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Mark Durden-Smith

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Mark Durden-Smith
Born
Mark Durden-Smith

(1968-10-01) 1 October 1968 (age 56)
NationalityBritish
OccupationTelevision presenter
Years active1993–present
SpouseRachel Morse (m. 2004)
Children3
Parent(s)Judith Chalmers
Neil Durden-Smith

Mark Durden-Smith (born 1 October 1968 in Soho, London) is an English television presenter best known for presenting ITV shows such as I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! and This Morning Summer, Sky 1 shows such as The Match and Double or Nothing, and Channel 5's rugby union coverage.

Early life

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Durden-Smith was educated at Radley College.[1] He then studied at Durham University.[2] At Durham he made one appearance as a full-back for the rugby team first XV[3] and was a squad member for the 1991 tour to Zimbabwe.[4]

Career

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After university Durden-Smith worked from 1993 to 1996 as a researcher for Clive Anderson Talks Back.[5] He began his presenting career at the now-defunct London station Channel One, before moving on to front the rugby coverage at Sky Sports in August 1997.[6]

He was one of the original presenters of Channel 4 breakfast show RI:SE, launched in April 2002 as a successor to The Big Breakfast, but was sacked at the start of the following year as part of an ultimately failed revamp.[7]

Sky

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Durden-Smith has hosted the annual The Police Bravery Awards, The Match and the game show Double or Nothing, all for Sky 1.

ITV

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Durden-Smith presented Package Holidays Undercover for ITV and Hell's Kitchen: Extra Portions for ITV2. It was announced in June 2007 that he would head a new ITV series, Wish You Were Here...? Now and Then, a 25-part series where Durden-Smith revisits destinations, originally visited by his mother and other presenters in the original series of Wish You Were Here...?, to see how much they have changed. From 2003 to 04 and 2006 through 2008, he presented I'm a Celebrity: Get Me out of Here! NOW!.

In 2010, Durden-Smith began presenting ITV's This Morning as a guest presenter, standing in for Phillip Schofield or Eamonn Holmes. He was a Friday presenter during This Morning Summer, usually alongside Jenni Falconer. Durden-Smith was a panelist on the 2011 series of 3@Three on ITV. The show aired on weekdays from 3pm. He was a regular news reviewer on the ITV lifestyle programme Lorraine.[8] He took part in the ITV reality series All at Sea.

In 2013, he began presenting ITV's Aviva Premiership Rugby Highlights programme, replacing Craig Doyle and Martin Bayfield. On 3 August 2015, he began presenting the daytime ITV game show Freeze Out, which aired for ten episodes.

Channel 5

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Durden-Smith presented Premiership Rugby programmes alongside David Flatman on Channel 5 until 2021, having signed a 4-year deal in 2017.[9]

Amazon Prime Video

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In 2021, Durden-Smith presented Amazon Prime Video's coverage of the Autumn Nations Series. He will return to present the coverage in 2022.

Personal life

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Mark is the only son of Judith Chalmers and sports commentator Neil Durden-Smith.[10] He married Rachel Morse on 11 December 2004; the couple have three children, twin sons Archie and Freddie, as well as a daughter Rosie.

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "Previous RS events Radley College". www.radley.org.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Hatfield College : Alumni - Durham University". 16 June 2006. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Mark Durden-Smith". Metro. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Annual Sporting Review 2011/12". Issuu. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Mark Durden-Smith". IMDb. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  6. ^ Deans, Jason (11 April 2002). "Durden-Smith is Channel 4's early riser". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  7. ^ Born, Matt (2003). "Channel 4 sacks its breakfast show host". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Mark Durden-Smith". BBC Good Food Show. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Channel 5 confirms presenter and pundit for their Premiership coverage Ruck". Ruck. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Mark Durden-Smith". IMDb. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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