Marcus Bentley

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Marcus Bentley
Born (1967-10-04) 4 October 1967 (age 56)
Gateshead, England [1]
Nationality British
Alma mater East 15 Acting School
Occupation(s)Actor, voice-over artist, media personality, broadcaster, continuity announcer
Years active1990s–present
Employer(s) Channel 4
Channel 5
ITV2
Television Big Brother
SpouseJools Bentley (1997–present)
Children3

Marcus Bentley (born 4 October 1967) is a British actor, broadcaster and voice-over artist. Bentley is most known for narrating the UK version of the Dutch reality television programme Big Brother since its inception in 2000. He also did other continuity announcements for Channel 4 until he left in July 2011 to continue narrating the revived Big Brother on Channel 5. Bentley's voice-over work and distinctive Geordie accent has led to him becoming one of Britain's most recognised voices.

Contents

Bentley has also appeared on stage and in London's Burning . Although he rarely makes public appearances, his public profile has been raised since Big Brother's revival on Channel 5.

Early life

Bentley was born in Gateshead, and brought up in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. [1] He attended East 15 Acting School.[ citation needed ]

Big Brother

Bentley was selected as the narrator of the Channel 4 (2000–2010),Channel 5 (2011–2018) and ITV2 (2023–) reality television programme Big Brother , which originated in the Netherlands, and this remains his best-known work. The producers of Big Brother gave him the job of narrator because they liked the way he said "Chickens". [1] His most notable catchphrase is "Day [x] (in the Big Brother house...)". Bentley has narrated all twenty series of the show to date, as well as the spin-off shows Celebrity Big Brother , Teen Big Brother , Celebrity Hijack and Ultimate Big Brother .

Other work

Before Big Brother, Bentley starred in several TV adaptations of Catherine Cookson's novels where he honed his now familiar Tyne and Wear accent. He also starred in several TV commercials as well as minor parts in feature films, such as Mad Dogs and Englishmen , which starred Joss Ackland, C. Thomas Howell, and Elizabeth Hurley.

Aside from Big Brother, Bentley could be heard on Channel 4 as a continuity announcer until he left after ten years, when he reprised his Big Brother narrator role on the revived Channel 5 series.

Another of Bentley's roles is the unseen question master on Sky One quiz show, Dirty Money .

Channel 5

From December 2011, Bentley began doing continuity links on Channel 5, complementing his role as narrator of Big Brother on the same channel.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Bentley married his wife Jools in 1997. The couple have three children, and live in Kent. [2]

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Celebrity Big Brother 16, also known as Celebrity Big Brother: UK vs USA, was the sixteenth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 27 August 2015 on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and TV3 in Ireland, and ended after 29 days on 24 September 2015. It is the ninth celebrity series and the fourteenth series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5. It was the only celebrity series to credit Denis O'Connor as creative director.

<i>Celebrity Big Brother</i> (British series 17) Season of television series

Celebrity Big Brother 17 was the seventeenth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 5 January 2016 on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and TV3 in the Republic of Ireland, and concluded 32 days later on 5 February 2016, making it the longest celebrity series to date, along with Celebrity Big Brother 19 and Celebrity Big Brother 21. It was the tenth celebrity series and the fifteenth series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5. First details of the series were released on 7 December 2015 when the new eye was released, and a new "vaudeville theatre" theme also being confirmed.

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Celebrity Big Brother 18 was the eighteenth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 28 July 2016, just two days after the conclusion of Big Brother 17 on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and TV3 in Ireland. The series ended on 26 August 2016, making it the longest summer series to date and the third-longest series of Celebrity Big Brother in its history, behind series 15 and 17, respectively. Rylan Clark-Neal continues to present the spin-off show Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side. It is the eleventh celebrity series and the seventeenth series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5.

<i>Celebrity Big Brother</i> (British series 20) Season of television series

Celebrity Big Brother 20 was the twentieth series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus Bentley. The series launched on 1 August 2017, and concluded on 25 August 2017 after 25 days, making this the shortest series since Celebrity Big Brother 12 in 2013. The series was on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom and 3e in Ireland with the spin-off show Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side presented by Rylan Clark-Neal. It was the thirteenth celebrity series and twentieth series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5.

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Celebrity Big Brother 22, also known as Celebrity Big Brother: Eye of the Storm, was the twenty-second series of the British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, and the final series to air on Channel 5. It launched on 16 August 2018 and ended after 26 days on 10 September 2018. It was the fifteenth celebrity series and twenty-second series of Big Brother overall to air on Channel 5. For the first time since 2011, the celebrity edition aired before the main series with Big Brother 19 launching after the final in September 2018. Celebrity Big Brother 22 was the final celebrity series in the three-year contract which was announced on 19 March 2015. Emma Willis returned as host of the series, while Rylan Clark-Neal continued to present Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side.

References

  1. 1 2 3 McLean, Gareth (9 August 2009). "The voice of Big Brother". The Guardian .
  2. Davies, Alex (16 August 2018). "Marcus Bentley Celebrity Big Brother voice: Facts about the CBB voiceover man". OK! . Northern & Shell . Retrieved 14 September 2018.