Daniel Meirion Walker (born 19 March 1977) is a British journalist, newsreader and television presenter from Crawley, England. He currently presents 5 News on Channel 5 and the weekday breakfast show on Classic FM.
Daniel Meirion Walker was born on 19 March 1977 in Crawley, to an English father and Welsh mother.[2][3] He lived in Crawley with his parents, two sisters and a brother,[4] where he attended Ifield Primary School, Three Bridges Middle School, and Hazelwick Secondary School.[5]
To further his education, he moved to Sheffield to study, earning a BA (Hons) degree in History 1998, plus MA degree in Journalism Studies in 1999, at the University of Sheffield.[6] He was later awarded an Honorary LittD in 2019.[6]
Career
Radio
In 1998, Walker's professional broadcasting career started with work experience at Sheffield's Hallam FM.[7] In 1999, Walker moved to a full-time career with a four-year stint as a sports presenter and commentator for Manchester's Key 103.[8]
In 2015, in addition to his TV presenting work, Walker presented Afternoon Edition every Monday–Thursday on BBC Radio 5 Live until 2016.[9]
On 24 June 2023, Dan stood in for Aled Jones on Classic FM in his Saturday morning show from 10:00 to 13:00.
From 8 January 2024, Dan became the regular presenter of the weekday breakfast show on Classic FM.[10]
In August 2009, Walker took over from Manish Bhasin as the presenter of the BBC's Football Focus,[12] a slot he held for 12 years, before eventually being succeeded by Alex Scott in 2021.[12]
Walker was part of the BBC Sport team covering the 2010 FIFA World Cup from the England team base.[13]
On 26 November 2011, Gary Speed appeared as a guest on Football Focus with Walker. The two men spent a total of about four hours with each other on the day. Walker said of Speed: "I always found him to be kind, funny, intelligent and insightful. I found him to be a top bloke and really enjoyed his company." The following morning on Sunday 27 November 2011, Walker received the news[14] that Speed had died by suicide [15] at his house in Cheshire. Walker said that he was "stunned" by Speed's death[14] and that he was "incredibly saddened".[16] He had known Speed for quite a long time and had played football with him in a charity match two months earlier.[16] In March 2012, Walker said that he was "staggered by the depth of feeling and shock" on the Sunday when Speed's death was announced.[17]
In 2016, Walker replaced Bill Turnbull as presenter of BBC Breakfast. His first show aired on 29 February and he presented the programme from Monday to Wednesday with Louise Minchin until mid-2021, and with Sally Nugent from late 2021 onwards. Walker presented the 'Clash of the Titans' segment of the Sport Relief telethon. He also reported for the 2016 Olympics.[18]
In January 2019, Walker had a chance meeting with Tony Foulds, in Endcliffe Park, Sheffield, where Foulds was voluntarily maintaining the "Mi Amigo" memorial. Foulds, then aged eight, was in Endcliffe Park when a USAAFBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crashed in the park in February 1944; the crash killed all ten men on board.[19]
After the meeting, Walker started a campaign on social media to organise a flypast at the park.[19] The campaign was successful, and the flypast took place on 22 February 2019, the 75th anniversary of the crash. The event was broadcast nationally and thousands of people, including the families of the airmen involved in the crash, attended the flypast.[19]
In November 2020, Walker was confirmed as the new host of The NFL Show following previous host Mark Chapman's decision to step down.[20]
Walker left Football Focus after 12 years on 22 May 2021;[21] he continued as a presenter on BBC Breakfast and BBC Sport.[1]
On 10 August 2021, it was announced he would be competing in the nineteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.[22] He was paired with the Ukrainian-Slovenian professional Nadiya Bychkova. They were eliminated in week 11, coming 5th.[23]
In September 2021, Walker was one of many offering tributes to his co-presenter Louise Minchin who left BBC Breakfast after 20 years of working on the programme.[24]
In December 2022, Walker took part in and won, an episode of the quiz show The Weakest Link, with all contestants having previously been involved in Strictly Come Dancing.[27]
He is a practising Christian[36][37] who has maintained his position not to work on Sunday throughout his career, although he comments on twitter on Sundays.[38]
In February 2023, Walker was taken to hospital after being in a collision with a car while cycling in Sheffield.[39] He later said that wearing a helmet saved his life.[40]
Standing on the Shoulders: Incredible Heroes and How They Inspire Us (Headline, 2022) ISBN978-1472291271
Related Research Articles
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hip hop and indie, while its sister station 1Xtra plays black contemporary music, including hip hop and R&B. Radio 1 also runs two online streams, Radio 1 Dance, dedicated to dance music, and Radio 1 Anthems, dedicated to throwback music; both are available to listen only on BBC Sounds.
Suzi Perry is a British television presenter covering Grand Prix motorcycle racing for BT Sport. She is known for covering Grand Prix motorcycle racing for the BBC for 13 years, The Gadget Show on Channel 5 for eight years and the BBC's Formula One coverage from 2013 to 2015.
William Robert Jolyon Turnbull was a British television and radio presenter and journalist whose broadcasting career spanned over 4 decades. He began his career working for some radio stations including Radio Clyde and BBC Radio 4's Today. He presented BBC News 24 and BBC Radio 5 Live before taking on his most notable role as one of the main presenters of BBC Breakfast, a position he held for 15 years between 2001 and 2016. Later in his career, he presented the religious series Songs of Praise and game show Think Tank, as well as being a presenter on the radio station Classic FM.
BBC Breakfast is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel every morning from 6:00am. The simulcast is presented live, originally from the BBC Television Centre, London before moving in 2012 to MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester. The programme is broadcast daily and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items. When BBC Breakfast is not broadcast on BBC One, it is transmitted via BBC Two.
Jonathan B. Sopel is a British journalist, television presenter and podcaster. He was formerly BBC News's North America editor; chief political correspondent for the domestic news channel BBC News; a presenter on the Politics Show on BBC One and the BBC News channel; and from 2013 to 2014, the main presenter of Global on BBC World News. Since 2022, he has been presenting the Global daily news podcast The News Agents.
Louise Mary Minchin is a British television presenter, journalist and former news presenter who currently works freelance within the BBC.
Christopher Jonathan Hollins is an English journalist, presenter and TV personality. Hollins is best known for being the sports correspondent for BBC Breakfast until 2012 and for winning Strictly Come Dancing 2009.
Matt Smith is a British broadcaster who worked with ITV Sport between 2001 and 2015. He currently presents TNT Sports' coverage of Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Conference Football and England Under 21 matches.
Sally Nugent is an English journalist, newsreader and television presenter. Since October 2021, she has presented BBC Breakfast along with Dan Walker, Naga Munchetty, Charlie Stayt and Jon Kay.
Mike Bushell is an English sports presenter for the BBC. He presents sport on BBC Breakfast. Bushell has participated in many different sports on his Saturday morning slot on BBC One and on the BBC News Channel.
Melvin Kuuku Odoom is a British radio DJ and television presenter. Alongside Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges, he presented the Kiss FM breakfast show (2009–2018) and since then, on BBC Radio 1 (2019–present). In television, he has been involved in presenting Dick & Dom in da Bungalow (2002–2009), Basil's Swap Shop (2008), the BRIT Awards 2010 and Must Be the Music (2010), The Xtra Factor (2015), Bang on the Money (2016), and MOBO Awards 2016, as well as being a regular guest celebrity on many television shows. He was also a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2024.
This is a list of events in British radio during 2006.
This is a list of events in British radio during 1998.
Darryl Morris is an English radio broadcaster. He currently hosts the weekend late show on national speech radio station Times Radio.
Mark Charles Edward Wright is an English television personality, entertainment reporter, and former professional footballer who last played for EFL League One side Crawley Town. He is best known for appearing as a cast member on the first three series of The Only Way Is Essex. Wright gained more popularity after appearing on the eleventh series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! where he finished as runner-up, and the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he finished in fourth place.
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.
This is a list of events in British radio during 2016.
Karthi Gnanasegaram is a British television and radio presenter working for the BBC, Amazon Prime Video, Classic FM, the Royal Opera House and Premier League Productions.
Victoria Nwayawu Nwosu-Hope is a British television and radio presenter, journalist and published author.
The Mi Amigo memorial is a war memorial at Endcliffe Park, Sheffield, England, marking the World War II crash site of the USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress Mi Amigo.
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.
