Alex Brooker

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

Alex Brooker
Born
Alexander James Brooker

(1984-05-15) 15 May 1984
Croydon, Greater London, England[1]
NationalityEnglish
EducationLiverpool John Moores University
The Norton Knatchbull School
OccupationJournalist, television presenter, comedian
EmployerPress Association, Channel 4
Notable credit(s)
The Last Leg (2012—)
The Jump (2014)
The Superhumans Show (2016)
Children2

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 ten 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.

Personal life

Brooker was born in Croydon.[1] He was born with hand and arm deformities and a twisted right leg which had to be amputated when he was a baby. He now wears a prosthetic leg.

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

Brooker is a fanatical supporter of Arsenal F.C., regularly appearing on 'Footballistically Arsenal' podcast.[10]

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.

In September 2012, Brooker won The Million Pound Drop Live with Josh Widdicombe playing for Echoes Foundation, Scope Joseph's Goal.[11][12]

Filmography
Television
  • Half a Million Quid Talent Search (2012)
  • The Last Leg (2012–)
  • Alex Brooker: My Perfect Body (2013)
  • The Jump (2014)
  • The Superhumans Show (2016–)
  • The NHS: A People's History (2018)
  • Very British Problems (2018)
  • Alex Brooker: Disability and Me (2020)
Guest appearances
gollark: Oh, hmm, apparently I'm wrong.
gollark: A decillion is 10^33, if I remember right.
gollark: I don't think stars are scheduled to not exist until 10^36 years from now.
gollark: Blind people should simply touch-type.
gollark: Why voice recognition when you could simply type faster?

References
  1. @alex_brooker. “@Gareth_Lewis_ haha I was born in Croydon so should support Palace!” Twitter, 1 Aug. 2013, 6:30 p.m., https://twitter.com/alex_brooker/status/363064123325956096.
  2. "TV star Alex signs up for team". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2 February 2018.
  3. "Graduate lands top TV sports presenting job". JMU Journalism. 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  4. "Alex Brooker – Half-Million quid talent search video". YouTube. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  5. Ned Boulting (2 September 2012). "Ned Boulting: Alex Brooker deserves a medal for his Paralympic performance". Metro. London: Metro. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  6. Paul Kalina. "Risking laugh and limb pays off". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  7. Rifkind, Hugo (7 February 2015). "How Alex Brooker made political interviews interesting again". spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  8. "Alex Brooker: My Perfect Body". Channel 4. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  9. "Channel 4 reveals the famous faces preparing to take The Jump". Channel 4 Press. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  10. "Footballistically Arsenal". podcast.playbackmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  11. "Million Pound Charity Drop Benefits Disability Charities". Posability magazine. 14 September 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  12. Lucy Lyon (14 September 2012). "Million Pound Drop TV win 'saves' Hull's Echoes Foundation". This Is Hull and East Riding. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
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