Chris Stark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chris Stark
Born
Watford, England
Alma materUniversity of Southampton
OccupationRadio presenter, DJ, Singer, author
EmployerBBC
Known forScott Mills (radio show)
Virtually Famous
That Peter Crouch Podcast
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)

Christopher Francis Stark is a British radio personality known for his work as a co-host on the Scott Mills show on BBC Radio 1.

Broadcasting career[]

Early career[]

Stark started working at Radio Northwick Park, a hospital radio station, at the age of 16 and gained experience working at stations including Galaxy, Real Radio, Virgin Radio and BBC 6 Music. Previous to this he attended Watford Grammar School.[citation needed] At 18, Stark started at the University of Southampton where he studied politics and zoology. While at Southampton, Stark was given his own show on the student radio station, Surge.[1]

Radio 1[]

Stark officially joined the Scott Mills show on 2 April 2012,[2] but occasionally appeared on the show as 'Scott's friend Chris' for a period of time prior to this. Stark participates in most of the show's current features including Real or No Real, Innuendo Bingo, 24 Years at the Tap End, Loving the Trolls.

24 Years at the Tap End[]

Stark is known for the feature 24 Years at the Tap End,[3] in which he reads excerpts from his "autobography" (a deliberately humorous colloquial mispronunciation of "autobiography").[4] He was originally inspired to write his own autobiography after reading the autobiography of Brendan Sheerin from Coach Trip. The title refers to his on-air realisation, at age 24, that he had been sitting at the "wrong" end of the bath his whole life. The first episode aired on 11 November 2011. In this episode, Stark revealed that his parents had originally planned to name him "Padraig".[3] Throughout the series, Stark recounts memorable events from his "years at the tap end" which often include mistakes made and life lessons learned through adventures with his friends. The second series of the show concluded in 2013, with no plans for a third. However, a one-off special aired in January 2014 as part of a comedy night on Radio One. This late night edition, Tap End: Unplugged, aired live In front of a studio audience and featured a live rendition of the theme tune. The late airing allowed Stark to reveal the full story of a holiday to Prague he had discussed in a previous episode, telling parts which were considered "too rude for daytime" and using strong language.[5] These were repeated during 2020.

Mila Kunis interview[]

In March 2013, Stark was sent with ten minutes' notice to a media junket for the film Oz the Great and Powerful to interview American actress Mila Kunis for the Scott Mills Show. The interview caught the attention of the world's media due to its unorthodox nature, as Stark barely mentioned the film and mostly discussed his local pub, local football club (Watford FC), Nando's and drinking games with his friends (inviting Kunis to all four). The video was posted to YouTube by BBC Radio 1 and subsequently went viral. Within days, it had been viewed by ten million people[6] and Stark himself was interviewed by American entertainment and news shows such as Access Hollywood[7] and CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien.[8]

Stark went on to interview Robert Downey Jr[9] and Jennifer Aniston[10] in similar fashion.

ICYMI[]

Since November 2014, Stark has hosted a BBC iPlayer only feature called ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) where he talks through highlights from the last week on Radio 1 and Radio 1 Xtra.[11]

Television[]

In November 2013, Channel 4 announced they had commissioned an hour long, one-off documentary special which would feature Stark attempting to interview his ultimate bucket list of celebrities, including Derek Acorah, Rachel Stevens, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Ricky Hatton and Verne Troyer.[12] This aired on 10 February 2014.

From 2014 until 2016, Stark was a team captain on the E4 show, Virtually Famous. In 2015, Stark appeared as a guest on the CBBC panel show The Dog Ate My Homework. In December 2016, he took part in an episode of Celebrity Mastermind and a celebrity edition of Robot Wars. In 2017, Stark appeared a guest on the CBBC Saturday morning show Saturday Mash-Up!

"That Peter Crouch Podcast"[]

In 2018, along with Peter Crouch and Tom Fordyce, Stark became a co-host of the That Peter Crouch Podcast.

Personal life[]

Stark is a supporter of local team Watford F.C.[13]

Stark is married, and in July 2020 his wife Ria gave birth to their son.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ "Chris Stark". Coalition Talent Agency UK. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  2. ^ Scott Mills (28 March 2012). "Chris Stark to join the Scott Mills show full time!". Unofficial Mills. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Scott Mills – 24 Years at the Tap End – Season 2". BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Scott Mills, Thursday – Chris's Auto"bog"raphy continues". BBC Radio 1. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  5. ^ "24 Years At The Tap End - Uncut (Contains Adult Themes)". YouTube. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Mila Kunis talks to Chris Stark off the Scott Mills show on Radio 1". YouTube. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Chris Stark Discusses His Awkward Mila Kunis Interview". Access Hollywood. 7 March 2013. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  8. ^ "CNN Breaking News Videos". CNN. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Robert Downey Jr talks to Chris Stark of the Scott Mills show on Radio 1". YouTube. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  10. ^ "Jennifer Aniston talks to Chris Stark off the Scott Mills show on Radio 1". YouTube. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Radio 1 announces original content for iPlayer launch". Newsbeat. BBC Radio 1. 10 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Channel 4 commission Chris Stark celebrity documentary from Mentorn". Channel 4. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  13. ^ "Premier League predictions: Do these Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJs know their football?". BBC Sport. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Radio 1 presenter and Watford FC fan Chris Stark welcomes baby boy". Watford Observer. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""