Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, television presenter, comedian, singer, and former professional footballer.
He has also presented various television game shows, including Wheel of Fortune (1997), The Chase (2009–present), Odd One In (2010–2011), Keep It in the Family (2014–2015), Cash Trapped (2016–2019), and Blankety Blank (2020–present).
Bradley John Walsh was born in Watford on 4 June 1960,[1][2] the son of Scottish mother Margaret and English father Daniel.
In 1979, at the age of 18, Walsh became a professional football player for Brentford, although he failed to make the first team, and was regularly a member of the reserves.
[6] While Walsh was at Brentford, he also played for Barnet on loan, making five Alliance Premier League appearances in the 1979–80 season.
[citation needed] Following his football career, Walsh had a variety of jobs, including working as a bluecoat at Pontins[10] in Morecambe for three months.
[11] In October 1982, performing as a newcomer comedian, he came third in a talent contest at the Rolls-Royce Sports and Social Club in his hometown of Leavesden.
[12] Walsh was recruited by television channel ITV, who offered him the role as presenter on one of the network's new game shows, Midas Touch.
He returned to ITV in 2002 after landing a regular role in the short lived British soap opera Night and Day.
In 2003, while appearing in Les Miserables in the West End, he played a minor role in an episode of The Bill spin-off series, M.I.T.
The following year, Walsh appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, in the second story of series two, The Day of the Clown, as a sinister entity that fed off other people's fear.
[18] In May 2014, Walsh was cast as Brutus in a BBC One comedy series, SunTrap, starring alongside Kayvan Novak and Keith Allen.
[23][24] On 9 September 2007, Walsh hosted the countdown TV's 50 Greatest Stars on ITV, in which people had to vote for their favourite television personalities.
[26] In August 2008, Walsh fronted his own ITV series entitled My Little Soldier, in which young contestants are required to do "grown-up things" such as travelling on their own by train.
[29] Between 2010 and 2011, Walsh was the presenter of the Saturday panel show Odd One In, with regular panellists Peter Andre and Jason Manford.
On 26 December 2014, Walsh hosted an entertainment special called A Christmas Cracker, filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.
[citation needed] In 2005, Walsh was one of the victims of an Undercover in Series 5 of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
[citation needed] In May 2022, Walsh appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs; his chosen favourite record, book, and luxury item were "Always and Forever" by Heatwave, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and a set of golf clubs and balls respectively.
[41] Walsh approached rival game show host Alexander Armstrong to ask him for singing advice in 2016.
It consists of covers of jazz standards such as "That's Life" and "Mr. Bojangles" as well as the title track, an original song written by Walsh.
[44] A year later, due to the success of Chasing Dreams, Walsh released a second album, When You're Smiling, consisting of more covers of traditional pop songs, and one original track.