Paul Ross

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Paul John Ross (born December 31, 1956) is an English journalist, television editor, and media personality. He is the elder brother of presenter Jonathan Ross and is also a film reviewer. He has also been presenting Most Haunted Live! from May 2006 onwards, co-starring with Yvette Fielding.

[edit] Biography

Ross was born John Ross in Leytonstone, London, and was educated, along with his brother, at Norlington School for Boys. He trained as a journalist, and worked as an editor on Channel 4's controversial youth show The Word, having originally started as a researcher at London Weekend Television. He worked as an 'on-your-doorstep' outside broadcaster, and also as co-host in The Big Breakfast. In the mid 1990s, he also worked as a game show host on Telly Stack and the British version of the popular American game show Jeopardy!.

From 1997 to 1998 he hosted The Paul Ross Show, a late-night programme on ITV. He also made appearances on programmes such as Bo' Selecta and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Ross was one of the launch presenters at the then-innovative satellite shopping broadcaster bid-up.tv, and fronted the BBC One lunchtime quizshow No Win No Fee, where contestants would directly compete with Paul for his four-thousand pound fee for the show. He took part in the third series of popular ITV reality show, Celebrity Fit Club, losing 2 stone and a pound, and was made team captain. Ross was the first contestant to be eliminated on Comic Relief does Fame Academy (2003) after his singing failed to impress voters.

His film roles have included "Mr Sit-up Britain" in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Colonel Mattel in Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989).

In 2003 he joined the newly-relaunched London radio station LBC 97.3, taking on the Saturday morning show and later weekend breakfast. In January 2007, Paul Ross moved to drivetime 4pm-6:30pm, Monday to Thursday, replacing Iain Lee in new year shake-up. LBC advertisements on the evening of 11 January 2008 advertised James Hartigan & Petrie Hosken as presenting the 4pm slot as of 14 January 2008. By the evening of 11 January 2008 the schedule on LBC's website had removed any mention of Paul Ross from the upcoming programming for the next 7 days. The schedule had also moved the Nightly News from 6:30pm to 7:00 pm and moved Nick Abbot's show from starting at 7:00pm until 7:30pm. Nick Abbot's show continues to finish at 10:00pm. The final minutes of Paul Ross' programme made no reference to his departure and, unlike Alison Bell and Iain Lee, Paul Ross himself made no reference to his departure. He currently also appears as a show-business reporter for the television programme, This Morning. He also writes a weekly column, Paul Ross at the Movies, for a leading Sunday tabloid newspaper, which has been widely criticised for "quote exaggeration". He also introduced movies on the short lived Sit-up Ltd movie channels on Sky, matinee movies and 'bad movies.

In 2005 Ross was also one of the main presenters for ChoicesUK TV, a film review/shopping channel also hosted by Rustie Lee.

He has a Dogue de Bordeaux called Gracie

Paul Ross has also appeared on a celebrity edition of Mastermind where his specialist subject was "The Life and Works of Ezra Pound". He has been the presenter of Most Haunted Live! since the nineteenth edition filmed at Portsmouth in May 2006.

Ross has been married twice and has five children. In November 2006, he caused controversy by announcing an upcoming EastEnders Christmas storyline on his LBC radio show, causing his mother Martha, who told him the storyline, to be fired from her job as an extra on EastEnders.^[1]

Paul left LBC in early 2008. He can now be seen presenting on shopping channel bid tv, a move which he has described as 'the start of an exciting new career path.', and co-hosts the Breakfast show with JoAnne Good on BBC London 94.9. On Saturday mornings he presents a show on BBC Southern Counties Radio.^[2]