Alex Brooker Explained

Alex Brooker
Birthname:Alexander James Brooker
Birth Date:1984 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Croydon, Greater London, England[1]
Education:
Occupation:Journalist, television presenter, comedian
Employer:Press Association, Channel 4
Spouse:Lynsey Brooker
Children:2
Credits:

Alexander James Brooker (born 15 May 1984) is an English journalist and presenter best known for his television work with Channel 4.

Since 2012, Brooker has co-hosted The Last Leg, a Channel 4 panel show with Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe as well as co-presenting Channel 4 ski jumping show The Jump with Davina McCall in 2014. In 2016, he began presenting The Superhumans Show for Channel 4 daytime. In February 2018 Brooker signed with Leeds Rhinos' Foundation PDRL (Physical Disability Rugby League) team.[2]

Career

Brooker went to the Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford, Kent, before graduating from Liverpool John Moores University in 2006[3] and worked as a sports reporter on the Liverpool Echo. He now works for the Press Association.

Brooker entered Channel 4's Half a Million Quid Talent Search in 2012,[3] [4] which aimed to find disabled talent for coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games and beyond. He first appeared as a trackside reporter on Channel 4's coverage of the 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup.[3] Brooker interviewed the likes of Boris Johnson and David Cameron during the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony and was a co-host on The Last Leg with Adam Hills, a nightly alternative look at the Games.[5] Brooker was also on The Last Leg of the Year, an end of year special with Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe.

Since 25 January 2013, Brooker has been a co-host on The Last Leg on Channel 4.[6] In February 2015 Brooker interviewed Nick Clegg for the programme: his performance was described by political journalist Hugo Rifkind as "a model of how to talk normally to a politician – and make them talk normally back".[7]

On 1 August 2013, Brooker hosted a one-off documentary about body image on Channel 4, titled Alex Brooker: My Perfect Body.[8]

In January and February 2014, Brooker co-presented the first series of celebrity reality show The Jump on Channel 4 opposite Davina McCall. The series was broadcast live over 10 nights from a mountainside in Austria.[9] However, Brooker did not return for the second series in 2015. In 2016, he presented The Superhumans Show on Channel 4.

From 2020 to 2021, he co-presented One Night In with Josh Widdicombe.[10] [11] [12]

In May 2022, the BBC announced that Brooker would be one of the guest presenters to take over Richard Osman's role on Pointless.[13]

In 2024, Brooker participated as "Bigfoot" on the fifth series of The Masked Singer and finished in second place.[14]

Personal life

Brooker was born in Croydon. He now lives in Huddersfield[1] He was born with congenital abnormalities of his hands and arm, and a twisted right leg which had to be amputated when he was a baby. He now wears a prosthetic leg.[15]

In 2014 Brooker married accountant Lynsey, and the couple have two daughters.

Brooker is a supporter of Arsenal F.C., appearing regularly on the Footballistically Arsenal podcast.[16]

Charity

In May 2014, Brooker fronted a campaign called "End The Awkward" by disability charity Scope, which used comedy to shine a light on the awkwardness that many people feel about disability. Brooker appeared in three advertisements guiding viewers through awkward situations that they may encounter with a disabled person.[17]

In September 2012, Brooker won The Million Pound Drop Live with Josh Widdicombe playing for Echoes Foundation, Scope Joseph's Goal.[18] [19]

Brooker is the official ambassador of UK-based charity Legs4Africa.[20]

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Twitter posts from Alex Brooker. 2021-01-05.
  2. Web site: TV star Alex signs up for team. Yorkshire Evening Post. 2 February 2018. 26 January 2022.
  3. Web site: Graduate lands top TV sports presenting job . JMU Journalism. 2012 . 30 September 2012.
  4. Web site: Alex Brooker – Half-Million quid talent search video . YouTube. 9 September 2010 . 30 September 2012.
  5. News: Ned Boulting: Alex Brooker deserves a medal for his Paralympic performance . . Ned Boulting . Ned Boulting . London: Metro . 2 September 2012 . 19 September 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120908052255/http://www.metro.co.uk/olympics/910525-ned-boulting-alex-brooker-deserves-a-medal-for-his-paralympic-performance . 8 September 2012 . dmy.
  6. Web site: Paul Kalina . Risking laugh and limb pays off . The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 February 2013 . 31 December 2013.
  7. Web site: How Alex Brooker made political interviews interesting again . Rifkind . Hugo. Hugo Rifkind . 7 February 2015 . spectator.co.uk. 16 September 2016.
  8. Web site: Alex Brooker: My Perfect Body . Channel 4 . 31 December 2013.
  9. Web site: Channel 4 reveals the famous faces preparing to take The Jump . Channel 4 Press . 11 December 2013.
  10. Web site: One Night In... - C4 Comedy . .
  11. Web site: One Night In... Returns with Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe . 23 December 2021 .
  12. Web site: One Night in (TV Series) .
  13. Web site: Guest host line-up for BBC One's Pointless revealed. 27 May 2022. 1 November 2022. BBC.
  14. Web site: Masked Singer 2024: Who won? Was it Bigfoot, Cricket or Piranha? . BBC Newsround . 8 September 2024 . 18 February 2024.
  15. News: Smith . Reanna . Alex Brooker feared his kids would be 'scared' of him because of his disability . 22 February 2023 . mirror . 19 August 2022 . en.
  16. Web site: Footballistically Arsenal. podcast.playbackmedia.co.uk. 12 August 2017.
  17. News: Tovey . Alan . Campaign to 'End the Awkwardness' of dealing with disabled . 8 February 2024 . . 21 June 2014.
  18. Million Pound Charity Drop Benefits Disability Charities. https://web.archive.org/web/20131019164854/http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2012/09/14/million-pound-charity-drop-benefits-disability-charities/. dead. 19 October 2013. Posability . 14 September 2012. 30 September 2012.
  19. News: Million Pound Drop TV win 'saves' Hull's Echoes Foundation. Lucy Lyon. This Is Hull and East Riding. 14 September 2012. https://archive.today/20130505083809/http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Echoes-charity-celebrates-Million-Pound-Drop-cash/story-16904687-detail/story.html. dead. 5 May 2013. 30 September 2012.
  20. Web site: Comedian Alex Brooker becomes Legs4Africa ambassador . 29 September 2020 . 26 January 2022. Legs4Africa.
  21. Web site: Alex Brooker is… Hobby Man. channel4.com/press. 14 August 2022.
  22. Web site: Big Zuu's Big Eats. uktvplay.co.uk. 14 August 2022.

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