Chris Evans, English radio and television host
Christopher James Evans (born 1 April 1966) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, businessman, voice actor and producer for radio and television. He started his broadcasting career working for Piccadilly Radio, Manchester, as a teenager, before moving to London as a presenter for the BBC's BBC Radio London and then Channel 4 television, where The Big Breakfast made him a star. Soon he was able to dictate highly favourable terms, allowing him to broadcast on competing radio and TV stations. Slots like Radio 1 Breakfast and TFI Friday provided a mix of celebrity interviews, music and comic games, delivered in an irreverent style that attracted high ratings, though often also generated significant numbers of complaints. By 2000 he was the UK's highest paid entertainer, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. In the tax year to April 2017, he was the BBC's highest-paid presenter, earning between £2.2m and £2.25m annually.
In 2005, he started a new career on BBC Radio 2, hosting his long-running Drivetime programme in April 2006, before moving in 2010 to host The Chris Evans Breakfast Show every weekday morning. He previously presented The One Show on Fridays between 2010 and 2015. Between 2011 and 2018, he co-hosted Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.
In 2015, Evans signed a three-year deal to lead a new Top Gear line-up and presented a revival series of TFI Friday. On 4 July 2016, he announced that he would be stepping down as presenter of Top Gear.On 3 September 2018, he announced that he would be leaving The Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Christmas Eve, and would be going to Virgin Radio UK to present its breakfast show. He moved from BBC Radio 2 with most of his regular team.
1966Apr, 1
Chris Evans (presenter)
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Events on 1966
- 10Mar
Buddhist Uprising
Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation. - 6Jul
Hastings Banda
Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President. - 10Jul
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend. - 14Oct
Montreal Metro
The city of Montreal begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid transit system. - 8Nov
Reconstruction Era
Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.