Christopher Parker

Last updated

Christopher Parker
Born (1983-08-24) 24 August 1983 (age 40)
Lewisham, London, England
Occupation(s)Actor and television presenter
Television EastEnders (2002–2005)
Strictly Come Dancing (2004)

Christopher Parker (born 24 August 1983) is a retired English actor and television presenter, best known for portraying Spencer Moon on BBC One soap opera EastEnders between 2002 and 2005.

Contents

Early career

Christopher Parker's career began at an early age as a model appearing in print campaigns and TV commercials. He progressed onto small roles in TV dramas such as The Bill , London's Burning (appearing in the last ever episode) and Judge John Deed . Parker worked as a stunt double in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . He then came to wider attention in the role of Spencer Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , where he played the younger brother of Alfie Moon, portrayed by British actor Shane Richie. [1]

During his time on EastEnders, he appeared in the first series of Strictly Come Dancing and made it through to the final alongside his partner Hanna Karttunen.

Recent broadcasting

In 2005/06 he worked as a presenter on CD:UK, MTV News, CBBC with Fearne Cotton, Disney radio and as an entertainment presenter on the morning television show This Morning .

Parker hosted an hour long special called "Bond is Back" for American television about the latest James Bond film, Casino Royale.

He has appeared on CBBC on Hider in the House presented by Jason King and Joel and taken part in ITV2's reality television programme Deadline with chief editor Janet Street Porter. He was the first celebrity to be sacked by Street-Porter, for refusing to take pictures of famous people without first asking their permission.

He presented Dead Famous Live opposite Gail Porter and was, for a period, the face of the digital music channel Bubble Hits.

Parker appeared in the second series of the BBC's Hotel Babylon opposite Danny Dyer. In 2006 he worked alongside Christian Slater, Nick Moran and Eddie Izzard in a live performance of the Hollywood film The Rogues.

Parker splits his time between Los Angeles and London. In Los Angeles he worked for Fox owned channel TV Guide Channel and also Reelz Channel (a film themed channel).

In 2008, he took part in the Strictly Come Dancing Live Arena Tour and he has acted in Tim Smith's short film Schoolboy and also the feature film Education of Keiron which stars James Wilby. He is also presenting holiday segments for ITV1's This Morning and has a column in Teen Now magazine.

Chris Parker hosted a weekly show on Gala Bingo's TV channel, commencing June 2009. [2]

Christopher took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout which aired on 2 January 2010.

Law career

Parker later studied for a law degree at Birkbeck, University of London. [3] He was a final year law student in April 2013. [4] He has expressed a desire to take his law aspirations further after completing his degree, but has encountered problems with many law firms requiring A-level results which, due to his acting experiences when younger, he lacks. [5] As of October 2022, he is a senior consultant at London-based law firm Ignition Law. [6]

Personal life

Parker has completed two London Marathons, one for the charity Barnardo's and the second for the Make Poverty History Campaign and visited Africa with Comic Relief alongside Fearne Cotton. He is also a celebrity supporter for the British Red Cross. [7]

In 2004, he attempted suicide by cutting his wrists and taking an overdose of paracetamol tablets after a woman claimed he lied about their relationship to hide his sexuality. After two friends found him, he was left with no lasting damage, and said the attempt was stupid but that he had reached the stage of desperation. [8] After three weeks of extended leave from EastEnders, he and production staff reached a mutual decision that he would not return to the series. [9]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Ball</span> British television and radio personality

Zoe Louise Ball is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show Live & Kicking, alongside Jamie Theakston from 1996–1999.

Alison Hammond is a British television personality and actress. She competed in the third series of the reality show Big Brother in 2002, in which she was the second housemate to be evicted. She has since become a presenter and reporter on ITV's This Morning (2002–present) and a co-presenter on the Channel 4 reality baking competition The Great British Bake Off (2023–present). In January 2024, it was announced that Hammond would take over For the Love of Dogs from Paul O'Grady, following his death in March 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tess Daly</span> English television presenter (born 1969)

Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly is an English television presenter. After beginning her career as a model, she ventured into television presenting and has co-presented the BBC One celebrity dancing show Strictly Come Dancing since 2004.

Joseph Adam Swash is an English actor and television presenter, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2008 and the twelfth series of Dancing on Ice in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggie Yates</span> British actor and media personality (born 1983)

Reginald Yates is a British television presenter, actor, writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in Doctor Who and has worked at the BBC in radio and television–presenting various shows for BBC Radio 1 for a decade as well as hosting the BBC One singing show The Voice UK, hosting the first two series with Holly Willoughby.

Christopher Pizzey is a British actor and comedian from London, best known for playing Mr. Stephen in the CBBC series The Basil Brush Show.

Jason King and Joel Ross, known professionally as JK and Joel, were a radio presenting duo, best known for hosting the official UK chart on BBC Radio 1 between 2005 and 2007 and presented the CBBC shows Hider in the House and Remote Control Star. In August 2012, JK & Joel confirmed they had split.

Pui Fan Lee is an English actress and television presenter. She is known for portraying Po in the original run of the children's television series Teletubbies between 1997 and 2001, and for presenting the CBeebies preschool education series Show Me Show Me.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Willoughby</span> English television presenter, model and author (born 1981)

Holly Marie Willoughby is an British television presenter, author and model. She has presented various television shows for ITV, including This Morning (2009–2023) and Dancing on Ice.

Devon Carlo Anderson is an English actor. Anderson's roles include Billie Jackson in EastEnders and Sonny Valentine in Hollyoaks.

Martin Christopher Jarvis is an English actor, presenter and writer who has appeared mainly on children's television for the BBC since 1992, apart from 2000 to 2002 when he was working with ITV and Channel 4. In 2019, he started a radio station for children called Little Radio.

Sheree Victoria Murphy is an English actress and television presenter, best known for her roles as Dawn in Only Fools and Horses, Tricia Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, Eva Strong in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and Dakota Davies in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Underwood</span> British television presenter (born 1975)

Michael Paul Underwood is an English television presenter, best known as a children's TV presenter on CBBC and CITV. He can be seen as a fifteen-year-old in an episode of The Crystal Maze, then presented by Richard O'Brien. He presented the primetime ITV series Let Me Entertain You in 2014 and was a reporter for Real Stories with Ranvir Singh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufus Hound</span> British actor, comedian and presenter

Rufus Hound is an English actor, comedian and presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fearne Cotton</span> English television and radio presenter

Fearne Wood is an English broadcaster and author. She began her career in the late 1990s as a children’s television presenter for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. She went on to present various television shows, including Top of the Pops (2004–2020), Love Island (2006), The Xtra Factor (2007), and Interior Design Masters (2019), as well as the Children in Need (2005–2017) and Red Nose Day telethons. From 2008 to 2018, Cotton was a team captain on the ITV2 comedy panel show Celebrity Juice.

Christopher David Johnson is a British television presenter and actor. He began presenting on the CBBC Channel in January 2010, and continued until April 2016. His first television appearance was for BBC Three, introducing Family Guy. Chris also makes content on YouTube under the user name OfficialCDJ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ore Oduba</span> British television and radio presenter

Ore Oduba is a British television and radio presenter who has also worked as an actor. From 2008 until 2013, he presented the CBBC news programme Newsround. In 2018 he hosted the game show And They're Off! in aid of Sport Relief. In 2019 he began his musical theatre career, starring in the UK tour of Grease. He also appeared alongside Jason Manford in Curtains the Musical. Oduba made his West End debut in January 2020. However, he is best known for winning the fourteenth series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.

Christopher Francis Jesus Stark is a British radio personality known for his work most recently as a co-host on the Scott Mills show on BBC Radio 1 until he departed in 2022. He currently works on Capital Breakfast as co-presenter.

Karim Zeroual is a British television presenter and actor.

References

  1. ↑ "Chris Parker to leave EastEnders" (Press release). BBC. 30 November 2004. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  2. ↑ "TV star joins Gala Bingo". WhichBingo.co.uk. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  3. ↑ "The lawyers who became celebrities – and the celebrities who became lawyers". 7 November 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Christopher Parker (tweetparkerpark) on Twitter" . Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Ex-Eastenders and Strictly Star Chris Parker on his Frustration with Law Firms' A-level Obsession". Legal Cheek. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Christopher Parker; Senior Consultant". Ignition Law. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Chris Parker". Red Cross. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Soap star talks about suicide bid". BBC News. 19 January 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  9. ↑ Wilkes, Neil (30 November 2004). "Chris Parker to leave 'EastEnders'". Digital Spy . Retrieved 4 April 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.