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Carol Smillie | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Smillie performing asMadonna inHormonal Housewives at theKing's Theatre, Glasgow, November 2011 | |
| Born | Carol Patricia Smillie (1961-12-23)23 December 1961 (age 63) |
| Occupation(s) | Television presenter, actress, entrepreneur, author, model,humanist celebrant |
| Years active | 1989–2011 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | www |
Carol Patricia Smillie (born 23 December 1961) is a British former television presenter, actress and model fromGlasgow,Scotland. Smillie became famous as a television presenter during the 1990s and early 2000s. She was best known for assistingNicky Campbell on the UK version of the game showWheel of Fortune between 1989 and 1994. Between 1996 and 2003, she was the main presenter on theBBC One home makeover showChanging Rooms.[1]
After leaving theGlasgow School of Art, Smillie was a model throughout the 1980s. Her break in television came in 1989 when she auditioned for the role of hostess onWheel of Fortune. After leaving the show in 1994, Smillie appeared on theBBC television channel, firstly as a reporter onThe Travel Show, and then theHoliday show, eventually becoming the programme's main presenter. The DIY programmeChanging Rooms established her name and led to her presenting other primetime shows for the BBC, such as theNational Lottery and her own morning chat showSmillie's People.[2]
In 2012 Smillie decided to leave mainstream TV and created a new business venture, launching a brand of leak-proof underwear for women, named DiaryDoll. This was later changed to Pretty Clever Pants. In 2018 Smillie relinquished control of her business, licensing the brand to the company High Street TV.[3]
As of 2018[update] Smillie is pursuing a career conducting humanist ceremonies, having qualified as ahumanist celebrant with theHumanist Society Scotland.
Smillie was born on 23 December 1961 inGlasgow, the daughter of Isobel and electrical engineer George Smillie. She has two older sisters and one older brother.[4]
Smillie attended Simshill Primary School and the independentHutchesons' Grammar School.[5][6] She attained sevenO-grades, including a qualification in fabric and fashion. She left the following year with threeHighers. Five were required to be admitted into theGlasgow School of Art. Smillie ultimately obtained one each fromLangside College andCardonald College, thus completing the entry requirements.[7]
At age 18, in 1979, Smillie embarked on her first year at the Glasgow School of Art, studying Art, Design, and Fashion, with the idea of becoming a fashion designer, but felt she didn't really fit in with the typical punk students sporting green hair and pink shoes. To subsidise her studies, Smillie worked in a cocktail bar, modelling part-time, and eventually left to embark on a modelling career.[7]
Smillie then joined the Best Modelling Agency, run by Fiona Best. Too short at 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) for catwalk modelling, she booked photo shoots and promotions. Smillie worked for the agency throughout the 1980s. Smillie met her future husband, former model Alex Knight, through Fiona's agency.[8]
Smillie's presenting career launched in 1989, at age 27, when she beat 5,000 other applicants[9] to become the hostess and puzzle board operator ofScottish Television'sWheel of Fortune game show. She co-presented the show until 1994 withNicky Campbell.
Fashion series presented by Smillie and produced by Scottish Television.
Reporter onBBC Two'sThe Travel Show.[10]
Smillie joined the show as co-presenter with Mickey Hutton, alongside the main presenter Esther Rantzen. The show recognised unsung heroes and heroines who had shown outstanding bravery and dedication to public life.
Stints followed onBBC One for theHoliday programme. Smillie continued to present holiday programmes such asSummer Holiday,Holiday Swaps,Holiday Heaven andHoliday Favourites throughout the 1990s.
In 1996, Smillie became the original presenter of BBC Two's new DIY showChanging Rooms. The show was an immediate success and was transferred to BBC One for series 2. The programme is credited with starting a craze for DIY in the late 1990s. During her time on the show, it won a National TV Award and an INDIE Award and wereBAFTA nominated. Smillie remained the main presenter for 13 series, leaving in 2003. In September 1998, she was the subject ofThis Is Your Life.[11]
In 1996, Smillie was selected as a presenter of the BBCThe National Lottery Show. She mainly appeared on the Wednesday Midweek Draw show, but also made occasional appearances on Saturday nights. Smillie presented various incarnations of the show between 1996 and 2000. In September 2006, she appeared onThe National Lottery: Everyone's A Winner! inEdinburgh.
In 1998, Smillie hosted a short mid-morning celebrity chat-show on BBC One entitledSmillie's People.
In 2003, after leavingChanging Rooms, Smillie joined theChannel 5 showDream Holiday Homes. This new show was similar toChanging Rooms, although this time, entire properties were given a makeover. The properties were situated in various Southern European locations, and at the end of each show Smillie would sell off the property for the price of a £1 phone call to a lucky viewer picked at random.[10] The show ran for five series.
In 2004, Smillie was one of the celebrities to take part inStrictly Ice Dancing, a one-off ice dance version ofStrictly Come Dancing.
Smillie was back working forSTV Productions in 2005 as presenter of the short-lived ITV showThe People's Court.
Later that year, she was the presenter of ITV'sA Brush with Fame, searching for the UK's best amateur portrait artist.
From October to December 2006, Smillie took part in Series Four ofStrictly Come Dancing with dance partnerMatthew Cutler. She improved as the series progressed.Len Goodman often referred to her as theDark Horse of the competition, and played music from theBlack Beauty TV series over her training clips on the complementary showStrictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.She came fifth out of the fourteen competitors.[12]
| Week | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||||
| Hoorwood | Phillips | Goodman | Tonioli | Total | |||
| 1 | Female Group Dance | - | - | - | - | - | Safe |
| 2 | Quickstep/9 to 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 25 | Safe |
| 3 | Jive/Hanky Panky | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
| 4 | Foxtrot/Stuck on You | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 29 | Safe |
| 5 | Salsa/Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 29 | Safe |
| 6 | American Smooth/It's Oh So Quiet | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
| 7 | Cha Cha Cha/Dancing in the Moonlight | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 | Safe |
| 8 | Waltz/If You Don't Know Me by Now | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 | Bottom 2 |
| 9 | Viennese Waltz/Breakaway Samba/Club Tropicana | 8 7 | 8 9 | 9 9 | 9 9 | 34 34 | Eliminated |
Smillie returned to STV from November 2007 into 2008 to host the Scottish channel's new gameshow,Postcode Challenge. In each show, four teams of six people from the same postcode area are tested on general knowledge.[13]
On 22 September 2009, Smillie presented a 10 part series entitledBest of British Wedding Venues onWedding TV, a woman's lifestyle channel on theSky andFreesat platforms.[14]
Smillie presented the 2013 and 2014 series of STV'sFinding Scotland's Real Heroes.[15]
In 1993, she appeared on the Saturday eveningBBC One light entertainment showNoel's House Party, when her "Gotcha" tape was shown to viewers.
In 2001, Smillie appeared onLily Savage's Blankety Blank[16][17] and the following year appeared onThe Sooty Show in the episode called "All New Sooty".
In the summer of 2009, Smillie appeared as a guest presenter of STV'sThe Hour for one week, with main anchorStephen Jardine.
In 2004, she took part in atelevision documentary calledGender Swap forChannel 5. Using siliconprosthetic makeup, she was transformed from female to male and was then given the challenge of attending aspeed dating event as her new opposite sex self.
In her early years, Smillie worked the exhibition circuit and was an occasional lingerie model. Smillie was allegedly one of theTennent's Lager girls (a Scottish marketing promotion that put pictures of young women on the backs of cans of lager). Smillie denied having had this role inThe Independent newspaper on 2 October 2006.[18]
Smillie has continued to model occasionally since her rise to fame. Between 2007 and 2010 Smillie was the figurehead model for the Scottish company TheEdinburgh Woollen Mill.[19]
In 1994, Smillie presented a holiday show forBBC Radio 5 Live calledCarol Smillie's Blue Skies, featuring reports from various worldwide destinations and holiday tips for would be travellers.[citation needed]
In June 2009, Smillie appeared in the BBC Radio Scotland comedy sketch show Ellis and Clarke. Smillie appeared in a number of sketches in the 30-minute production playing herself, in which she and the members of the cast parodied her television personality. The show was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland on 5 June 2009.[citation needed]
OnBank Holiday 31 August 2009, Smillie hosted her own Radio show on105.2 Smooth Radio, a Scottish Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Glasgow and the surrounding area.[citation needed]
In 2003, Smillie joined forces with Eileen Fursland to become a best selling[citation needed] author with the publication ofCarol Smillie's Working Mum's Handbook. The book examined the practical problems and emotional issues that face women who go back to work. It considered work-life balance, time management, workplace rights to maternity leave and pay, tax credits.[20]
Starting on 10 May 2008, Smillie co-wrote – with animal behaviourist Emma Magson – a weekly column inThe Times entitled 'Perfect Pets'. The column was featured in the Body and Soul section of the Saturday edition and lasted 10 weeks.
In February 2006, Smillie made her début on the stage in theEve Ensler playThe Vagina Monologues. She completed three tours of Scotland, appearing inAberdeen,Ayr,Dundee, Edinburgh,Glasgow andPerth.[21]
In February to March 2010, Smillie appeared on stage inHormonal Housewives, a new comedy written by Julie Coombe and John MacIsaac. Appearing alongside Smillie were the co-writer Julie Coombe and Shonagh Price. The comedy portrayed three women juggling a career, childcare and being a housewife. The play begins with the three women getting ready for a night out and then moves into a series of self-contained sketches. The finale features a medley of music byKylie Minogue,Madonna andCher. Smillie takes the part of Madonna, dancing and miming to the track "Holiday", dressed in a pastiche outfit based on theJean Paul Gaultier-designed conical bracorset, from the singer's 1990Blond Ambition tour. Smillie took the play on a three-week tour of Scotland performing at theatres inAberdeen,Dundee, Edinburgh,Glasgow andInverness.
In 2008, Smillie made her film debut in a short film entitledInfamy playing a television presenter named Joan. The story concerns a man who is so desperate to get on Reality TV that he will try anything, including ultimately, holding up a shop at gunpoint to make the local news.[22]
In October 2012, Smillie started her own business, DiaryDoll, with business partner and friendAnnabel Croft, an ex-international tennis player. Together they created a range of women's underwear specifically for use during periods, with a secret waterproof panel inside them to remove the possibility of leaks and stains on clothing and bedding. They were designed to look and feel like normal underwear – i.e. breathable, washable and not crackly – giving women the confidence to go about their usual activities.[23] In 2014 DiaryDoll partnered with charity Endometriosis UK.[24]
Smillie is ahumanist. In 2018 she became an accreditedhumanist celebrant with theHumanist Society Scotland, and began to conduct humanist ceremonies.[25]
Smillie lives in Glasgow with husband Alex Knight, a restaurateur, whom she married in August 1991.[14] They have three children.[26]
Smillie's smile was caricatured by the impressionistRonni Ancona in the UK television showBig Impression. Ancona's impression of Smillie used the catchphrase "I'm Smiley Smiley Carol Smillie".[27]
Smillie is involved with several charities, primarily ones concerned with child welfare. One of her main charities is The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice (PPWH). She hosts 'A Little Less Strictly Come Dancing' Ball for them every year alongside Angus Purden.[28] Smillie was a contestant on the British television game showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire? supporting the charityNSPCC. She appeared on the show withMichael Aspel. They failed to progress past the £16,000 mark when they missed the question about authors, dropping to £1,000.[citation needed]
Smillie is trustee to a number of Glasgow institutions. These includeKelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, where she is on the board as trustee of The Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal (KRA). This is an independent trust established to raise £5 million in sponsorship and donations towards the £27.9million refurbishment of Kelvingrove.[29] She became a board member and Trustee for The Riverside Museum.
She supports the Glasgow School of Art, as a former and current student of the School’s Continuing Education Programme. Smillie is a member of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project team. In July 2007 she launched The Digital MacIntosh Project to raise funds for the restoration and refurbishment of the MacIntosh Building, which houses the school.[30]
When Smillie was hostingWheel of Fortune in the early 1990s, she was invited to take theMensa test for highIQs by a tabloid newspaper, to prove that game show hostesses were not stupid. She said she had passed with an IQ of 148. She courted controversy in 2003, when she announced in an interview that she had cheated on the test. She admitted that the test was not taken under exam conditions, and she completed only two thirds of it, coming unstuck at the end. Smillie had phoned a friend to complete the remainder of the test. She said, "I felt slightly guilty at the time, but it hadn't really bothered me that I had cheated because it was never a real test to me, and Mensa had never invited me to take part."[31]
Presenter
includingSummer Holiday,Holiday Swaps,Holiday Heaven andHoliday Favourites
includingThe National Lottery – Amazing Luck Stories,The National Lottery – We've Got Your Number,National Lottery – Local Heroes
Guest appearances
Reality TV Appearances
Actress
Radio
| International | |
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| National | |