Melanie Sykes

Posted June 4, 200816 yr

Melanie Sykes (born 7 August 1970 in Mossley, Lancashire) is an English television presenter and model. She was born of an Anglo-Indian/Anglo-Burmese mother. Sykes first came to public attention as the Bikini-clad girl in the Boddingtons beer advertisements with the broad "Northern" Accent. Amongst other work during the 1990s she also modelled for Berlei Lingerie.

After initially reporting for The Big Breakfast, she has continued her television career, including reporting for I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and presenting Eastenders Revealed. In 1999, Sykes presented Melanie Sykes' Southall stories a documentary for BBC2 on Asian culture in Great Britain. She has also hosted a variety of awards shows, including Miss World, the BAFTAs and the Q Awards and presented her own radio show on Galaxy FM.

Her television career stalled for a period, although she made a successful comeback when she became the host of Today with Des and Mel (with Des O'Connor) in 2003. On the 12 May 2006 ITV announced that the show would be one of a number to be axed in a "painful, but utterly necessary" move.

Sykes' other work for the ITV network includes the prime-time shows The Vault, Celebrities Under Pressure, National Television Awards Party of the Year, and the British Soap Awards and appearances as a panellist on the ITV daytime chat show Loose Women.

Sykes presented The A List, a national radio chart show based on total sales, produced by Unique the Production Company at the studios of London's Heart 106.2. She left the show towards the end of 2006 and was replaced by Gail Porter.

In 2006, the book Blooming Beautiful: My Plan for Looking Great, Being Healthy and Surviving Hormonal Havoc, Throughout Pregnancy and as a New Mum, co-written by Sykes with Hilary Boyd, was published by Michael Joseph Ltd.

In recent years she has been the face of Head & Shoulders shampoo in the UK, appearing in print and television advertising and the high street chain Matalan.

In November 2006, Sykes filled in for Paul O'Grady when he took leave from The Paul O'Grady Show. On 8 May 2007 and 5 November 2007 she again filled in for O'Grady when he took leave from the series. She has most recently been seen as the presenter of the Daytime series Gene Detectives for BBC One.

In 2008, she became a judge on The Sofa Factor for GMTV, it is where viewers send in short clips and the winner gets to present TV Pick of the Day plus win a trip to Las Vegas. She again filled in for Paul O'Grady on The Paul O'Grady Show while O'Grady was ill from 15-18 April and 22 April 2008.