Richard James Newman is a writer, broadcaster, and reality TV contestant, best known for participating in the seventh series of the British reality television programme '' Big Brother''.

Early life

Though born in the United Kingdom, Newman emigrated with his family to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, in 1976 at the age of five. Newman studied Radio & Television arts at the

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a public polytechnic and applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT offers approximately 120 credit programs leading to degrees, applied degrees, diplomas, and certifica ...

in Edmonton. After graduating he was employed as a traffic co-ordinator at the CKUA Radio Network and eventually went on to write scripts for the station. He then returned to the UK in 1996, moving to

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 ...

to pursue a career as a writer and broadcaster.

Big Brother

In the summer of 2006, Newman participated in the seventh series of Big Brother, entering the house on Day 1. Richard held the record for most evictions survived at 6, until Freddie "Halfwit" Fisher broke the record with 7 in the tenth series. Newman eventually ended up in the final, placing 4th, after 93 days inside the house. Shortly after, Richard made an appearance on The Charlotte Church Show,

Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

as well as the game show The Mint. Richard was interviewed and photographed by

Attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

magazine after leaving the Big Brother house, he also appeared on the cover Boyz magazine wearing his trademark cowboy hat. He went on to host Mr Gay UK that year, and in October 2006 it was announced that Richard would be working as a host on the digital station

Gaydar Radio GaydarRadio is a podcast on Mixcloud streaming service, which used to be a Digital radio in the United Kingdom, British digital radio station for homosexuality, gay men, lesbians and gay friendly people, on Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB multip ...

. In the summer of 2008, Newman made a return to TV appearing alongside fellow housemate Lea Walker on E4's Big Brother's Little Brother.

Gaydar Radio

Newman spent two years at

where he presented two shows: The Saturday Morning Show and The Dicky & Dolly Show, which he presented every Sunday morning along with fellow Big Brother 7 housemate Lea Walker. During this time, he interviewed celebrities such as

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster, and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from Crouch End in North London. She has appeared on reality television shows and has occasionally worked as a television presenter and actress. Fox beg ...

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard (; ; born 18 June 1961), formerly known as Alf, is an English singer. Noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice, she came to prominence as a member of the synth-pop duo Yazoo (band), Yazoo (known as Yaz in Nor ...

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer. She first gained success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at no. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo ...

, Carol Decker, Immodesty Blaize,

Gail Porter Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In 1999, she posed nude for ' ...

, The Puppini Sisters, Margarita Pracatan, Russell Grant, Victoria Wilson James (

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

), Luciana ( Bodyrox) and Russian pop singer Sergey. During his time at

, the station won the 2007

Sony Radio Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

for ''Digital Station of the year''; it was again nominated in 2008. Along with

, Newman also collected an

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquart ...

award in 2007 and 2008 for ''Digital Station of the Year''.

Before Stonewall 25th Anniversary DVD release

In May 2009, Newman took part in a panel discussion at the 23rd London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival about the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

to be included on the 25th anniversary DVD release of Greta Schiller Emmy Award-winning documentary Before Stonewall released by Peccadillo Pictures. Newman was part of a Q&A session alongside Before Stonewall director Greta Schiller - Film director Richard Kwietniowski (Owning Mahowny & Love And Death On Long Island) - German film director,

Monika Treut Monika Treut (born April 6, 1954, in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a German filmmaker. She made her feature film debut with '' Seduction: The Cruel Woman'' (co-directed by Elfi Mikesch), a film that explores sadomasochist ...

(Seduction: The Cruel Woman) - Former mayor of London,

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

, and British Gay Activist, Alan Wakeman. On the DVD, Newman speaks openly about his own experiences growing up

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and expresses his thoughts on the

that took place on 27 June 1969 when the police raided the

Stonewall Inn The Stonewall Inn (also known as Stonewall) is a gay bar and recreational tavern at 53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It was the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which led to th ...

in New York.

Published work

Newman has since become an accomplished freelance writer contributing mainly to the gay press in the UK, Europe and Canada. He has written for Boyz, QX, Scene 24/7 and Winq Magazine.

References

General references

* http://www.onenationmagazine.com/richard-newman-sexual-terrorist-or-sexy-cowboy/ * http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-2708.html/ * http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8414.html/# * http://www.gaycalgary.com/Magazine/gaycalgary_07-09.pdf

External links

Richard Newman's blogOfficial Richard Newman Facebook fan pageOfficial Richard Newman MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Richard Living people Big Brother (British TV series) contestants British emigrants to Canada English radio personalities Canadian gay writers English gay writers English LGBTQ broadcasters Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters Northern Alberta Institute of Technology alumni Writers from Edmonton People from Northampton Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people