Dermot O’Leary
About
Smart, dashing, and confident. A consistent TV presenter who’s well-versed in performing to large audiences.
Dermot O’Leary started as a disc jockey at Essex Radio before becoming a runner on the TV show Light Lunch. He was then part of the original presenting line-up of the channel’s T4 strand. H moved on to present Big Brother’s Little Brother on E4 from 2001 onwards.
Radio
Dermot joined XFM in 2001. He first presented weekday mid-mornings from 10 am–1 pm, before moving to a Saturday evening show in mid 2002, where he remained until late 2003.
He joined BBC Radio 2 in September 2004, presenting a Saturday afternoon show entitled Dermot’s Saturday Club which ran from 2pm to 4pm. Following a number of changes to the length and timing of O’Leary’s programme, due in part to the arrival of Chris Evans to Radio 2 and his role as presenter of The X Factor, his show has been broadcast between 3pm and 6pm since April 2009.
TV
In August 2006, O’Leary signed a deal to present the game show 1 vs. 100, which aired on Saturday nights on BBC One in combination with the National Lottery draws.
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.
In March 2010, O’Leary hosted a spin-off edition of the BBC One show Question Time, which aired on BBC Three, aimed at first time voters.
Since 2010, O’Leary has annually presented National Television Awards airing live from The O2 Arena on ITV. In 2010, 2012 and 2014, O’Leary hosted Soccer Aid on ITV, a celebrity football match in aid of the charity, Unicef.
O’Leary hosted the Saturday night entertainment show The Marriage Ref on ITV.
In 2013, Dermot O’Leary presenter the ITV campaign From the Heart, which encouraged viewers to consider organ donation.