Mike is a sport presenter for the BBC primarily working on flagship morning show BBC Breakfast. He is the longest serving sport presenter in the programme’s history.
Mike has also appeared on BBC World, BBC One’s Six and Ten ‘o’ Clock news, BBC Radio 5 live, and Radio 2 alongside Chris Evans and Sara Cox. Mike commentated on Radio 2 as Vernon Kay completed his Children in Need 2023 challenge. He’s also guest presented on Blue Peter and Saturday Mash up on CBBC.
Mike is known for holding the world record for his immersive reports, trying out different sports from around the country and the world, to try and inspire the Breakfast audience to get more active and try a sport, regardless of their ability. His tally stands at over 55 and the different sports have included everything from wing walking, backwards running to Kinball, Quidditch, worm charming and shin-kicking. In 2019 he ran in a 60 metres Grand Prix against top sprinters for a BBC breakfast and UK athletics experiment. He came last with a time of 9.27 seconds. He also sailed with Sir Ben Ainslie, played tennis again Novak Djokovic and had a round of golf with Luke Donald, just to name a few.
Mike has been to and covered Olympics, football and rugby and cricket World Cups. At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 he helped save the iconic giant mechanical bull.
Mike is also famous for accidentally falling over in a swimming pool while live on air, broadcasting from Australia’s Gold Coast and interviewing swimmers like Adam Peaty. The clip became an internet sensation and made the news all over the world and is one of the most watched sport bloopers of all time. Lesser know is that he fell from a show jumping horse when training with the Olympic gold medallist Ben Maher.
Mike took part in the 2019 series of Strictly Come Dancing partnering Katya Jones finishing 7th out of 15 and defying all expectations. He then went on to dance on the Strictly Live tour.
Mike has won Celebrity Mastermind; his specialist subject was Alan Partridge. He’s also won Celebrity Catchpoint, Weakest Link, and Pointless and has appeared on Richard Osman’s House of Games all on BBC and the Chase Celebrity Special on ITV. He also sang on BBC One’s “Hear My Voice “for Children in Need.
Mike graduated in drama and spent four years with the National Youth Theatre before moving to newspapers and then BBC local radio presenting the news and BBC TV South Today where he also hosted a 40-part history programme, “South 2000” and an entertainment slot called What’s On.
He regularly plays in celebrity charity football and cricket matches for the Lord Taverners and also basketball’s Hoops Aid. He’s also been part of celebrity cycling teams for Sport Relief at the London and Manchester velodromes. Longer distance running is his specialty and has run the London marathon twice. In 1981 aged just 15 he ran 175 miles in 6 days as part of a challenge to raise money for the international year of disabled people.
Mike has hosted on cruises and at dozens of award nights and is known for his boundless energy and his entertaining, professional, and unique, accessible style and always includes his game of ‘Sport or Spoof’ which warms any crowd up as they try to guess whether what Mike says is a real sport he’s tried or one he’s made up.
Mike is known for his down to earth, style with a great sense of self depreciation and humour. He still runs a lot and plays padel tennis and pickleball and football and cricket. He’s been in a couple of rock bands and still tries to sing.
