[6] Yates grew up in North London, where he attended Central Foundation Boys' School in Cowper Street, Islington.

On 10 March 2006, Yates appeared on Stars in Fast Cars and won his heat to get into the final, beating Elton Welsby and Ben Fogle in the last round.

Yates presented Mighty Truck of Stuff and Only in America with Fearne Cotton on CBBC as well as a programme on BBC Radio 1.

Cotton left following her promotion to weekday mornings on Radio 1 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 pm, leaving Yates to present on his own.

[9] Yates also presented series 1 of Escape from Scorpion Island with co-presenter Caroline Flack on BBC 1 between 3 and 21 September 2007.

He has also presented live coverage of the Glastonbury, Reading and T in the Park music festivals for BBC Three, and interviewed stars such as Estelle and 50 Cent for MTV specials.

[12] In October 2011, Yates starred in Arjun Rose's UK slasher Demons Never Die as Officer Mason.

In 2012, as part of BBC Three's Criminal Britain Season, Yates explored the culture of fear, anger and violence that drives the dangerous world of teen gangs.

[19] Continuing his documentarian journey, in 2016 Yates's BBC Three series The Insider saw the presenter spend time behind bars in Texas and join Unit 27 of the 56th Infantry Battalion in Acapulco to live the life of an ordinary soldier fighting on the front line of the brutal war against the country's powerful and violent drug cartels.

In 2018, Yates was the themed category judge for Koestler Trust's I'm Still Here at the Southbank Centre, London, an exhibition of art works by prisoners, detainees and ex-offenders.

[31] In November 2017, Yates stated on a podcast: "The thing that makes it great about this new generation of artists is that they ain't signing to majors.

[32] His remarks were condemned by the Community Security Trust's Dave Rich who said: "Even worse than any offence is the message Yates gives his audience by reinforcing an anti-Semitic stereotype".

[35][36][37][38] Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said that those claims were untrue.