Nicholas Simon Augustine Knowles (born 21 September 1962) is an English television presenter, writer and musician. He has hosted several television programmes including '' Real Rescues'' (2007–2013), '' Who Dares Wins'' (2007–2019), '' Break the Safe'' (2013–2014), '' 5-Star Family Reunion'' (2015–2016), and '' DIY SOS'' (1999–present).
Early life
Knowles was born in
Southall
Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns.
It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
. At the age of 11, Knowles moved to Mildenhall in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, attending St Louis Middle School in Bury St Edmunds, and moved again, attending Gunnersbury Catholic School for Boys. After another family move to Deakin Leas in Tonbridge, he attended
the Skinners' School
The Skinners' School (formally The Skinners' Company's Middle School for Boys and commonly known as Skinners'), is a British Grammar School with Academy (English school), academy status for boys located in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent ...
in
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...
,
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, where he passed eight O-levels, and excelled at rugby.
Leaving school at 16, he had a number of entry-level jobs as a labourer, petrol station assistant and salesman. He played in bands from the age of 14 and was constantly writing music, poetry and comedy, until he submitted a script to a
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
programme that invited children to make a video.
Career
Television
Knowles began as a runner in television production, before moving into presenting. Knowles was a reporter for TVS in the South East, reporting on the nightly news programme '' Coast to Coast''.
He is principally known as the main host of '' DIY SOS'', a home renovation series broadcast 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 ...
since 1999, and has presented 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 ...
factual show '' Real Rescues'' since 2007. Knowles has also hosted several entertainment programmes for the BBC since signing an exclusive contract with them, including '' Who Dares Wins'', '' Last Choir Standing'', ''
Guesstimation
''Guesstimate'' is an informal English portmanteau of ''guess'' and ''estimate'', first used by American statisticians in 1934 or 1935. '' Secret Fortune'', and ''
Perfection
Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence.
The terminology, term is used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts. These have historically been addressed in a number of discre ...
''.
Knowles has also presented programmes with a wildlife theme. In 2007, he fronted ''
Mission Africa
Mission Africa (formerly known as the Qua Iboe Mission and subsequently the Qua Iboe Fellowship) is an interdenominational, evangelical, Christian mission organisation. When founded in 1887, by the Irish independent missionary Samuel Bill, the ...
'', in which a team of volunteers constructed a game reserve in
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. During this project, Knowles fell from a
Land Rover
Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...
, dislocating his shoulder. He flew back to the UK to receive emergency treatment. In the same year, he reported on the plight of orphaned
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
s for an edition of '' Saving Planet Earth''. In 2009, Knowles copresented the BBC reality TV series '' Wildest Dreams'' with James Honeyborne, in which novice candidates had to complete a set of challenging tasks filming wild animals in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
. The winner joined the
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' T ...
on a one-year placement.
From 2011 to 2015, Knowles was the presenter of the BBC game show ''
Perfection
Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence.
The terminology, term is used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts. These have historically been addressed in a number of discre ...
'', in which the candidates must achieve absolute perfection to win the jackpot, aired weekdays on BBC One. From 2013 to 2014, he presented the BBC National Lottery game show '' Break the Safe''. In 2015, Knowles began presenting the new BBC One National Lottery game show '' 5-Star Family Reunion'', which returned for a second series in 2016.
In May 2016, Knowles presented ''Invictus: The Road to the Games'', a one-off programme for the BBC. Knowles earned between £300,000 and £349,999 as a BBC presenter for the financial year 2016–2017.
In 2018, he participated in the eighteenth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!'', finishing in sixth place, after being voted out on 6 December.
From April 2019, he presented the BBC show ''Home Is Where the Art Is'', in which he challenges three artists to create beautiful artwork for people they've never met. The show ran for a second series in 2021.
In May 2021, it was reported that Knowles was holding talks with the BBC regarding his role as the main host of ''DIY SOS'' due to his appearance in a
Shreddies
Shreddies are a breakfast cereal marketed in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It was first produced in Canada in 1939 by Nabisco. The ''Shreddies'' brand is held by Post Consumer Brands in Canada, and Nestlé in the United Kingdom and I ...
TV advert which violated BBC's commercial agreements and guidelines. A week later, 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 ...
announced that they had resolved the issue and Knowles would return to his '' DIY SOS'' role with filming to resume in the coming months and is expected to be back on screens in 2022.
Between August and September 2021, Knowles presented the Channel 5 series ''Nick Knowles' Big House Clearout''.
In September 2024, Knowles was a contestant on the twenty-second series of BBC's ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'', partnered with professional dancer Luba Mushtuk. Having injured his shoulder before the second show, he had to perform an
American Smooth
This is a list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances. See List of dances and List of dance style categories for those.
This glossary lists terms used in various types of ballroom partner dances, leaving out terms of hig ...
, to the song "
Parklife
''Parklife'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994, by Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), ''Parklife'' returned Blur to prominence in ...
" by Blur, after only 16hours of training. He did not perform in the third week due to injury and as a result, his Charleston to " Rain on the Roof" ''(from
Paddington 2
''Paddington 2'' is a 2017 live-action animated comedy film directed by Paul King and written by King and Simon Farnaby, based on the stories of Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond (to whom the film is also dedicated, Bond having died th ...
)'' was postponed to the following week. In the fourth week, he performed his Movie Week Charleston, but was eliminated in the dance off.
Film
Knowles was a co-writer on the film '' Golden Years'', which stars
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFT ...
Una Stubbs
Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was a British actress, television personality, and dancer who appeared on British television, in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday'' ...
.
Music
He released his first and last music album, ''Every Kind Of People'', on 3 November 2017. It entered the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
at No. 92.
Personal life
Knowles was married to his first wife Gillian Knowles from 1996 to 2000, and they share a son and daughter. He dated his second wife Jessica Rose Moor from 2009; they married in September 2012 but divorced in 2017. Knowles has four children in total. In 2021 he was reportedly dating Katie Dadzie and the couple became engaged. The two married on 7 June 2025 at Braxted Park in Essex.
His brother has a record company and his three sisters all became dancers.
In 2018 he was reported to be living in Spain.
In June 2019, Knowles was issued with a six-month driving ban and fined £1,480 for speeding and using a mobile phone whilst driving. Speaking outside the court in
Cheltenham
Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...
, he said: "For me, this was a wake-up call, and putting my phone in the boot of my car now stops the temptation."
Interests and charity support
In November 2013, Knowles and his then wife Jessica opened an antiques shop and home design consultancy in Eton,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
.
Knowles plays rugby and adheres to a dietary regimen that is
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...
"80 per cent of the time". In 2016, he became involved with a
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...
-based vegan restaurant called O'Joy. The restaurant closed in November 2017.
Knowles has been a regular supporter of the children's anti-bullying charity Act Against Bullying. He sang " Addicted to Love" for
Children in Need 2008
A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...