From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell (born April 10, 1961) is a radio and television presenter.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Background 3 References 4 External links

Campbell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to birth parents from Dublin. He was adopted as a four-day old baby, and attended Edinburgh Academy.

After graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in history, he toyed with ideas of becoming an actor and got involved in commercial production for radio in order to gain his Equity card. He worked at Northsound Radio in Aberdeen from 1981 to 1986, first as a jingle writer, before going on to host the breakfast show.

He worked at London station Capital Radio from 1986 to 1987 and joined BBC Radio 1 in 1987, presenting a Saturday night show from 10pm-Midnight. In early 1988, he took over the weekend early morning show from 6-8am from Simon Mayo and in October 1988 he presented the Monday - Thursday late-evening music and interview show which he named Into The Night, which went out from 10pm - Midnight. Guests included political figures, with Campbell interviewing John Major in 1991 after Conservative Party chairman Chris Patten recommended the show to the Prime Minister when Radio 1 sent an invitation to No.10. He was also regularly joined by Frankie Howerd in the last years of the comedian's life. In August 1993, he also took over a Sunday morning show from 10am-1pm, following the on-air resignation of Dave Lee Travis.

Campbell left the network briefly in October 1993 to care for his sick wife. In early 1994, Campbell took over the weekday Drivetime show from 4-7pm, and in 1995 he took over the afternoon show from 2-4pm. Campbell attracted a large audience, and when Radio 2 wanted a replacement for Jimmy Young, he claimed that he was the BBC's choice and revealed a series of meetings between himself and the controller of Radio 2. However, it later transpired that Campbell had initiated the meetings himself, and his public revelations prompted the wrath of Greg Dyke^[1]

Campbell presented the British version (produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network) of Wheel of Fortune from 1988 to 1996, and presented Top of the Pops quite frequently from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1997. In the 1990s Campbell fronted the regional discussion series Central Weekend on Central Television in the English Midlands.

In 1996 he hosted the semi-final of The Great British Song Contest, the BBC's qualifying heat for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Campbell left BBC Radio 1 in October 1997 and joined BBC Radio 5 Live, the news and sport network.

He presented the mid-morning programme on 5 Live before moving to his current breakfast slot, which he currently co-presents with Shelagh Fogarty. He also presents BBC consumer show Watchdog and a newer, interactive programme called Now You're Talking. Campbell has won four Sony Awards, including a Gold Award in 2002 for the 5 Live Breakfast programme's coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2006, Nicky starred in the celebrity duet singing show Just the Two of Us, with Beverley Knight. He is currently filming a new game show, For The Rest Of Your Life, for Endemol, which is due to air on ITV1 in a teatime slot this summer.

Campbell met his first wife Linda Larnack, who was eight years older than him, in Scotland^[2]. He later nursed her through a cancer scare and myalgic encephalomyelitis, and took time out from his career. He then endured tabloid intrusion when she left him and began giving interviews in which she criticised him in strong terms ^[3].

He is married to his second wife, journalist Tina Ritchie who is former head of Virgin Radio News, and the couple have four daughters. When their first daughter was born, Campbell decided to trace his Irish birth parents - and in doing so found his great grandfather was in the IRA at the time of Michael Collins. In 2004, he wrote Blue-Eyed Son, his account of tracing both his birth parents and his extended family in Ireland ^[4].

1. ^ http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=135172002
2. ^ http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=135172002
3. ^ http://www.amfm.org.uk/amfmnews/amfm16.html
4. ^ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1163672,00.html

• Biography
• BBC's interview with Campbell

Academic Offices
Preceded by Nicholas Parsons	Rector of the University of St Andrews 1991 - 1993	Succeeded by Donald Findlay QC

Preceded by None

Host of Wheel of Fortune 1988-96

Succeeded by Bradley Walsh