Craig Doyle

Craig Doyle (born 17 December 1970 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV. To Irish viewers he is recognisable as working for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), and as the host of RTÉ One chat show Tonight with Craig Doyle and RTÉ Two's The Social, now titled Craig Doyle Live and broadcast twice a week. He is a regular presenter on BT Sport rugby coverage.

Early life

Doyle grew up in the south Dublin suburb of Stillorgan. While he was being educated in Roman Catholic schools, the priests wanted Doyle to take to a religious career, but he originally wanted to be a veterinary surgeon. He studied sociology and history at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, followed by the London College of Printing, where he earned a diploma in broadcast journalism.

Broadcasting career

After graduation, Doyle worked on local radio with BBC Radio Suffolk based in Ipswich, before moving on to ITV to present the children's show Disney Club In 1994, having been head hunted following a chance meeting with a producer from the show at a visit to Alton Towers.

Moving to London, he presented Tomorrow's World, Fasten Your Seatbelt and Innovation Nation, and spent six years hosting BBC One's Holiday. He also had a live music show on London's Capital Radio every Saturday 8am–11am.

Doyle was a key member of the BBC Sport team from 2004, anchoring international rugby, including the Six Nations Championship, and triathlon, amongst other sports. He supports London Irish. In 2004, he formed his own production company Boxer. Its first production was The Craig Doyle Show, an Irish travel/celebrity program running on RTÉ, and Doyle produced and presented Ireland's Richest.

Released early from his BBC contract, Doyle joined ITV Sport in February 2008, replacing Jim Rosenthal by hosting the UEFA Champions League highlights on ITV1. He also presents ITV4's coverage of the Isle of Man TT. Doyle left Capital Radio at the end of 2008.

Doyle presented Ireland's Top Earners in 2008, later recalled by John Boland in the Irish Independent as a programme that came about "just when the country was sliding inexorably into economic ruin and in which Doyle swooned over the wealth that had been amassed by Seán Quinn" [since bankrupt].^[1][2]

In April 2010, Doyle returned to Irish TV once again to host his own chat show Tonight with Craig Doyle on RTÉ One.^[3]

In September 2010 he joined the team on ITV's Lorraine as an investigative reporter.^[4]

Doyle presented Irish satirical program The Panel up to 2011. After that he became the presenter for a new live chat show called The Social from November 2011, which returned to screens in 2012 as Craig Doyle Live.

Doyle presented Now That's What You Called News for RTÉ over the Christmas at the end of 2011.^[5]

Doyle currently works with BT Sport presenting coverage of Aviva Rugby Union since mid 2013.^[6]

Doyle is currently a presenter for BT Sport's coverage of MotoGP since mid 2015.

Other activities

Doyle presented the ESAT Young Scientist Exhibition in Dublin, sponsored by BT Ireland in 2005.

Doyle is prominent in the UK fronting the adverts of double-glazing company Everest Windows. In Ireland he serves as the face of the UPC cable service adverts.

He is also a face of Littlewoods Ireland.^[7]

Personal life

On 7 January 2002, Doyle married his longtime girlfriend Doon, an interior designer from Dublin. The couple have a son Quinn, born December 2002, a daughter Muireann, and another son Milo. The family live in Barnamire, Wicklow, and also have a home in Kew, West London. Doyle completed his first triathlon in 2006; a year later he represented Ireland at the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.^[8][9]

References