Chris Smith (newsreader)

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Chris Smith
Radio presenter
EmployerBBC
Known forChildren’s author and former presenter of Newsbeat on BBC Radio 1
Websitewww.chrissmithauthor.co.uk

Christopher Smith is a British children’s author and radio newsreader. He co-wrote the Kid Normal series of books, presented

That's What He Said podcast alongside Greg James
.

Early life

Smith was born in Kettering, England and grew up in Raunds.[1] He studied English at Queen's University Belfast and was offered on-the-job training at a radio station afterwards.[2] Then, he started reading the news on air.

Radio

Smith first broadcast on

XFM London. When O'Connell moved to Virgin Radio (now Absolute Radio), Smith joined him. He left in 2007 and began reading the news on BBC Radio 1. He took over from Tulip Mazumdar as the regular afternoon newsreader in May 2011. These bulletins were simulcast on BBC Radio 1Xtra from September 2012. He regularly presented both the 12:45 and 17:45 Newsbeat programmes.[3]

Smith joined Radio 1's Greg James Show regularly and took part in a number of segments during the show, when he was free of Newsbeat duties. Smith was also co-host of the "Greg James - That's What He Said Podcast", that started in October 2013 and was released every Friday until August 2018.[4]

On the podcast, Smith established himself as a singer/songwriter by writing, producing and singing 'The Ghost Owl' song and the theme tune to the game 'Mug on a Dog'.[5]

In March 2015, Smith travelled to Uganda alongside James, 1Xtra's Yasmin Evans and other celebrities including Alex Jones, Richard Hammond and Dermot O'Leary to participate in Comic Relief's Operation Health, a project to refurbish the Iyolwa Health Centre in eastern Uganda. Radio 1 listeners raised £551,405.[6][7][8]

It was announced on the

Radio 1 Breakfast Show, and shortly after Greg left drivetime, Smith announced he was moving to an off-air role.[9]
He presented his final Newsbeat programme on Friday 10 August 2018, during which his colleagues paid tribute to him.

Other work

Together with Greg James, Smith wrote a children's book titled Kid Normal. It was published by Bloomsbury on 13 July 2017 in the UK[10] and is available in three languages, English, Spanish and German.[11]

Smith features on the

Member of Parliament for Cornwall
.

References

  1. ^ "Radio 1's Chris supports church campaign - Northamptonshire Telegraph". www.northantstelegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ "BBC Academy - Production - Chris Smith: Presenter, Radio 1 Newsbeat". Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. ^ "BBC Academy - Production - Chris Smith: Presenter, Radio 1 Newsbeat". Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 1 - Radio 1 Breakfast Best Bits with Greg James".
  5. ^ "The Ghost Owl".
  6. ^ "Comic Relief's Operation Health launches | Comic Relief". www.comicrelief.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015.
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 1 - Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James - Greg & Yasmin's Uganda Blog".
  8. ^ "BBC One - Comic Relief, 2015, Operation Health".
  9. ^ @itschrissmith (10 August 2018). "I've been presenting the news on Radio 1 and 1Xtra for 7 years now. But as someone once said, "when the curtain com…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Kid Normal: Kid Normal 1".
  11. ^ "Foreign rights sold in Radio 1 presenters' book | the Bookseller".
  12. ^ "How I featured on a George Michael song". Retrieved 26 December 2016.

External links