Reeve has made global travel and environmental documentaries, and has written books on international terrorism, modern history, and his adventures. Amongst his many television programmes and series for the BBC, Reeve has presented Holidays in the Danger Zone: Places That Don't Exist, Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve, Equator and Tropic of Capricorn.
Reeve was born and raised in Acton, West London, by his parents, Alan Reeve, who was a teacher, and Cindy Reeve, who was an occupational therapist and worked in restaurants.[2] He has a younger brother called James.[3] He attended the Twyford Church of England High School in Acton.[4]
Reeve had a "tense and sometimes violent relationship" with his father when he was growing up.[5] He said that in his house "there was endless shouting, lots of crashing and banging, and a few times it was so violent we or our neighbours called the police to come and break us up".[6]
Reeve carried a knife by the age of 12 or 13.[7] From the age of 14, he required counselling due to behavioural problems, such as starting fires, vandalism, and setting off an explosive at the Ealing Broadway Centre.[8]
He described his final months at school being "a bit of a blur".[8] He left school with one GCSE, living on Income Support, and with mental health problems.[8] At the age of 17, Reeve stated he was even a "whisker away" from suicide.[8] He found himself standing on the edge of a bridge, unable to "face existence", but something made him climb back.[9]
After leaving school, he took a series of jobs, including working in a supermarket, a jewellery shop and a charity shop. At the age of 18, he began work at the British newspaper The Sunday Times, initially as a post boy[10][11][12] and then in the cuttings library, where he assisted a team of investigative journalists.[8] During this time he spent nights working on investigations into nuclear and weapons smuggling, and terrorism.[10][11] One of his formative roles at 18 was to follow a weapons dealer from Gatwick Airport.[10]
After the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States of America, Reeve became a media expert on terrorism on the basis of his book.[11] The BBC initially wanted him to make a programme involving infiltrating al-Qaeda.[11] He eventually began making travel documentaries. Tom Hall, travel editor for Lonely Planet publications, has described Reeve's travel documentaries as "the best travel television programmes of the past five years".[15]
6 September 2018 saw the release of Reeve's autobiography called Step by Step: The Life in My Journeys; covering his humble beginnings to successful author and television presenter.[12]
After catching malaria on a journey around the Equator, Reeve became an ambassador for the Malaria Awareness Campaign.[16][17] Along with Sir David Attenborough and other conservation specialists, Reeve is a member of the Council of Ambassadors for WWF, one of the world's leading environmental organisations.[18]
In 2020, Reeve was commissioned to present his first UK-based travel show Cornwall With Simon Reeve,[19] which was ordered by BBC Two alongside Incredible Journeys With Simon Reeve. The latter show is due to be a 'look back' programme similar to Joanna Lumley's Unseen Adventures or Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime[20] (a show which featured both Reeve and Lumley talking about the ex-Monty Python actor's travels).
Reeve has made global travel and environmental documentaries, and has written books on international terrorism, modern history, and his adventures.[4]
Personal life
Reeve is married to Anya Reeve[8] (née Courts), a television camerawoman and campaigner who has stood as a Green Party candidate.[21] The couple have a son called Jake.[8][22]
Reeve divides his home time between London and Devon.[23][8]
1 2 Reeve, Simon (2018). Step By Step The Life In My Journeys. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN9781473689107. Taking chances is often where the best memories are, and the richest rewards in life come from a bit of risk-taking. We can all benefit from pushing ourselves, our partners, friends or family, out of our respective comfort zones.
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