Tess Daly | |
|---|---|
 Daly in 2009 | |
| Born | Helen Elizabeth Daly 29 March 1969 |
| Education | New Mills Secondary School |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Television | Strictly Come Dancing |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) 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.
Daly was born on 29 March 1969 in Stockport, Cheshire [1] to textile-factory workers Felix James "Vivian" Daly (1932–2003), who died of emphysema, and Sylvia ( née Bradley). [2] [3] [4] She grew up in Birch Vale near New Mills, Derbyshire and attended Hayfield Primary School followed by New Mills Secondary School, where she gained nine O-levels. She has a younger sister, Karen. Daly is of English and Irish descent. [5]
Daly was scouted outside a McDonald's restaurant while waiting for her sister in Manchester. When Daly began her modelling career there was already a model named "Helen Daly" so she was asked to reconsider her name. Daly's agent was infatuated with Nastassja Kinski from the film Tess and told her that she should change her name to "Tess". Daly later recalled that she was "gullible and impressionable". She has not officially changed her name by deed poll because she thinks it would be disrespectful to her parents. [6]
Six weeks after she turned 18 she undertook her first professional modelling job in Tokyo. [7] After a series of work assignments across Asia and Europe while based in London, she was based in Paris for five years. She then returned to London for six months, before moving to New York for work for five years. [7]
In 1990, Daly appeared in two Duran Duran videos for the songs "Serious" and "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)", both from the album Liberty . She also appeared nude in the video for The Beloved's 1993 song "Sweet Harmony". [3]
She was later the face of Danone Shape yogurt and also of lingerie company La Senza in the UK and appeared in their Steal the Show Christmas 2009 campaign. [8]
While Daly was living on the Lower East Side in New York City, a friend who arranged red carpet events suggested that she interview the celebrity attendees. After buying a video camera, Daly's first interview was with New York-based Quentin Crisp, author of The Naked Civil Servant , who became a friend until his death. [7] After a few red carpet interviews, in 2000, she sent a showreel to the producers of Channel 4's The Big Breakfast , [7] who immediately contracted her to host the Find Me a Model competition. Since then, she has presented shows including Get Your Kit Off, Singled Out, Smash Hits TV, SMTV Live , Back To Reality and the first series of Make Me a Supermodel with Dave Berry. [9]
In 2003, Daly replaced Ulrika Jonsson as presenter of ITV makeover show Home On Their Own, a show where children made their choice of alterations to their house during the course of a weekend, while their parents went on holiday. Some of the home improvements included an Austin Powers room, individual doorbells for the children and a cinema living room. [10]
Daly has co-presented BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing since 2004. She initially co-hosted the programme with Bruce Forsyth until he left the show in 2013; since 2014 she co-hosts with Claudia Winkleman. Daly missed the first half of the second series because she had recently given birth to her first daughter. Natasha Kaplinsky, the winner of the previous series, took her place for these episodes. [11]
In January 2007, Daly and her husband Vernon Kay co-presented the second series of Just the Two of Us on BBC One. [12]
Daly has also hosted This Time Tomorrow and the National Lottery show broadcast on BBC One. Since 2008, Daly has presented the BBC telethon Children in Need with Terry Wogan and Fearne Cotton. She also won the special Children in Need version of Strictly Come Dancing against Terry Wogan, where she was partnered with Anton du Beke. On 17 December 2008, Daly co-hosted the Royal Variety Performance . [13]
In November 2013, Daly guest-presented an episode of The One Show alongside Matt Baker. In early 2015, she co-hosted Strictly Come Dancing charity spin-off The People's Strictly for Comic Relief for BBC One. [14] In 2015, Daly co-hosted Being Mum, a new show for AOL alongside Rochelle Humes. [15]
In 2019, she played an unnamed character who hosts fictional TV show The Spotlight, in the CBBC drama, Almost Never . [16]
In 2011, Daly's first novel, The Camera Never Lies, a tale of love behind the scenes, was published by Coronet, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. It's Up to You New York, Daly's second book, was published in 2013. [17]
In 2013, she became the new face of L'Oréal. [18] In December 2017, Daly became the new face of Vitabiotics' Wellwoman supplement brand. [19]
Daly married DJ and television presenter Vernon Kay on 12 September 2003 at St Mary's Catholic Church in Horwich, near Bolton. [20] They have two daughters, born in 2004 and 2009, and live in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. [21]
| Year | Title | Channel | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | L.A. Pool Party | BBC Choice | Presenter | |
| 2002–2003 | SMTV Live | ITV/CITV | Co-presenter | |
| 2003 | Home On Their Own | ITV/LWT | Presenter | |
| 2004 | Back to Reality | Channel 5 | Co-presenter | With Richard Bacon |
| Sport Relief | BBC One | Co-presenter | With Jamie Theakston | |
| 2004–present | Strictly Come Dancing | Co-presenter | With Bruce Forsyth (2004–2013) and Claudia Winkleman (2014–present) | |
| 2006–2007 | Just the Two of Us | Co-presenter | With Vernon Kay | |
| 2008 | A Night of Heroes: The Sun Military Awards | ITV | Presenter | Replaced by Amanda Holden and Phillip Schofield from 2009 |
| Royal Variety Performance | BBC One | Co-presenter | ||
| This Time Tomorrow | Presenter | |||
| Happy Birthday Brucie! | Presenter | One-off TV special | ||
| 2008–2019 | Children in Need | Co-presenter | with Sir Terry Wogan, Dermot O'Leary, Greg James and Ade Adepitan | |
| 2013 | The One Show | Guest presenter | 1 episodes | |
| 2015 | The People's Strictly for Comic Relief [14] | Co-presenter | With Claudia Winkleman | |
| Being Mum [15] | AOL | Co-presenter | With Rochelle Humes | |
| 2018 | Sir Bruce: A Celebration [22] | BBC One | Presenter | |
| 2019 | Almost Never | CBBC | Host of fictional show The Spotlight |
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Strictly Come Dancing is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of judges. The title of the show is a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing. The format has been exported to 60 other countries under the title Dancing with the Stars, licensed by BBC Worldwide, and led to a modern dance-themed spin-off Strictly Dance Fever. The Guinness World Records named Strictly as the world's most successful reality television format in 2010. The series is currently presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Bruce Forsyth co-presented the series with Daly until 2014.
Kimberley Jane Scott is an English singer, television personality and actress. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The series announced that Walsh had won a place as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud. The group achieved large success, having twenty consecutive top ten singles in the UK, six studio albums have all been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), two of which went to number one in the UK, and accumulating a total of five BRIT Award nominations. In 2009, Girls Aloud won "Best Single" with their song "The Promise".
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Strictly Come Dancing returned for its tenth series and began with the launch show on 15 September 2012. The live shows began on 5 October. Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly returned to present the main show on BBC One and Claudia Winkleman returned to present the results show with Daly. Zoë Ball returned to present the spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. Judges Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli all returned and were joined on the judging panel by series 7 guest judge Darcey Bussell, who replaced Alesha Dixon.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its eleventh series beginning with a launch show on 7 September 2013, and the live shows beginning on 27 and 28 September 2013. Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly returned to co-present the main show on BBC One, with Claudia Winkleman presenting the results show alongside Daly. Zoe Ball returned as presenter of Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli also returned as judges.
Strictly Come Dancing returned for its twelfth series beginning from 7 September 2014 with a launch show, and the live shows began on 26 and 27 September. Tess Daly returned to present the main show on BBC One alongside Claudia Winkleman, who was promoted to co-presenter in addition to the results show after Sir Bruce Forsyth departed the show after the eleventh series; however, Forsyth continued to host the Christmas and Children in Need specials. Zoe Ball returned as presenter of the spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Judges Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli also returned.
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