Noel Edmonds facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Noel Edmonds
Edmonds in 2020
Born	Noel Ernest Edmonds (1948-12-22) 22 December 1948 (age 76) Ilford, Essex, England
Occupation	Television presenter radio DJ writer producer businessman
Years active	1968–present
Spouse(s)	Gillian Slater ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1982)​ Helen Soby ​ ​ (m. 1986; div. 2005)​ Liz Davies ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	4

Noel Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is a well-known English businessman and former television presenter, radio DJ, writer, and producer. He first became famous as a DJ on Radio Luxembourg before joining BBC Radio 1 in the UK. There, he hosted the popular breakfast show for nearly five years.

Noel Edmonds presented many different radio shows and fun television programmes. He worked for the BBC for a long time, and later for Sky UK and Channel 4. He is especially remembered for hosting children's Saturday morning show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1976–1982) and the hugely popular Noel's House Party (1991–1999), which even created the famous character Mr Blobby. Later, he became known for the game show Deal or No Deal on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2016.

Early Life and Education

Noel Edmonds was born in Ilford, Essex, England. His father, Dudley Edmonds, was a headmaster, and his mother, Lydia Edmonds, was an art teacher. Noel went to Glade Primary School in Clayhall and then to Brentwood School in Brentwood, Essex.

He was offered a place at the University of Surrey but decided not to go. Instead, he chose to focus on starting his career in radio.

Noel Edmonds' Radio Journey

Noel Edmonds began his radio career in 1968 as a newsreader for Radio Luxembourg. He got this job after sending recordings of himself to different radio stations.

In 1969, he joined BBC Radio 1. He started by recording short announcements and filling in for other DJs. By April 1970, he had his own two-hour show on Saturday afternoons. He then moved to a Sunday slot before getting the big job of hosting The Radio 1 Breakfast Show. He presented this popular morning show from June 1973 to April 1978. After that, he moved back to Sunday mornings and also hosted a talk show called Talkabout. Noel left Radio 1 in March 1983.

He returned to Radio 1 twice for short periods. Once in 1985 to cover for another DJ, and again in 1992 to celebrate the station's 25th birthday.

In 2003, Noel made a brief comeback to radio, hosting the afternoon show on BBC Radio 2 for eight weeks. In 2020, he started his own online radio network in New Zealand called Positivity Radio.

Noel Edmonds' Television Career

Edmonds at a Radio 1 Raceday, Mallory Park, May 1976

Noel Edmonds hosted Top of the Pops many times between 1972 and 1978. During this period, he also presented a phone-in show for teenagers called Z Shed and a programme called Hobby Horse on BBC1.

Multi-Coloured Swap Shop

He became very well-known for hosting the children's Saturday morning show Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, which ran from 1976 to 1982. On this show, children could swap items, and there were celebrity guests and music. With his co-stars Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin, Noel was part of a music group called Brown Sauce. They released a song called "I Wanna Be a Winner" in 1981, which reached number 15 in the UK music charts. In 1980, Noel also introduced the UK entry live at the Eurovision Song Contest in The Hague.

During the time Swap Shop was on air, Noel also hosted Lucky Numbers, a Saturday evening quiz show, and a new version of the 1960s music show Juke Box Jury.

Top Gear

Noel Edmonds was one of the first presenters of the BBC's motoring series Top Gear in the late 1970s. He once joked about a car, which caused the car company to threaten to sue the BBC! He returned to Top Gear in the 1990s to test drive a classic car he owned, because the main host was too tall to fit in it. In 1997, Noel was part of a team for the famous Le Mans race, which was shown in a BBC documentary.

In the 1980s, Noel hosted a series called The Time of Your Life on BBC1. In this show, famous people talked about the happiest times in their careers.

The Late Late Breakfast Show

The Late Late Breakfast Show was Noel's first big Saturday evening entertainment show for the BBC. It was broadcast live from 1982 to 1986. The show was known for its exciting "Give it a Whirl" stunt section. However, a serious accident happened during a rehearsal for one of these stunts, which led to the show being cancelled in November 1986. Noel Edmonds then left the BBC.

Telly Addicts

Telly Addicts was a popular BBC1 game show hosted by Noel Edmonds. It ran for 13 years, from 1985 to 1998. In the show, two teams answered questions about past and present television programmes. Questions were often based on short video clips from TV shows.

Noel's Saturday Roadshow

Noel's Saturday Roadshow was Noel's next big BBC television show, broadcast on Saturday evenings from 1988 to 1990. It was his first major TV project after The Late Late Breakfast Show. This programme included many features from his previous show, like phone-in quizzes and celebrity interviews. The idea was that the show would come from a different, exciting location each week, but these were actually clever studio sets made to look like places like the North Pole or a space station!

The show became very successful and helped Noel regain his popularity. It introduced popular features like the Gunge Tank, the Gotcha Oscars, and Wait 'Til I Get You Home. These ideas were later used and made even bigger in Noel's House Party.

Noel's House Party

By 1991, Noel's Saturday Roadshow developed into Noel's House Party, which was a huge hit for eight years. The show was set in Noel's fictional mansion in the village of Crinkley Bottom.

Popular parts of the show included NTV, where hidden cameras were secretly placed in viewers' homes, often inside VHS tape cases. There were also the "Gotchas," where celebrities were tricked into funny and embarrassing situations. A famous character from the show was Mr Blobby, a pink and yellow spotted character who first appeared in the "Gotcha" section. Mr Blobby even had a Christmas number one song in 1993!

Noel's House Party was a main part of BBC1's Saturday night schedule throughout the 1990s. It often had more than 15 million viewers. The final show was broadcast on 20 March 1999.

Deal or No Deal

Edmonds presented the Channel 4 game show Deal or No Deal between 2005 and 2016

In 2005, Noel Edmonds returned to TV to host the game show Deal or No Deal on Channel 4. He wasn't sure about it at first, but he agreed to host a short series. The show became very popular and was broadcast almost every day. Noel's contract was extended, making him one of the highest-paid TV personalities in the UK. In 2006, he was nominated for a BAFTA Television Award for his work on the show.

In March 2007, Noel made a special appearance as himself in a comedy sketch for Red Nose Day, a charity event. He appeared on a special episode of Deal or No Deal with a character from The Catherine Tate Show.

Deal or No Deal ran for 11 years, with almost 3,000 episodes recorded. Over £40 million was given away to contestants during its run. The show ended in 2016. For the final episodes, games were filmed in amazing locations like a Boeing 737 plane, the Flying Scotsman train, on top of the Blackpool Tower, and even inside a cave!

Work with Sky

In 2007, Sky One announced that Noel Edmonds would host the UK version of the American game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, called Are You Smarter than a 10 Year Old?.

In 2008, Noel hosted Noel's HQ on Sky1. This was a live entertainment show that aimed to help people and charities.

Other Television Appearances

Edmonds in 2006

Noel Edmonds has hosted many major TV events, including the BAFTA Awards, the Brit Awards, and the launch of the UK National Lottery. He was also involved in the Live Aid concerts in 1985, helping transport stars by helicopter and introducing acts on stage.

Noel's Christmas Presents was an annual TV special where Noel delivered special gifts to deserving people. These gifts often included trips to Lapland for children who were ill or disadvantaged, or arranging family reunions. This show was broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day from 1989 to 1999, and later returned on Sky1 from 2007 to 2011.

In 2017, Noel Edmonds presented Cheap Cheap Cheap, a show that was a mix of a sitcom and a game show. He came up with the idea for the show, which took place in 'Noel's Store'. Contestants had to identify the cheapest item out of three similar products to win money.

Documentaries about Noel Edmonds' career have also been made, including The Curse of Noel Edmonds in 2004 and Noel Edmonds: The Rise & Fall of Mr. Saturday Night in 2022.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

In November 2018, Noel Edmonds took part in the eighteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, a reality show where celebrities live in a jungle camp. He was the first celebrity to leave the series.

Business Ventures

Unique Group

In 1985, Noel Edmonds started the Unique Group, which included several different businesses. One part, the Unique Broadcasting Company Media Group plc (UBCMG), produced audio programmes for radio. Noel stepped down from this group in 2006 due to the success of Deal or No Deal. He also had interests in Unique Motor Company, which made small off-road vehicles.

In 2019, Noel Edmonds reached a compensation agreement with Lloyds Banking Group. He had claimed that bank staff had caused problems for his Unique Group business.

Theme Parks

Noel Edmonds also had theme park attractions based on his show's fictional village, Crinkley Bottom, and the character Mr Blobby. These were set up at existing parks in Somerset and Suffolk. Another park was built in Morecambe, Lancashire. However, these parks did not attract enough visitors, and the deals were cancelled. The Morecambe park had legal issues with the local council, which was later found to have acted "unlawfully" in its dealings with Noel. This event was called 'Blobbygate' by the media.

Buying the BBC

In March 2014, Noel Edmonds stated on Newsnight that he was part of a group that planned to buy the BBC. He believed the BBC was "sleepwalking itself to destruction." He mentioned that he did not have a TV licence himself and only watched BBC programmes online.

Personal Life

Noel Edmonds has been married three times. He first married Gillian Slater in 1971, and they divorced after 11 years. From 1986 to 2005, he was married to Helen Soby, and they have four daughters. In July 2009, Noel married his third wife, Liz Davies, who was a make-up artist on Deal or No Deal when they met.

Noel is a licensed helicopter pilot. He was also president of the British Horse Society from 2004 to 2007.

In 2015, Noel Edmonds and his wife decided to move to New Zealand, and they officially moved there in 2019. During the COVID lockdown, he set up 100 online community radio stations called Positivity Radio. He currently lives in Ngātīmoti, in the South Island, with his wife.

Political Views

Noel Edmonds was the chairman of the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), an organisation that is against wind farms. He has stated that he believes wind power is too expensive and cannot meet energy needs, and that it can harm the countryside. He thinks that politicians are misleading the public about wind energy.

He has also expressed strong opinions about immigration and the BBC's Welsh language service. In 2001, he helped coordinate a campaign to support farmers affected by the foot and mouth epidemic.

TV Licence Discussion

In 2008, Noel Edmonds said he had stopped paying his TV licence. He felt that the methods used to collect the licence fee were too harsh. He believed it was wrong to "threaten" people.

Spiritual Beliefs

For many years, Noel Edmonds has been interested in spiritualism, especially the idea of cosmic ordering. This is a belief that you can achieve your dreams by clearly wishing for them. He became interested after reading a book about it. He has said that after wishing for a new challenge, he was offered the chance to return to TV to work on Deal or No Deal. Noel later wrote his own book called Positively Happy: Cosmic Ways To Change Your Life.

In 2008, Noel said he is always accompanied by two "spiritual energy" balls, which he believes are the spirits of his parents. He calls these "orbs" and says they appear only in digital photographs.

In 2015, Noel Edmonds shared his belief that the biggest problem facing humanity is "electrosmog" from Wi-Fi and other systems, which he thinks harms our natural energy fields. He also believes that death is not possible because the body is just a container for "universal energy."

EMP Pad Device

In 2016, Noel Edmonds promoted an electromagnetic pulse device, claiming it could help with ageing, pain, depression, stress, and even cancer. He also tweeted to a person with cancer that their illness might be caused by a "negative attitude." These statements caused a lot of discussion and criticism.

The company that makes the device said they did not agree with his claims and had not paid him to promote it. Medical experts and cancer researchers strongly disagreed with Noel's statements, saying there is no scientific evidence to support a link between negative energy and cancer, or that such devices can treat cancer. Organisations like Cancer Research UK have stated that there is no reliable evidence that these devices benefit cancer patients.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority investigated complaints about the claims but later said no rules had been broken.

Dispute with Lloyds Bank

A significant event for Noel Edmonds was the collapse of his entertainment company, Unique Group, in 2005. He blamed Lloyds Bank for this, as it had taken over another bank, HBOS, whose Reading branch was involved in a fraud. Noel sought a large amount of money in compensation. In 2017, the bankers involved in the fraud were found guilty and jailed. In 2019, it was reported that Noel Edmonds reached a compensation agreement with Lloyds Bank Group, and the bank apologised for the "distress" he had experienced.

Filmography