Peter Kosminsky Peter Kosminsky (born 21 April 1956) is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as '' White Oleander'' and television films like ''Warriors'', ''The Government Inspector'', '' The Promise'', ''Wolf Hall'' a ...

. After the two year trainee-ship as a comedy writer, during which he worked on ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

'', Lygo worked freelance, including on the launch of

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...

BBC1 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 (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

chatshow, ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 to 1992 and presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...

''. Lygo then left the television industry for seven years, part of which he spent in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as a dealer in

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...

, with a gallery in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Persuaded by friend

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...

to produce ''

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 ...

'', he came back on a six-month contract with the BBC. He then rejoined the BBC on a permanent contract, commissioning shows including ''

Men Behaving Badly ''Men Behaving Badly'' is a British sitcom that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang ( Martin Clunes) and his flatmates Dermot Povey ( Harry Enfield; series 1 only) and Tony Smart ( Neil Morrissey; series ...

'' and '' They Think It's All Over''. Hired in 1997 by Channel 4, Lygo was

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 ...

's Head of Entertainment between 1998 and 2001, where he commissioned ''

TFI Friday ''TFI Friday'' (Thank Four it's Friday) is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five ...

Smack the Pony ''Smack the Pony'' is a British sketch comedy show that was originally broadcast between 1999 and 2003 on Channel 4. The main performers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips. There were also regular appearances from ...

So Graham Norton ''So Graham Norton'' is a British television chat show hosted by Irish personality Graham Norton. It aired on Channel 4 from 3 July 1998 to 1 March 2002. Theme The show was primarily adult-orientated, with host Norton dishing out many sexual ...

Trigger Happy TV ''Trigger Happy TV'' is a hidden camera/practical joke comedy television series. The original British edition of the show, produced by Absolutely Productions, starred Dom Joly and ran for three series on the British television channel Channe ...

'' and ''Spaced''. After spending two years at Five on its launch, he returned to Channel 4 in 2003 as Director of Television and Content. In this role, he commissioned '' Big Brother, Sugar Rush'' and '' The F Word'', and poached

Richard and Judy Richard and Judy is a term used to refer to British television presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who are married. They co-hosted the ITV programme '' This Morning'' from 1988 to 2001 and later presented the chat show ''Richard & ...

. He then spent 2010-2016 as managing director at

ITV Studios ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...

, before becoming the director of television for the ITV Network. Lygo used the pseudonym "Ruby Solomon" to write the TV drama ''Walter'' for the

. He submitted the script anonymously, which he thought would be a better fit for the BBC rather than his employer. Lygo's actress daughter, Madison, starred in ''Walter'', a part he penned with her in mind. In June 2023, Lygo appeared before the

Culture, Media and Sport Committee The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the Select committee (United Kingdom), select committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, es ...

as a witness in support of his colleague

Carolyn McCall Dame Carolyn Julia McCall (born 13 September 1961) is a British businesswoman. She was the chief executive of EasyJet from 2010 to 2017. Early life McCall was born on 13 September 1961 in Bangalore, India. Her Scottish father, Arthur McCal ...

. Committee member

Caroline Dinenage Caroline Julia Dinenage, Baroness Lancaster of Kimbolton, (born 28 October 1971), also styled as Dame Caroline Dinenage, is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport since 2010. Dinenage ...

interrogated McCall about the culture at ITV. In November 2023, Lygo attended an ITV promotional event during which he allegedly mocked politician and broadcaster

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...

. ITV signed Farage to appear in ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' for a reported fee of up to £1.5 million. Lygo was seen using a rude one-handed gesture. Farage finished third on his exit from the jungle, and issued a stern warning regarding Lygo's comments. He reminded the ITV boss of the repercussions that befell the former boss of

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

, Alison Rose, who was forced to resign after discussing private banking information with a BBC journalist.

References

External links

Profile at Media Guardian
1957 births Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham British television executives Channel 4 people ITV people Living people People educated at Cranbrook School, Kent {{UK-tv-bio-stub