Children's TV hosts now – pro wrestler, Banksy rumours and Noel Edmonds bust-up

This Morning presenter and TV personality Phillip Schofield is 60 years old tomorrow (April 1).

Phillip became a staple fixture on our daytime TV screens alongside hosts including Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond.

However long before he was a This Morning host, he rose to fame as a children’s TV presenter on BBC programme The Broom Cupboard.

He is one a number of children’s TV hosts that have gone on to fame, fortune and other interesting paths since launching their careers on some of our favourite childhood programmes.

To celebrate Philip Schofield’s birthday, Daily Star takes a look at where famous children’s TV presenters are now.

Tony Hart

Long before Art Attack or Smart, Tony Hart was the original children’s TV host to inspire creativity in generations of audiences.

After joining the British Army in his twenties, the presenter later became a staple of TV in the seventies and eighties with programmes including Vision Art, Take Hart and Hartbeat.

Along with working on Blue Peter during the 1950s, he also designed the programme’s famous ship logo and highly coveted series of badges.

His most famous creation however was plasticine figurine Morph, who featured alongside him on Heartbeat between 1984-1994, and inspired a flash mob in Tony Hart’s memory in 2009.

Tony suffered ill health in his later years including two strokes, and sadly died on January 18 2009 at the age of 83.

His wife Jean Skingle, who he married in 1953 and with who he had a daughter called Carolyn, died six years earlier in 2003.

Richard Deverell, the BBC controller of Children’s Programmes paid tribute to Tony Hart, saying in a statement: “Tony was a warm man who had a unique ability to communicate with and inspire children.

“His dedication to making art look simple and his ability to help bring it to life through characters like Morph influenced generations of children to be creative.”

Floella Benjamin

Any child of the sixties, seventies and eighties will remember the staple television viewing that was Playschool, hosted by presenters including Floella Benjamin.

After starting her career as a West End theatre actress, she later went on to present Playschool, as well as appearing in TV series including The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Gentle Touch and Begerac.

She also currently voices Mayor Pullman in the animated series Chuggington.

During an interview on Desert Island Discs, she also revealed the criticism she received from a producer in the seventies, after calling for greater diversity in TV.

She said: “It was very tough, I was told ‘shut up or you’ll never work again’.

“You get knocked down, yes, but you have to have that self-belief that you’re going to rise. And a lot of the things I said way back, 40 odd years ago, are happening now.

“But now things are changing, and it’s wonderful. We’ve all got to take personal responsibility to make change.”

Away from our TV screens, the actress and host was awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to broadcasting, and was also previously a chairperson for BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

In 2010 she also became the first actress to become a peer in the House of Lords and became Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham, a borough of Bromley.

She has also been married to Keith Taylor since 1980, with who she has two children called Alvina and Aston.

Phillip Schofield

Phillip Schofield is a TV icon – but long before appearing on This Morning or Dancing On Ice – he was a familiar face on BBC series The Broom Cupboard.

He wasn’t the only familiar face, as his cute and lovable sidekick was none other than puppet Gordon the Gofer.

From there he went on to present programmes including Going Live and The Smash Hits Polls Winners Party, as well as appearing in musical theatre productions including Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat.

However his appearance on This Morning also led to a famous row between him and another TV icon – Noel Edmonds.

In 2016, Noel Edmonds was questioned by This Morning presenters Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby over a tweet that Noel had sent to a cancer patient, where he asked if their “ill-health was a result of their negative attitude”.

Both Noel and Philip later exchanged a heated conversation about the row on Twitter a few months later too.

In his 2020 autobiography Life’s What You Make It, Philip Schofield has since addressed the row, saying that Noel Edmonds was one of his TV inspirations, but “sadly, many years later, he and I would strongly disagree over an interview on This Morning when he suggested that ‘negative energy’ could cause cancer.

“I still take a different point of view to Noel, but I think it’s a terrible shame we fell out over it.”

In his personal life, Phillip married Stephanie Lowe in 1993, with who he has two children called Ruby and Molly.

However on February 7, 2020, Phillip Schofield announced during an episode of This Morning that he was gay, and wanted to share this announcement with the viewers.

He received an outpouring of love and support from fans across the country, with the host saying: “Steph has been incredible – I love her so very much. She is the kindest soul I have ever met.

“My girls have been astonishing in their love, hugs and encouraging words of comfort.”

Yvette Fielding

Yvette Fielding became the youngest ever Blue Peter presenter when she joined the popular BBC children’s programme in 1987, taking viewers to locations including Transylvania.

She later left the programme in 1992 to host programmes including What’s Up Doc, and appeared in TV series including Byker Grove, but it is her work on paranormal programme Most Haunted that she is most famous for.

Yvette has explored some of the UK’s spookiest locations alongside her husband Karl Beattie, who she has been married to since 1999, and with who she has a daughter called Mary.

She was previously married to Barry Sweeney until 1993, with who she had a son called William.

Speaking about her famous investigations, she told Cheshire Live that she will never forget their visit to Pendle Hill in Lancashire, saying: “I’ll never forget sitting there at a table and hearing this weird noise and then I put my head under the table, seeing the screws coming out of under there. It was just extra ordinary.”

Along with hosting Most Haunted Live tours at locations across the country, Yvette also launched her first book series in 2021 called The Ghost Hunter Chronicles.

She also revealed in her Cheshire Live interview that parts of her second book are inspired by her real life Most Haunted investigations at the Edinburgh Vaults, adding: “I’ll never forget it. It completely blew my mind, because I was always like ‘oh but they [the ghosts] can’t harm you though can they?’ Yeah they can.”

Neil Buchanan

The nineties saw the rise of one of the children’s TV’s most iconic presenters and artists – Art Attack host Neil Buchanan.

After co-creating the programme for CITV, the Liverpool born presenter hosted Art Attack for nearly 20 years from 1990-2007, along with TV series including Finders Keepers and It’s A Mystery.

Viewers may also recognise Neil as the character Smarty Arty from nineties TV show Zzzap!

Art Attack was so popular, that it even won two childrens TV BAFTA awards.

However away from our TV screens, Neil has also delighted fans as part of the rock group Marseilles, which he formed in 1976 and have since supported huge rock bands including Whitesnake.

Although he has stepped away from our TV screens, he made an appearance on Celebrity Juice in 2012 to discuss his career, and in 2011, he helped to launch a children’s art competition on ITV’s Daybreak.

He is still an artist in his spare time and has launched his own charity Christmas card collection.

In 2020 a rumour also circulated that the famous TV presenter was acclaimed artist Banksy, following a tweet from a fan saying: “Just heard that it’s rumoured Neil Buchanan is Banksy.

“If true, it’s the funniest sh** ever. Aintree’s finest… This is straight in the believe without question category.”

However after being inundated with messages, a spokesperson for Neil Buchanan set the record straight saying: “We have been inundated with enquiries over the weekend regarding the current social media story.

“Unfortunately this website does not have the infrastructure to answer all these enquiries individually, however, we can confirm that there is no truth in the rumour whatsoever.”

Dave Benson Philips

Get Your Own Back was one of the TV programmes that children dreamed of appearing on, in the hope of getting their own back by dunking someone they knew in gunge.

Hosted by Dave Benson Philips, the series ran between 1991 and 2003, becoming nominated for a children’s BAFTA award in the process.

Along with TV programmes including Playdays, Go For It and starring in CBeebies A Christmas Carol, Dave Benson Phillips has remained a familiar face on TV in the lives of children across the country.

For those children who are now all grown up, he can regularly be found hosting retro music events alongside another familiar children’s TV host – Pat Sharp.

He has also taken on a career as a professional wrestler, something that links back to his previous career as a Pontins Blue Coat, telling The Mirror: “Well, I was a Pontins Blue Coat and amongst my duties, I was asked to referee the wrestling. It was a huge amount of fun for the wrestlers because in those days I was the only black Blue Coat in Pontins.

Dave continued: “It was something of great entertainment and amusement for everyone and then once that season had finished I had the chance to go on a wrestling trip in Germany.

“I wasn’t wrestling out there and was usually the referee, but I was taught the rules and had to learn things pretty sharpish.”

In his personal life, the star is also married to his wife Emma Phillips.

Pat Sharp

Fun House was a game show favourite for children and young people back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s on ITV.

The show was hosted by Pat Sharp, who starred in the series alongside twins Melanie and Martina, with Pat saying that the trio still remain great friends over twenty years since the show ended.

However, the show was just as famous for Pat Sharp’s mullet haircut, as it was for the challenges, until his wife eventually convinced the presenter to cut his hair.

Talking to the Guardian about his iconic look, he said, “It’s a cool thing to look back on but I couldn’t have it now. I’d look like Joe Exotic.”

The legendary presenter also turns 60 this month and since leaving Fun House, can be regularly heard on Greatest Hits Radio and also makes regular appearances at retro music festivals and student union events throughout the country.

Away from the limelight, Pat is also married to his wife Monica and they have a daughter together called Charlotte.

Dick and Dom

Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood, otherwise known as Dick and Dom, were the bane of parent’s lives in the nineties and early noughties, as children across the country tried to impersonate their antics.

The duo could regularly be seen on their TV programme, Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow, visiting famous venues and shouting out the word bogies very loudly – as well as taking part in games such as Pumpy Rumpy, Musical Splatues and Make Dick Sick or Make Dom Vom.

Their antics were even brought up in parliament, with MP Peter Luff asking the culture secretary to consider if certain elements of the show actually made for appropriate viewing and saying: “Is that really the stuff of public service broadcasting?”

Although the programme was defended by the BBC, it was taken off air one year after the MP’s statement in parliament.

The duo have stayed largely away from our TV screens in the past decade, but do regularly DJ and make club appearances.

Dom also married allSTARS* singer Sandi Lee Hughes in 2005, with who he has two children.

Richard is also engaged to fellow actress and CBeebies Katrina Bryan, welcoming their first child together in 2021.

However, Dick and Dom look set to return to our TV screens after a memorable appearance on Celebrity Ghost Trip last year, with Richard telling Daily Star: “It’s still all under wraps but you should hear something in about a month or so. I can’t say anything at the moment.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk