Vernon Kay Biography

Vernon Charles Kay was born on 28th April, 1974 to Norman and Gladys Kay. He was the elder son of the couple and has a brother named Stephen. His father was a lorry driver while his mother worked in a mill. His brother is a primary school teacher.

He mostly grew up in Bolton Manchester and went to St Joseph’s RC High School in Horwich. He continued his studies at St John Rigby College, Wigan. He later joined the Manchester Polytechnic and studied environmental science.

Vernon Kay initially worked as a toilet cleaner in schools. He also cleaned phone boxes, packed bananas and worked in DIY shop.

It was during this time that he was noticed by a model scout from Select at the BBC’s Clothes Show Live. From here, he launched his successful modelling career.

Soon, he bagged the Model of the Week title at Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast show and was offered work as television presenter.

In the year 2000, he co-presented one series of FBI – Fully Booked Interactive -the revised form of BBC’s magazine show Fully Booked. In the same year, he landed a regular presenting job with Channel 4’s show T4. He continued with T4 till 2005 and established his talent as a presenter.

During this period, he presented/co-presented Channel 4’s gameshow Boys and Girls (2003), BBC Three’s gameshow HeadJam (2004) and ITV’s gameshow Celebrities Under Pressure (2004).

His love for music manifested itself during this time too as he presented British music chart television programme Top of the Pops Plus and its spin off series Top of the Pops @ Play for Play UK.

In 2004, Vernon Kay joined BBC Radio 1 and was given the responsibility to host the weekend show (and later Saturday show). Till nearly the end of 2012, he not only handled his own show, but also filled in for various other presenters in their absence. These include Edith Bowman, Chris Moyles and Pete Tong.

In 2005, he hosted ITV’s entertainment show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time. The success of the show led US network NBC to develop its own version with yet again Kay as its presenter.

Starting 2006 and up till 2015, Vernon Kay hosted twelve series of ITV’s primetime gameshow All Star Family Fortunes.

In 2006 and 2007, he co-hosted along with his wife Tess Daly Just the Two of Us, a live celebrity singing show for BBC1. In 2007, he also presented a television movie World’s Greatest Elvis for BBC1.

He went on to host/co-host more gameshows for ITV including a series each of Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon (2007) and The Whole 19 Yards(2010). In between, he presented a couple of series of another ITV gameshow Beat the Star (2008-2009).

In 2010, he also co-hosted ABC’s talent show Skating with the Stars.

Between 2011 and 2012, he hosted a series each of Channel 4’s festive entertainment show Home For the Holidays; ABC’s gameshow Million Dollar Mind Game (both 2011) and ITV’s sports entertainment series Let's Get Gold (2012).

In 2012, he appeared as himself in a comedy film Keith Lemon: The Film.

He next went on to present two series each of ITV’s diving television series Splash! (2013-2014) and daytime gameshow 1000 Heartbeats (2015-2016). From 2013 to 2015, he also presented Channel 4’s The American Football Show.

The year 2015 also saw Vernon Kay’s return to radio with the newly launched Radio X network. This time, he presented the weekday morning show. He left Radio X in 2017.

In 2016, he appeared as himself in ITV’s The Keith Lemon Sketch Show and presented a game show Drive for the same television network.

In 2017, he covered both the GolfSixes event and The Hero Challenge Golf Series.

In 2018, Channel 5 roped in Vernon Kay to host the fourth season of Formula E motor racing. He has been associated with the race since then and also writes columns for it.

In his career, Vernon Kay has made guest appearances in numerous television series. These include It's Only TV...but I Like It (2002), Shooting Stars (2002), Bo' Selecta! (2003), Davina (2006), Celebrity Juice (2011, 2013, 2015), Through the Keyhole (2014, 2015) and Go 8 Bit (2017).

He has also appeared in other television series and documentaries like I Love the 1990s (2001) and I Love 1980's (2001), Smile... This Was Candid Camera (voice -2010) and 30 Years of CITV (voice - 2012).

Vernon Kay’s first introduction to fame came with Channel 4’s show T4. This was his first regular show and gave him an opportunity to showcase his skills as a presenter. Moreover, he also hosted T4 on the Beach, an annual televised musical extravaganza that saw as many as 40,000 people in audience.

His shows with ITV have earned him much popularity. Most prominent amongst these is the game show All Star Family Fortunes which he hosted for twelve seasons from 2006 to 2015. Other shows include Splash and Beat the Star.

He has also worked extensively for radio, first for BBC Radio 1 weekend show (later only Saturday Show) and then for Radio X weekday morning show.

Vernon Kay married Tess Daly in September 2003 and the couple have two daughters - Phoebe and Amber. Tess, herself, is a model, novelist and a television presenter best known for her work in the celebrity dance reality show Strictly Come Dancing.

In 2010, Vernon Kay was embroiled into sexting scandal with former glamour model Rhian Sugden. He made a public apology to his wife.

In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his services to the entertainment industry by the University of Bolton. He called the day the proudest day of his life.

He passionately backs his hometown’s football club Bolton Wanderers. In 2011, he joined the American football club London Warriors and played for them as cornerback until 2014. He is also a huge golf fan.