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Ben Shires

Presenter

With over a decade of live event and television broadcast experience, Ben Shires is the irrepressible presenter of such hits as CBBC’s BAFTA-nominated Officially Amazing, Match of the Day Kickabout and Sky Kids’ Dig Detectives.

Beginning in 2013, Officially Amazing saw Ben travel the globe in search of weird and wonderful Guinness World Records; from the tallest man (Sultan Kösen, who stands at 8 ft 2.82 in) to the world’s most qualified penguin (Sir Nils Olav III, Colonel-In-Chief of the Norwegian Army), Ben has seen it all. The programme has also become a broadcasting smash-hit, reaching over 100 territories worldwide and currently spanning to seven seasons and one hundred episodes.

During this time, Ben’s quick humour and quirky style has been in high demand on Children’s TV, and he has appeared on countless popular shows including Blue Peter, Sam and Mark’s Big Friday Wind Up, The Dog Ate My Homework, Top Class, Ultimate Brain, Newsround, All Over The Place and many more.

Ben’s expert knowledge and passion for football has also seen him take strides into the beautiful game, at least off the pitch anyway! He hosted CBBC’s flagship football show, Match of the Day Kickabout, between 2015 and 2021, regularly interviewing top soccer stars and presenting features from across the globe, including coverage of the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Women’s World Cup. He’s also hosted regular features for Match of the Day and shared his love of the game on BBC2’s The Premier League Show, Radio 5 Live and Celebrity Mastermind, where he scored top marks in his specialist subject, his beloved Leeds United.

Furthermore, as a passionate advocate of initiatives designed to benefit the lives of young people through football, Ben has become an enthusiastic supporter of the Premier League’s Primary Stars programme, Crystal Palace FC’s Palace For Life foundation, and has recently been appointed Leeds United Future Trust’s President and honorary member. His work with the Premier League has also seen him compère numerous high profile occasions, regularly hosting their annual Enterprise Challenge and chairing panel discussions and trophy tour events.

Ben’s lifelong love for the past has seen him work with many high profile history and heritage organisations, including hosting English Heritage’s well-received ‘History At Home’ Live Lessons series during the pandemic and subsequently fronting videos for their TikTok channel, creating weekly videos for Imperial War Museums and hosting exhibition guides for the National Football Museum. In 2020 he also took up metal detecting as something to do during the pandemic, and this newfound interest in digging up history led to him conceiving and hosting the family detecting show Dig Detectives for Sky Kids in 2022.

With a wealth of live hosting experience for organisations such as the Premier League, BAFTA and the BBC under his belt, Ben is the ideal presenter for live events, conferences, school visits and beyond…as well as the owner of a seemingly rather sizeable belt.

At BAFTA, Ben has helped to co-write and pioneer their ‘Behind the Scenes’ stage show experience, fronting these nationwide as well as chairing BAFTA screenings, previews and hosting the BAFTA Young Game Designer’s Awards and the BAFTA Children’s awards 2019. His live work with them has also extended to hosting two events with Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, with Prince Harry now referring to him as ‘that bloke who looks like Harry Potter’.

Elsewhere, Ben is in demand as a live host, and has fronted Southbank Centre’s Imagine Festival, Leeds United’s End of Season Awards and match day hospitality experiences, Sport Relief 2020s ‘Pay The Penalty’ showcase and numerous live events for the BBC, including hosting stages at five of their major festivals. Not content in restricting himself to these pursuits, Ben has also been busy establishing himself across a variety of media; performing stand-up comedy, winning multiple comedy podcast awards for his work on The Dave Weekly and fronting brand campaigns for Intel, Pot Noodle Gti /Unilever/Mindshare, Crowne Plaza Hotels, Beefeater Gin and Thomas Cook Airlines amongst many others.

Book Ben for an event

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