Fearne Cotton | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 3, 1981 |
| Occupation(s) | Radio and Television Presenter, DJ. |
| Known for | Presenting of reality, fund raising and music related TV shows, Co-presenting Radio 1 weekend breakfast show with Reggie Yates |
| Website | Radio 1 homepage |
Fearne Cotton (born 3 September, 1981) is an English television presenter and DJ. Born in Northwood, London, she grew up in the north-west London suburb of Eastcote. She was raised by Lyn and Mick Cotton, and has a younger brother called Jamie. Her grandfather's cousin is former BBC executive Sir Bill Cotton, although she states she has not seen him since the age of five and cites her rise to broadcasting fame as down to her own hard work and discipline.
Self-described as a "mouthy little girl", Cotton began taking ballet classes from the age of five and attended weekend drama school at ten. After being discovered in a nationwide talent search, she began her presenting career in 1998, at the age of 16, with early morning GMTV children's show The Disney Club and later Diggit. She soon found herself fronting several children's programmes for CITV, including Draw Your Own Toons and Mouse, a show aimed at encouraging children to use computers. In 2002 she presented Finger Tips, an arts and crafts programme for children, with co-presenter Stephen Mulhern.
Cotton soon branched out from ITV, and her association with CBBC began when she presented children's science programme, Eureka TV, later winning a role as co-presenter on CBBC's Sunday Morning show, Smile. Before long, she was given the task of re-vitalising the ailing The Saturday Show for the BBC. Her former Finger Tips co-presenter, Stephen Mulhern was soon to present rival CITV Saturday morning show Ministry of Mayhem alongside her best friend Holly Willoughby.
In 2003 Cotton started presenting Top of the Pops:Saturday (later called Top of the Pops: Reloaded) with her The Saturday Show co-presenter, Simon Grant. The same year she took part in Comic Relief Does Fame Academy.
From 2004 to 2006 Cotton was the main presenter of Top Of The Pops, which she co-presented with a different guest presenter each week. She was one of the final ever regular presenters for that show. The programme ended in July 2006 as a result of poor viewing figures, but Cotton was unavailable for the final episode because of her filming for ITV1's Love Island in Fiji. However, a quick introduction she recorded on location was shown at the start of the show. She also narrates the popular CBBC Serious… documentary strand, as well as continuing to present various other children's programmes for the BBC, including "Only In America". In May 2005 she continued her association with Comic Relief when she hosted part of the Red Nose Day telethon.
In July 2005 she made her career highlight to date, presenting Live8 in Hyde Park, London, where she found herself being chatted up by Robbie Williams. During an interview with the British popstar, he asked on camera "Why don't you come live with me and my dogs in LA?" Following the event, she commented that she would prefer to remain friends. In November 2005 she hosted the BBC's annual telethon, Children In Need with Sir Terry Wogan and Natasha Kaplinsky, a role she reprised for the 2006 event.
In September 2005 she joined Radio 1, to present the Friday early morning slot with Reggie Yates who she had previously worked with on CBBC as a presenter, and co-star of Only In America and Top Of The Pops. She occasionally stands in for other Radio 1 presenters, such as Sara Cox. It was announced on the 30th July 2006 that Fearne will be co-hosting the weekend breakfast show along with Reggie from September 2006 replacing Spoony who will be leaving the station after six years.
On 20 May 2006 Fearne read the United Kingdom votes for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Athens, Greece.
Cotton also presented the second series of Love Island with Patrick Kielty on ITV1, taking over from Kelly Brook. Liza Tarbuck and Denise van Outen were previously offered the role but pulled out due to other projects.
On 29 October 2006, Fearne appeared with her family and much talked about brother Jamie on Family Fortunes in a star special. She also presents the Friday night live eviction for Five reality TV show Make Me A Supermodel, replacing former TV presenter and model Rachel Hunter.
In her spare time Fearne is a keen artist and hopes to hold an exhibition of her work in late 2007.
Fearne dated Lostprophets' front man Ian Watkins for a period in 2004-2005. Watkins wrote two songs about the couple's separation on the group's third album Liberation Transmission.
Another of her ex-boyfriends, Peter Brame who was a Fame Academy singer, sold explicit details of their lovelife to a tabloid Sunday newspaper, describing how his cocaine addiction destroyed their relationship. She maintains that "He had to do it for his own reasons and I don't resent him for that."