Countdown’s unlikely new host! How ex Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray who once left the BBC in shame after joke about ‘turning’ Clare Balding went from raucous interviews with rock stars to fronting the boffins’ favourite daytime show
- Colin Murray, 45, has been confirmed as the new permanent host of Countdown after taking over the teatime quiz as temporary presenter in July
- The Belfast-born presenter’s career has seen him make the unlikely transition from Radio 1 DJ interviewing Brit pop stars to Match of the Day 2 to Countdown
- Star left BBC in 2013 after a homophobic joke against Clare Balding and refused to work for TalkSport when Newscorp bought it, in protest against The Sun
- He was kicked out of school as a teenager for being ‘disruptive’ – but has proved a big hit so far with Countdown co-hosts Susie Dent and Rachel Riley
Colin Murray has been named as the latest presenter to sit in the host’s chair on teatime favourite quiz Countdown – following in the footsteps of Anne Robinson, who recently left after just a year, Nick Hewer and, show favourite, the late Richard Whiteley.
There’s no doubting Murray’s firm intellect, and the star clearly already has the support of co-hosts Rachel Riley and Susie Dent after his successful temporary stint as quiz master – he told The Times this week he’s in Dent’s ‘inner circle’ – but he’s possibly the show’s unlikeliest presenter so far.
The Northern Irish broadcaster, 45, made his name interviewing Britpop rock stars, alongside Radio 1 co-host Edith Bowman in the noughties, before focusing on sport, hosting Match of the Day 2 and his own TalkSport show.
Clearly game for a laugh, the star once joined charity runners in his native Northern Ireland stripped bare except for a lime green mankini, and in 2006, he was photographed hurling his underwear into the crowd while on stage in a kilt at Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
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Transition to tea-time: Northern Irish broadcaster Colin Murray has been confirmed as the new permanent host of Countdown after taking over from Anne Robinson as temporary host in July
The former Radio 1 star called the quiz programmed his ‘fav show ever’…but for die-hard fans, the new quizmaster might be a surprising choice
Confirmation! The Match Of The Day 2 presenter, 45, shared the news on his Twitter page on Tuesday following mounting speculation that he would take on the role
Announcing his latest presenting role, the new quiz master used a footballing analogy, writing: ‘Earn respect of dressing room (Susie Dent and Rachel Riley), get some points on the board, try to win a trophy! 75 games to get it right!
‘Absolute honour. Fave show ever. July 14 to start of Nov. #Countdown.’
Murray confirmed he was already recording episodes of the much-loved show as he shared a clip of his new dressing room to the tune of Endor’s Pump It Up.
His career hasn’t been without high-profile controversy though; he left the BBC following a homophobic joke against Clare Balding – and walked away from a lucrative job at TalkSport in protest at the radio station being bought by Newscorp, which owns The Sun; Murray is a passionate Liverpool fan.
Murray was once more at home at Britain’s music festivals – pictured here with Spongebob Squarepants at the V festival in 2004
Murray hurled his underwear into the crowd during the Radio 1 Big Weekend in Dundee, Scotland in 2006. Right: The broadcaster in pink wellies at Glastonbury in 2005
The star, kicked out of high school for disruptive behaviour, saw his journalism career soar after he was picked to co-host a Radio 1 show with Edith Bowman, pictured left
He went to the Regent House Grammar School and Dundonald High School before moving into journalism. Pictured: Murray at V Fest, 2011
Murray grew up on the Ballybeen Housing Estate, in Dundonald on the outskirts of east Belfast. He attended Dundonald High School but was asked to leave the latter after infuriating teachers with questions and ill-timed jokes.
His career in journalism began when he started as a trainee reporter at the Ulster News Letter before joining BBC Radio 1’s Session In Northern Ireland. He only got the job after going to a five-minute casting for what he thought was a spot on BBC Radio Ulster.
Once in the BBC fold, the work came thick and fast, with a Radio 1 show co-hosting with Edith Bowman in the early noughties seeing the star interviewing rock stars including Dave Grohl and Noel Gallagher.
Rock stars to conundrums: Noel Gallagher is interviewed by Colin Murray at the Q Awards 2006 at Grosvenor House Hotel on October 30, 2006 in London
Murray (pictured match reporting in 2010) grew up on the Ballybeen Housing Estate in Dundonald, on the outskirts of east Belfast, and broke into journalism after being asked to leave his secondary school
A year later he also became an anchor on TV for Channel 5’s live coverage of the European UEFA Cup and in 2010 Murray started presenting Match of the Day 2 on the BBC and covered the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
His career was on the up and up as he co-hosted Glastonbury on both BBC Three and Radio 1 and even presented Top Of The Pops.
However, his BBC prospects faltered in 2013 when he read out a homophobic joke during the show Fighting Talk about fellow BBC star Clare Balding.
He read from a card the words: ‘Give me 20 minutes with her and I’m pretty sure I could turn around Clare Balding.’ and told The Times this week that he instantly regretted it.
Murray said: ‘As soon as it left my mouth, I’m, like, ‘F***’. It was a bad moment for sure, but I was handed a bit of paper and I read it out. That’s it. That’s all I did.’
A month later, he was moved on from Match of the Day 2 and resigned from BBC Radio 5 Live before he joined rival TalkSport.
He was successful there but the Liverpool fan left and returned to BBC Radio 5’s Fighting Talk in 2016 after The Sun proprietor Rupert Murdoch bought TalkSport – a personal protest against the newspaper’s coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.
Murray joins Susie Dent and Rachel Riley on Countdown after just a year of former The Weakest Link presenter Anne Robinson presenting the show – the new host says he’s already in the ‘inner circle’ of Susie Dent
Exit: Murray’s role comes after Anne Robinson revealed she quit Countdown over a pay dispute and said she did insist on ‘noisy’ Susie Dent and Rachel Riley’s mics being switched off ahead of filming
Countdown’s previous presenters were the late Richard Whiteley (1982 to 2005), Des Lynam (2005 to 2006), the late Des O’Connor (2007 to 2008), Jeff Stelling (2009 to 2011), Nick Hewer (2012 to 2021) and Anne Robinson (2021 to 2022).
It was revealed that Anne was leaving the show after just one year by The Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff, and Anne has since said she quit over a pay dispute.
It has been claimed the cast of Countdown are ‘relieved’ Anne left after reports of an on-set feud with Rachel Riley – who Anne reportedly found ‘too noisy’ – and Susie Dent.
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