Reggie Yates | |
|---|---|
 Yates in 2009 | |
| Born | Reginald Yates[1] (1983-05-31)31 May 1983 (age 42)[2] London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, director, documentary filmmaker, actor, television presenter, DJ |
| Television | Presenting:
|
| Website | reggieyates |
Reginald Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British television presenter, actor, writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter andradio DJ. Yates playedLeo Jones inDoctor Who and has worked at theBBC in radio and television–presenting various shows forBBC Radio 1 for a decade as well as hosting theBBC One singing showThe Voice UK, hosting the first two series withHolly Willoughby.
Yates co-presented the prime-timeBBC One game showPrized Apart, alongsideEmma Willis, theITV2 reality showRelease the Hounds from 2013 until 2017 and was also the presenter of theBBC Three documentary seriesReggie Yates' Extreme Russia,Extreme South Africa andExtreme UK as well as featuring as lead voice actor for the CBeebies animated cartoon seriesRastamouse.[3]
In 2021, Yates released his first feature film as writer/director,Pirates.
Yates' parents, Felicia Asante and Reginald "Jojo" Yates,[4] were both born inGhana;[4][5] however, his paternal grandfather Harry was the son of an English accountant, George Yates, who worked in the gold mining industry. Harry Yates' mother Dorothy was also a member of Ghana'sEuro-African community: her father was a British colonial administrator, Augustus George Lloyd, while her mother Sarah was an ethnicFante, who worked as a farmer and trader inDixcove, Ghana.[6]
Yates grew up inNorth London, where he attendedCentral Foundation Boys' School in Cowper Street,Islington.
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Yates made his first television appearance inDesmond's at the age of eight. He also appeared inDisney Club, as Robbie.[7] In 1998, Yates appeared as a guest presenter onDiggit onCITV also under the name Robbie. In 2002, he played Carl Fenton in the popular children's seriesGrange Hill. From 2002 to 2004, he presented the Sunday morning programmeSmile, and then went on to presentTop of the Pops with formerSmile co-hostFearne Cotton before the final episode broadcast onBBC Two on 30 July 2006. He also created and starred in the seriesThe Crust and presentedDance Factory and his own radio show onBBC Radio 1.
In 2005, Yates appeared in the BBC singing contestComic Relief Does Fame Academy in aid ofComic Relief, finishing in fourth place. On the show, his songs included "Boombastic", "You're The First, The Last, My Everything", "It Ain't Over Til It's Over", "U Can't Touch This" and "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)". He also sang a duet, "It Takes Two", withEdith Bowman, the eventual winner of the show. He dyed his hair red for his performance of "Dancing on the Ceiling".
On 10 March 2006, Yates appeared onStars in Fast Cars and won his heat to get into the final, beatingElton Welsby andBen Fogle in the last round.
Yates presentedMighty Truck of Stuff andOnly in America with Fearne Cotton onCBBC as well as a programme onBBC Radio 1. They presented a breakfast show on Saturday and Sunday mornings, taking over fromJK and Joel. They played from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 am. The duo then went on to presentThe Radio 1 Chart Show starting on 14 October 2007 until Sunday 20 September 2009. Cotton left following her promotion to weekday mornings on Radio 1 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 pm, leaving Yates to present on his own.[8]
In addition to the chart show, Yates also presented a request show on Saturday afternoons, known asThe Radio 1 Request Show, where listeners could send in a text or phone in to request a song. In April 2012, it was announced that Yates would finish the request show and continue with onlyThe Official Chart. He announced in November 2012 that he would leaveBBC Radio 1, and his last show aired on 23 December that year.
In 2006, Yates appeared on a Reality TV Special ofThe Weakest Link and was voted off in the fourth round.
In 2007, Yates appeared in the third series of revived science-fiction seriesDoctor Who asLeo Jones, brother of theTenth Doctor's companionMartha.[9]
Yates also presentedseries 1 ofEscape from Scorpion Island with co-presenterCaroline Flack on BBC 1 between 3 and 21 September 2007.[10]
He also appeared onDizzee Rascal's 2007 single "Flex" music video as one of the judges in a parody TV show called "Flex Factor".[11]
Yates co-hosted theMOBO Awards 2009 withKeri Hilson at theSECC, Glasgow. He has also presented live coverage of theGlastonbury,Reading andT in the Park music festivals forBBC Three, and interviewed stars such asEstelle and50 Cent for MTV specials. Yates made a cameo appearance inJack Osbourne's Celebrity Adrenaline Junkie.
Yates appeared in a specialFamily Guy episode onBBC Three, counting down the top 20 characters of the show as part of a specialFamily Guy weekend.
In 2011, Yates voiced the main character, Rastamouse, in theCBeebies television showRastamouse. In March 2011, he appeared withLenny Henry,Angela Rippon, andSamantha Womack in the BBC fundraising documentary forComic Relief calledRich, Famous and in the Slums, where the four celebrities were sent toKibera in Kenya, Africa's largestslum.[12] In October 2011, Yates starred inArjun Rose's UK slasherDemons Never Die as Officer Mason.
In 2012, as part ofBBC Three's Criminal Britain Season, Yates explored the culture of fear, anger and violence that drives the dangerous world of teen gangs. The show,Reggie Yates: Teen Gangs, involved him speaking to current and former gang members to find out why and how teens get into gangs.
In 2012 and 2013, Yates hosted theBBC One singing showThe Voice UK, hosting the first two series withHolly Willoughby. They were replaced byEmma Willis andMarvin Humes in 2013.
2013 saw Yates travel to South Africa to shoot a series,Reggie Yates' Extreme South Africa: White Slums, which aired in Spring 2014 onBBC Three. It was successful enough for Yates to return withReggie Yates' Extreme Russia in April 2015 for BBC Three.[13]
In 2013, his first short filmPatriarch aired onChannel 4 as part of their "Random Acts" season and he has just completed his second short calledDate Night, starringDaniel Kaluuya andTony Way, which won "Best UK Short Film" at theLondon Independent Film Festival.Yates hosted theITV2 programmeRelease the Hounds from 2013 until 2017. He was replaced byMatt Edmondson in 2017.[14]
Yates appeared in an episode ofWho Do You Think You Are?, first aired on 25 September 2014,[15] for which he travelled to Ghana to trace his family history.[16]
Yates, along withEmma Willis presented the Saturday-night game showPrized Apart onBBC One in 2015.[17] The show was axed shortly after.
In 2016, Yates was awarded Best Presenter for his critically acclaimed series Extreme Russia at theRoyal Television Society Awards[18] and Best Multi-channel Programme at the Broadcast Awards.[19]
Continuing his documentarian journey, in 2016 Yates's BBC Three seriesThe Insider saw the presenter spend time behind bars in Texas and join Unit 27 of the 56th Infantry Battalion in Acapulco to live the life of an ordinary soldier fighting on the front line of the brutal war against the country's powerful and violent drug cartels.
In 2018, Yates was the themed category judge forKoestler Trust'sI'm Still Here at theSouthbank Centre, London, an exhibition of art works by prisoners, detainees and ex-offenders. The theme was 'connections'.[20] Yates has also been listed in thePowerlist, as one of the most influential people in the UK from African/African-Caribbean descent, most recently making the2019,2020 and2021 editions.[21]
In 2020, Yates' television filmMake Me Famous premiered onBBC Three.[22][23][24][25][26]
In 2021, Yates's debut directorial feature film,Pirates, was released. The film, a comedy-drama set in 1990s London,[27] received largely favourable reviews from critics.[28]
In 2017, the BBC was forced to apologise for a Yates (and independent production company, Sundog Pictures) piece onAustralia's Indigenous communities calledHidden Australia: Black in the Outback,[29] filmed inWilcannia,New South Wales.[30] TheAboriginal people Yates interviewed and filmed for the documentary said they were misled by Yates and the production crew. They accused Yates of portraying them in a negative light, after Yates had promised them the story would be fair.[31]
In November 2017, Yates stated on a podcast: "The thing that makes it great about this new generation of artists is that they ain't signing to majors. They're independent, they're not managed by some random fat Jewish guy from north west London, they're managed by their brethren".[32] His remarks were condemned by theCommunity Security Trust'sDave Rich who said: "Even worse than any offence is the message Yates gives his audience by reinforcing an anti-Semitic stereotype". Yates was "hugely apologetic" for his comment.[32][33] Following his comments, he stood down from presenting the 2017 festive special editions ofTop of the Pops.[34]
In 2019, when filming for his MTV television seriesReggie Yates vs The World inDerry, Northern Ireland, it was claimed that tensions on the street were stoked by dissident Republicans "for the benefit of the film crew", resulting in a riot during whichLyra McKee was murdered.[35][36][37][38] Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that those claims were untrue.[39]
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | TV Presenter | Extreme Russia | Nominated |
| 2017 | Factual Entertainment | Reggie Yates: The Insider, BBC Three | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Best Presenter | Extreme Russia | Won |
| 2016 | Documentary Series | Extreme Russia | Nominated |
| 2016 | Entertainment | Release the Hounds | Won |
| 2011 | Best Presenter | Autistic Superstars | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Best multi-channel programme | Extreme Russia | Won |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Best Popular Factual Programme | Extreme Russia | Nominated |
| 2016 | Best Entertainment Programme | Release the Hounds | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Best Factual Programme | Extreme Russia | Won |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Attitude Ally Award | Reggie Yates for Extreme Russia | Won |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Festival Prize, Best Short Film UK Feature | Date Night | Won |
| Year | Category | Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Presenter | Reggie Yates: Smile | Nominated |
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | BBC Radio 1 chart show presenter (withFearne Cotton) 14 October 2007 – 20 September 2009 | Succeeded by himself |
| Preceded by Fearne Cotton and himself | BBC Radio 1 chart show presenter 27 September 2009 – 23 December 2012 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |