Simon Thomas (born ) is an English

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

who worked on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' for six years, and presented live Premier League football on Sky Sports from 2016 to 2018.

Early life

Thomas was born in Norwich, Norfolk, to Andrew and Gill Thomas. He has two sisters, Hannah and Rebecca. Although Thomas initially grew up in Cromer, and then Grimston, where he attended Grimston Primary and Middle School, the family later moved to Surrey, where he attended Aberdour School in Tadworth,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

St. John's School, Leatherhead Seek those things which are above , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent school Co-educational day, weekly and flexi boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , p ...

. After leaving school, he went to Birmingham University, where he graduated with a 2:1 BA Hons degree in history.

Broadcasting career

''Blue Peter''

Having applied for the job three times, Thomas began presenting the children's programme ''Blue Peter'' on 8 January 1999 replacing the sacked presenter Richard Bacon. Previously he had worked as a runner at Children's BBC and the radio station LBC. During his tenure at ''Blue Peter'', he ran in the London Marathon twice and two Great North Runs, climbed

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

and Mont Blanc, completed over 40 solo sky dives with the Royal Air Force, presented a medal at the Commonwealth Games, ran in the 60 metres sprint at the Norwich Union Indoor Athletics against

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's on ...

and Darren Campbell and even directed an edition of the show. He also presented the Queen with a Gold Blue Peter badge when she visited the studio and remarked on presenting Her Majesty with the badge that "she could get into the Tower of London free with it." Thomas co-presented with Stuart Miles, Katy Hill, Konnie Huq, Matt Baker, Liz Barker and Zöe Salmon. Thomas announced his intention to leave ''Blue Peter'' in January 2005, and his last live show was aired on 25 April of that year.

BBC

Thomas presented ''CBBC Proms in the Park'' in Hyde Park in 2001 with Matt Baker and Faye Tozer, and in 2002 with Fearne Cotton. He also presented BBC Radio 3's ''Making Tracks'' with Matt Baker.

Sky Sports

After leaving the BBC, Thomas joined Sky Sports in June 2005 and presented the 15:00–19:00 shift on Sky Sports News, alongside Georgie Thompson. He also presented Cricket AM during the summer on Sky Sports 1 with Sarah-Jane Mee and has presented the Sky Sports Victory Shield, England's U21s games, Centenary Shield, International Cricket, ''Sky Sports News Cricket World Cup Report'', the Mosconi Cup from Las Vegas, Sky Sports World Cup report from Cape Town 2010 and Sky Sports News's coverage of the 2010 Ryder Cup. At the start of the 2010/2011 Football Season, Thomas became the lead presenter of Sky Sports' live Football League coverage, leaving his position on Sky Sports News. From 2014, Thomas began presenting live League Cup football on Sky Sports, following Ben Shephard stepping down from all live match presenting duties. From August 2016, Thomas has presented live Premier League coverage, most notably on Saturday lunch times and bank holidays, following the departure of Ed Chamberlin to ITV Racing, and David Jones' subsequent promotion to Super Sunday and Monday Night Football lead presenter. Thomas regularly works alongside pundits such as

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

, Jamie Redknapp and Thierry Henry.

''This Morning''

In May 2019 Thomas took part in a three-part mini series for ''This Morning'' called 'Pursuits of Happiness'. The series showed three different activities people took part in to overcome and deal with their mental health issues. In September 2019 Thomas appeared on the show to raise awareness for blood cancer symptoms.

Other work

In August 2009 and August 2010, Thomas compered on the Main Stage at Greenbelt, a Christian music and arts Festival held at

Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Racecourse at Prestbury Park, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, hosts National Hunt horse racing. Its most prestigious meeting is the Cheltenham Festival, held in March, which features several Grade I races including the Chel ...

Personal life

Thomas lives in Reading,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

and has a son. He is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and a lifelong supporter of Norwich City and vice-president of the Norwich City Supporters Trust. Thomas's first wife, Gemma, died on 24 November 2017, just three days after being diagnosed with

acute myeloid leukaemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may include ...

. In July 2021, Thomas married his girlfriend Derrina Jebb at Norwich Cathedral. On 6 October 2022 he announced the premature birth of a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Simon Alumni of the University of Birmingham Blue Peter presenters English television presenters People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead People from Cromer 1973 births Living people People educated at Aberdour School English Christians Sky Sports presenters and reporters