David Bull (television presenter)

David Richard Bull (born 9 May 1969) is an English medical doctor, television presenter, author and former politician. He has worked in television for over twenty years and for networks including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, as well as for Living TV, Sky TV and Food Network. He also works on radio stations including BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 5 Live, talkRADIO and LBC. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2019 until 2020.

David Bull
Bull in 2020
Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
In office
2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded bySteven Woolfe
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1969-05-09) 9 May 1969
Farnborough, London, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyBrexit (since 2019)
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (before 2019)
EducationFramlingham College
Alma materImperial College London
OccupationMedical doctor, television presenter, author, politician
Websitedavidbull.com

Born in Kent and raised in Suffolk, Bull was privately educated at Fairfield Preparatory School, Ipswich Preparatory School and Framlingham College respectively. He studied at St Mary's Hospital Medical School at Imperial College London and worked as a pre-registration and then senior house officer at St Mary's Hospital, Ealing Hospital and Whittington Hospital.

Bull began a career in broadcasting and his credits would go on to include The Jeremy Vine Show, Sugar Dome, Watchdog, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Newsround, Most Haunted Live!, Richard & Judy, Tomorrow's World, and This Morning. He has been a panellist on The Wright Stuff on Channel 5, and has made appearances on The Rachael Ray Show in the US. He starred in 2013 romantic comedy film Cavemen.

In 2006, Bull was nominated as the Conservative Party candidate for Brighton Pavilion in the following general election. He stood down in 2009 to head up a Conservative policy review on sexual health, an area about which he has been outspoken, and was replaced by Charlotte Vere. He later joined the Brexit Party in 2019 and was elected as one of their MEPs for North West England at that year's European Parliament election and stood down upon the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020.

Early life

David Bull was born in Farnborough, Kent, to Richard and Pauline Bull, and moved to Framlingham, Suffolk, at the age of four with his siblings Anthony and Katie. In Suffolk, he attended Fairfield Preparatory School followed by Ipswich Preparatory School before graduating to Framlingham College. At Framlingham, he cultivated interests in music and drama and was made Head of the Day Boys in the Upper Sixth, working to fight bullying.[1] He studied at St Mary's Hospital Medical School at Imperial College London, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine degree, a Bachelor of Surgery degree (MBBS) and a first class Bachelor of Science honours degree (BSc) in 1993.[2]

Medical career

Bull was a pre-registration house officer at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington and worked for the NHS in the fields of emergency medicine at Ealing Hospital NHS Trust, and general medicine and emergency medicine at Whittington Hospital in London.[3] Despite having wanted to be a doctor since childhood, he described working for the NHS as tough. Nevertheless, he continued to work in general medicine as a house officer and senior house officer in general medicine, surgery and accident and emergency.[4]

Frustrated with the lack of knowledge patients had, Bull felt that no one was concentrating on proactive health, stopping people from becoming ill in the first place, so he took up that challenge. He pursued his interest in broadcasting – specifically television, combining his new role with his ongoing clinical duties.[4]

Bull had his licence to practise restored in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic spreading to the United Kingdom. He holds full medical registration with the General Medical Council.[5]

Media career

In 1995, Bull auditioned to be a guest commentator for The Sky Travel Guide on Sky Travel. Of the auditioning process Bull recalled, "I had to read autocue, I had to interview someone, and I had to handle a live show...you can't beat that sort of experience." Bull was awarded the position on Sky Travel, giving advice for the holiday health feature to those traveling abroad, and beginning his career as a television commentator and presenter.[6]

Within months of appearing on The Sky Travel Guide,[7] Bull joined the long-running Newsround as a presenter and producer of segments regarding children's health. Bull's reports on Newsround were also featured on BBC News, including a documentary on bullying that won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Children's Factual programme.[3]

Whilst on Newsround, Bull became a regular on popular kids shows on Saturday mornings for CBBC, The Weather Show, Saturday Aardvark, K Club and Bitesize Debate specials. He also hosted, in his role as a doctor, Why Me? and Call the Doctor. Bull then became the sole presenter of Tell Me About It! for New Zealand's C4 TV station. Aimed at young people, the five-instalment programme tackled issues including eating disorders, parental divorces and teen drug use and alcoholism.[8]

In 1998, Bull published his first book, Cool and Celibate?: Sex and No Sex, arguing the benefits of abstinence in teenagers, translated in multiple languages. Bull followed his first book with What Every Girl Should Know: An A to Z of Health-From Allergies to Zits! in 1999.[9]

Bull joined the BBC's Watchdog in 1999. While on Watchdog, he also appeared on Holiday, Let's Get Healthy, The Really Useful Show, Daily Live and This Morning. He then hosted Watchdog Healthcheck, a weekly, half-hour health programme running from 2001 to 2002.[8]

In addition to appearing on Healthcheck, Bull presented the science and technology-centred Tomorrow's World, before presenting Most Haunted on Living TV.[8] Bull appeared on Live TV's highest rated series, Most Haunted Live! from October 2002 to October 2005, hosting three-hour instalments that featured paranormal investigations broadcast live with interactive sections involving the audience. Bull also participated in a ghost hunt at Choughs Hotel where he claimed to have seen an apparition, though he admitted it could have been an optical illusion.[10]

Bull made his American television debut in 2010 as a contributor on the daytime talk show The Rachael Ray Show. First appearing on the 12 April 2010 segment "Why You Crave Food", Bull discussed the effects of high-fat, high-calorie foods on the brain and gave advice on cutting down on cravings.[11] On 23 July 2010, Bull returned to The Rachel Ray Show to discuss "Mystery Diseases".[12]

In 2012, Bull started hosting for Food Network's series Sugar Dome which is broadcast in the US, Canada, Asia and the UK.[13] He has also co-presented Coast vs Country on Channel 4.[8]

In 2013, Bull starred in romantic comedy film Cavemen.[8]

Political career

In December 2006, Bull was selected to represent the Parliamentary seat of Brighton Pavilion at the 2010 general election for the Conservative Party, after being placed on the party's A-List earlier that year. He withdrew his candidacy in June 2009 and was replaced by Charlotte Vere.[14] Denying rumours that he quit after falling out with party leadership, Bull cited the increased workload accompanying his recent appointment to head up a Conservative policy review on sexual health with Shadow Health Minister Anne Milton.[15][16]

In April 2019, Bull was announced as a Brexit Party candidate in the upcoming European Parliament election.[17] He was duly returned as an MEP for the North West England constituency in the election held on 23 May.[18] Later, in August of that year, Bull was adopted as the Brexit Party's prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich then subsequently Sedgefield in the 2019 general election.[19]

Bull was among the UK MEPs who stood down following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020.[20]

Business and charitable work

In 2000, Bull founded the creative branding company, Incredibull.[21] He sold his interest in the business in 2017.

Bull is a supporter of The Cystic Fibrosis Trust, (a charity he has been associated with for over twenty years), The British Red Cross, Cancer Research and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and has worked with young people in schools on behalf of the organisation.[22]

Personal life

Bull is openly gay. In 2007 he appeared at the Brighton Pride Parade for which he designed and wore a t-shirt with the slogan "I've come out... I'm a Tory", saying it was acceptable to be gay and a Conservative.[15]

gollark: What of HTTPS, though?
gollark: I mean, unless this can't be made to work in any way.
gollark: It's not impossible.
gollark: And how do I make the initial `request` nonblocking?
gollark: `http_response` only appears in the code in what looks like one comment.

References
  1. "pipeline.net". Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. "ABOUT ME - David Bull". davidbull.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  3. "davidbull.com". Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  4. About me DavidBull.com
  5. The Medical Register General Medical Council
  6. "BBC Online". Archived from the original on 7 August 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  7. "Tell Me about It! (1996)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  8. "David Bull". IMDb.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  9. "BOOKS - David Bull". DavidBull.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  10. Carlie Cliffe (27 November 2010). "Jon Dibley & David Bull". Retrieved 13 September 2018 – via YouTube.
  11. "Rachael Ray Show". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  12. "Rachael Ray Show". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  13. "Sugar Dome". Food Network. Scripps Interactive. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  14. "Tory candidate chosen in primary". BBC News. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  15. Andy Chiles (30 June 2009). "Celebrity doctor denies fall-out with Tories". The Argus. Newsquest Media (Southern). Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  16. Jonathan Isaby (26 June 2009). "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: David Bull steps down as candidate for Brighton Pavilion to head up policy review". Conservative Home. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  17. Westmonster (25 April 2019). "Brexit Party reveal another diverse group of MEP candidates". Westmonster. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  18. "Brexit Party wins three North West seats". BBC News. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  19. "Sedgefield parliamentary constituency". Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  20. Barnes, Peter (5 February 2020). "What happens after Brexit?". BBC News. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  21. "Incredibull has moved". Incredibull. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  22. "The Duke of Edinburgh's Award – The DofE in the UK". Duke of Edinburgh Award. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
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