February 27, 2012 6:33 pm 1 Comment

In my hands right now I have an embargoed Channel 4 press release detailing the presenter line up for its coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. A mixture of brand new talent, familiar faces and sturdy pairs of hands – you too will be able to pore over every inch of this meticulously constructed [...]

April 12, 2011 4:46 pm 1 Comment

There aren’t many walks of life in which staring in to a mirror for hours at a time repeating out loud the same 300 word monologue wouldn’t be considered a bit odd, but Boot Camp II was one of them. Yes, once again Channel 4 had whisked a dozen presenter hopefuls off to a suspiciously [...]

December 21, 2010 2:49 pm 10 Comments

Ho! Ho! Ho! When you’re tucking in to your turkey this Christmas, spare a thought for those poor Paralympians feasting on a banquet of lettuce and rice crackers as part of their ongoing quest for athletic perfection. And if that image doesn’t get you in the mood for a bit of self-flagellation then it means [...]

November 30, 2010 10:04 am No Comments

The road to Boot Camp is a perilous path on which fools rush and angels fear to tread. Dreams have been realised and tears have been shed. But enough with the rhyming – lets talk web video content. Channel 4 were overwhelmed by a deluge of quality Half Million Quid Talent Search applications from wannabe [...]

November 1, 2010 5:30 pm 11 Comments

So even though my attempt at presenting the Paralympic Games live turned out to be a complete disaster, I’m not giving up on Channel 4’s Half Million Quid Talent Search. When Channel 4 said the standards they apply to finding the next Davina, Krishnan or Gordon were the very same standards they’re using to find [...]

October 27, 2010 3:52 pm 1 Comment

Sadly, forcible head shaving, dawnlight marching and cleaning the toilet bowl with your toothbrush fall foul of the draconian health and safety laws strangling the length and breadth of 21st Century Britain – which is why Channel 4 has had to work extra hard at perfecting their Paralympics Presenter Boot Camp training schedule to ensure they [...]

October 12, 2010 4:12 pm No Comments

How hard can it possibly be to present live TV? Getting it wrong in this digital age will do nothing for your presenting career prospects – but it could result in a humiliating viral video, as I had the pleasure of finding out in this very special C4Paralympics video blog behind the scenes at the Half [...]

October 6, 2010 1:19 pm No Comments

Huzzah! The Half Million Quid Talent Search application form has finally launched. About bloody time too. It’s tough stuff this scouting for talent lark, yknow? Second guessing ‘The Next Big Thing In TV’ is a bit like playing the stock market without the benefit of tangible financial statistics to back up your proposed investment. We [...]

September 15, 2010 1:44 pm 8 Comments

Any idiot can read from an autocue – that’s obvious – but do you have the gravitas to keep an audience of millions on the edge of their seats? If you were stood trackside, poolside, pitchside, shoreside or courtside – would you have what it takes to squeeze an unforgettable nugget of wisdom from an [...]