Nicki Chapman

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Nicki Chapman
Herne Bay, Kent, England
Occupations
  • Television & radio presenter
  • reality TV judge
  • PR agent
Years active1988–present
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Websitenickichapman.com

Nicki Chapman[2] (born 14 January 1967) is an English television and radio presenter, talent show judge and public relations agent who previously worked in the British pop music industry.

Chapman was a judge on the

Neil Fox. She currently hosts Wanted Down Under, Escape to the Country and its spin-offs I Escaped to the Country, and Escape to the Continent as well as The RHS Chelsea Flower Show. She regularly presents on BBC Radio 2
as a stand-in presenter.

Early life

Chapman was born in

Herne Bay in Kent on 14 January 1967. Her mother was a housewife and her father worked for Rank Xerox.[3]

Chapman went to St Anselm's Catholic School, Canterbury.

Career

Chapman worked her way up in the music industry from being Promotions Assistant at

.

Chapman rose to fame as a judge on the

Popstars and Pop Idol, together with Nigel Lythgoe and Paul Adam (on Popstars), Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and Dr Fox (on Pop Idol). Pop Idol was the top rated TV show in the UK for 2001 and 2003 making Chapman a household name. Chapman was known in particular for her compassionate nature towards contestants on the shows, in contrast to many talent shows of the present day. She once claimed that "What I think and what I say have to be different because people don't need to hear my honest thoughts, you can let them down a lot more gently and it takes a lot of courage to stand up there and do an audition".[6]

Nicki Chapman at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2008

She currently works as a presenter and has fronted a number of lifestyle and current affairs programmes for the

ITV including Holiday, BBC Breakfast News, Holidays at Home, The Morning Show, Sunday Style, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Castle in the Country, Escape to the Sun, City Hospital, Holiday Ten Best and others. She presented a series for Sky One
called Made in LA which investigated behind the scenes of the rich and famous.

In 2006, Chapman was one of twelve celebrities in the BBC's

. Despite being a novice, and suffering a shoulder injury as a result of falling from her horse during one of the live broadcasts, she came second, voted by the public.

In May 2007, Chapman co-hosted the live

ITV1 celebrity cookery show Soapstar Superchef (the spin off from Soapstar Superstar
).

In October 2008, Chapman joined her fellow ex-

, a spoof on the talent show genre of programmes.

In 2009, she appeared as a judge in Disney Channel's Hannah-Oke along with Disney's Brad Kavanagh and Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner.[7]

In 2011, as well as filming another series of Escape to the Country and Wanted Down Under, she was heard on BBC Radio 2 sitting in for Vanessa Feltz on the Early Breakfast Show, which she continued to do until Vanessa left the station in 2022. She also deputised for Janice Long in 2012, Anneka Rice in 2013 and Sara Cox in 2019. Since 2019, she has also deputised for Zoe Ball on the Breakfast Show. In early 2021, she presented The Saturday Show between Graham Norton leaving the station and Claudia Winkleman taking over the slot. In 2024, it was announced she would temporarily host 'Sunday Love Songs' until Easter, following the death of the incumbent presenter Steve Wright.[8]

In November 2014, Chapman hosted The Imperial Dream by the Spanish Riding School of Vienna at the Wembley Arena.

In January 2012, Chapman appeared on The Talent Show Story, a documentary for ITV about various entertainment and talent shows. She spoke about her time on Pop Idol and Popstars, as well as working with Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Cowell. The show featured interviews from various talent show judges and stars including Kelly Rowland, Dannii Minogue, Amanda Holden, Piers Morgan, Lenny Henry and Les Dennis as well as her former co-judges Pete Waterman and Neil Fox.

Personal life

Chapman is married to Dave 'Shacky' Shackleton, a music producer and Sony BMG executive; the couple live in Chiswick, London.[3][9]

In May 2019 she revealed she had surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumour and later made a good recovery.[10][11] Subsequently, she was appointed an Ambassador for The Brain Tumour Charity.[12] In 2022, Chapman made this comment during an interview: "It's important for me to work with The Brain Tumour Charity and share my experience to help others know that they're not alone in this".[9]

She is an ambassador for British Dressage and a supporter of Teenage Cancer Trust, Childline and Nordoff–Robbins music therapy as well as volunteering for Save the Children in her spare time.

References

  1. ^ "Nicki Chapman wzrost". Wzrostgwiazd.info. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  2. ^ "Early Breakfast Show - Nicki Chapman - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Timecode 1:01:19. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. ^
    ISSN 0307-1235
    . Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. ^ [1] Archived 13 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Hello Interview". Geocities. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  6. ^ MrSifta (27 April 2012), Popstars – Part1 (ITV 2001), archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 9 June 2016
  7. ^ Judd, Deany (23 May 2009). "Love your work: Nicki Chapman". The Guardian.
  8. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/steve-wright-death-bbc-radio-2-nicki-chapman-b2502429.html
  9. ^ a b "Meet Escape to the Country star Nicki Chapman's husband". Hello. 17 June 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Praise after TV star tells of brain tumour". BBC News. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  11. ^ McShane, Asher (18 May 2019). "TV presenter Nicki Chapman reveals she had major surgery to remove brain tumour". Evening Standard.
  12. ^ "Nicki Chapman". Noel Gay Agency. Retrieved 27 December 2022.

External links