Dermot O'Leary
From Big Brother UK Wiki
Dermot O'Leary (born Seán Dermot Fintan Michael Gerard O'Leary, Jr. on 24 May 1973), is an British television and radio presenter. He presented Big Brother's Little Brother from 2001-2007.
[edit] Personal Life
O'Leary attended St. Benedict's Roman Catholic School in Colchester, from which he left with 2 GCSEs, and Colchester Sixth Form College. He studied for a BA degree in Media and Television, with modules in politics, at Jordanstown Polytech. He lives in North London with his girlfriend of 6 years, Dee Koppang. He is also a practising Roman Catholic, having contributed to the collection of essays Why I am Still Catholic in 2005
O'Leary has campaigned on behalf of Make Poverty History, and has visited Sierra Leone with the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development accompanied by his father, Sean O'Leary. He is also a patron of the male cancer awareness campaign, Everyman. In 2003, he played in a charity match for the Colchester Gladiators as a punt returner, helping to raise £2,500 for the Barnardo's children's fund.
[edit] Television Presenting
He started as a television runner and moving onto presenting at Channel 4, and was part of the original presenting line up of the channel's T4 strand, before moving on to present Big Brother's Little Brother on E4 from 2001 onwards. As of 2006, the show became less popular due to the huge success of fellow Big Brother sister show Big Brother's Big Mouth. 2007 was his last year presenting BBLB, being replaced by George Lamb and Zezi Ifore. On the 27 November 2007, it was announced that Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was O'Leary's last series of Big Brother all together, and that he would not return in summer 2008. After seven years he made his final Big Brother appearance on January 28, 2008. A special 'Best Bits' trail was played, after which, O'Leary looked close to tears. O'Leary shares the same talent agency as Russell Brand, Davina McCall, and Jade Goody - John Noel Management.
O'Leary presented the UK version of the game show 1 vs 100 — which is also combined with the National Lottery draws every Saturday (as of September 2006). On 29 March 2007, it was announced that O'Leary would replace Kate Thornton as the new host of ITV's The X Factor for at least two series. Speaking after the announcement he said: "I was very flattered to be offered the job to host such a hugely successful show. I'm really looking forward to working with Simon Cowell and the team on the kind of Saturday night entertainment show I grew up watching."
