Christian O'Connell
Christian Liam O'Connell (born 7 April 1973 in Winchester, Hampshire) is an Australia based British radio disc jockey, television host, writer, and comedian. He presents The Christian O'Connell Show on weekday mornings on Gold 104.3 in Melbourne, replayed on weekday evenings on Gold 104.3 in Melbourne, 101.7 WSFM in Sydney, 97.3 FM in Brisbane, Mix 102.3 in Adelaide, and 96FM in Perth. Christian started The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show in 1998, on weekday mornings at a local station in Bournemouth, England; he moved to local stations in larger cities (Liverpool in 2000, London in 2001) until it became a national show on Virgin Radio in March 2006, which became Absolute Radio in September 2008. In May 2018, O'Connell and the show moved to a broadcast settlement located in Australia to broadcast in Australia. O'Connell won a record-breaking number of radio awards, including 11 Sony Radio Academy Gold awards, the Radio Academy Gold Award in May 2018, and runner-up in the Crabbie's Ginger Wine Grand National in 2014. In 2014 he was the youngest radio presenter inducted into the UK Radio Academy Hall of Fame. He has performed three sold-out tours of the International Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Festival in 2013, 2014, and 2015. O'Connell has collaborated with European, Australian, and US radio shows as a guest speaker. He hosted the MacMillan Cancer comedy show at the London Palladium in 2016 and the Stand Up to Cancer show at the London Palladium in November 2017. He hosted the Q Awards between 2013 and 2017. In February 2018, O'Connell announced he would leave Absolute Radio and emigrate to Australia to host the Gold 104.3 breakfast programme in Melbourne. He did his last broadcast of the UK's The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on 18 May 2018, before starting the new breakfast show on Gold 104.3 on 4 June 2018, featuring his long-running quiz 'Yay or Neigh.' In April 2020, ARN announced that The Christian O'Connell Show would be syndicated across the country from Monday 27 April, airing for one hour from 7 PM until 8 PM on weeknights on Gold 104.3 in Melbourne, WSFM in Sydney, 97.3 FM in Brisbane, Mix 102.3 in Adelaide and 96FM in Perth. Personal life O'Connell was born in Winchester, England, where he was raised on a council estate. His father, of Irish origin, was a foreman for Ford at Southampton, and his mother was an NHS nurse. His maternal grandmother was Indian, having met her husband, who fought with the Gurkhas in Burma, India. O'Connell and his wife have two daughters. O'Connell attended the Henry Beaufort School and Peter Symonds College before studying at Nottingham Trent University. He supports the EFL Championship football team Southampton F.C. and Australian Football League team Melbourne Demons. Career O'Connell's first job was as a dustman in Winchester at the age of 16 to earn some cash in the Christmas holidays. Christian started on 2CR Radio in Bournemouth in 1998. He later moved to Juice FM in Liverpool in 2000. He commented, "It