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Ray D'Arcy

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Ray D'Arcy
A D'Arcy pencil portrait.
Born (1964-09-01) September 1, 1964 (age 60)
Kildare, Ireland
NationalityIrish
EducationPsychology degree, Trinity College, Dublin
OccupationBroadcaster
EmployerToday FM
Known forMorning radio show
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm) [1]
PartnerJenny Kelly
ChildrenOne daughter

Ray D'Arcy (born 1 September, 1964) is an Irish television and radio presenter. He currently presents The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM on weekday mornings. His professional partner on the show, Jenny Kelly, became his personal partner and they have since had a daughter together. Prior to becoming a father D'Arcy had a television career with RTÉ, presenting children's television on The Den, a quiz show called Blackboard Jungle and the youth music show 2Phat. He has however still presented television coverage of The Rose of Tralee beauty pageant each August for four consecutive years. [2] He has also outed himself as a competitor in the 2009 edition of Celebrity Bainisteoir.

Career

Formative years

D'Arcy began DJing 1979. He started his career at Raidió na Gaeltachta and in 1988 moved to RTÉ television, with a presenter spot on Jo Maxi. He later replaced Ian Dempsey as the presenter of The Den, RTÉ's flagship children's television series, from 1990 till 1999. His career in children's television later featured in the 2008 documentary Best Bitz From Back Den. [3] He also presented the secondary school quiz show Blackboard Jungle at the time, and later moved onto presenting 2Phat, a youth music quiz. In addition, he presented the UTV and RTÉ collaborative travel show, Bon Voyage! for one season.

Radio career

Main article: The Ray D'Arcy Show

In the late 1990s D'Arcy moved to Today FM. There he took over the mid-morning show from Tim Kelly which went out from 10:00 to 12:45. This slot was later changed to 9:00 to 12:00, entering direct competition with RTÉ 2fm's The Gerry Ryan Show.

The D'Arcy Show has achieved something of a cult status due to some of its quirky segments. One of the most popular of these is called "Fix-It Friday", which, as is evident by its name, takes place each Friday. It involves D'Arcy and his assistant Jenny Kelly's attempts to find the solution to any question the listenership request of them. [4] Another segment is the "Odd One Out Quiz" which takes place every day the show is on air. This involves D'Arcy asking a phone-in contestant a series of questions each involving three items, one of which is the odd one out. A regular example would be two consonants and a vowel. The fast-paced delivery is usually enough to unhinge the contestant although D'Arcy is usually generous in his delivery and will often repeat questions after the allotted time has run out.

The D'Arcy Show has also seen many unusual innovations. For instance D'Arcy and his production team, Jenny Kelly, Mairéad Farrell and Will Hanafin once performed a spoof version of the OK Go hit "Here It Goes Again" in D'Arcy's back garden in frozen conditions. [5] In 2008 D'Arcy stripped naked to participate in an Irish Spencer Tunick art project and later spoke of it on his show. [6] Later, live on his radio show, he critised Orla McAdam of The Apprentice, a former follower of D'Arcy in his days with children's television, and upset her. [7]

On the weekend of 21-22 March 2009, an unknown person placed satirical naked pictures of Brian Cowen in the National Gallery of Ireland and the gallery of the Royal Hibernian Academy[8]. The artist, Conor Casby, emailed the Ray Darcy Show anonymously, claiming responsibility for the creation of the paintings, but not their hanging. Gardai subsequently raided the Today FM studios and the producer, Will Hanafin, was asked to hand over the emails claiming that the placing of the paintings constituted indecency, incitement and criminal damage. Hanafin refused to provide the emails without a warrant. [9].

Later TV career

In 2005 D'Arcy took over presenter duties at the International Rose of Tralee festival. He also presents special one-off events including Ireland's version of the Test The Nation franchise and the Irish Young Scientist Awards, and until 2005 presented You're A Star, the talent contest to find Ireland's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest. He presented an edition of The Panel on 6 November 2008. In early January a brainchild of Ray's called "feirm factor" hit the Irish television screens and is a huge hit amogst the agricultural community. Ray reportedly received 300 sheep and a square bale as payment, he was thrilled with these gifts.[10] He has ruled out snatching The Late Late Show from Pat Kenny's paws, [11] despite being linked to the primetime slot. [12] On 1 December 2008, he announced on his radio show that he would be participating in the 2009 edition of Celebrity Bainisteoir, in which he will manage Rathangan GAA, a team from Rathangan, County Kildare.[13]

Personal life

D'Arcy was born in Kildare in 1964, and was always interested in music and broadcasting, and DJ'ed his first disco at the age of 15.[14] He attended Trinity College Dublin, and graduated in 1985 [15] with a degree in Psychology.

D'Arcy was previously engaged to marry television presenter Geri Maye only for the wedding to be halted at the last minute. He is currently in a relationship with Jenny Kelly, one of the producers and co-presenters of his radio show. The pair were stalked by the press when D'Arcy publicly exposed their partnership on Saturday Night With Miriam in 2005. [16] Afterwards, D'Arcy was dismissive of the public interest in the relationship:

"I guess once we have actually told people we are together that will be the end of it. Our listeners probably care that we are a couple, but beyond that I don't know why anyone would be interested."

D'Arcy and Kelly have a baby daughter, Kate (born 25 November 2006), together. [17]

Awards

D'Arcy won a Jacob's Award in 1993 for his presentation of The Den. In 2005, 2006 and 2007[18] Ray was voted the Best Irish Radio DJ at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards by the Irish public, cementing his position as one of Ireland's most popular radio presenters. D'Arcy always maintains that this should be seen as a group award, and that credit should be shared with Jenny Kelly, Mairead Farrell (Irish radio presenter) and producer Will Hanafin, who also contributes to presenting the show. Despite this, it has always been awarded to himself only.

In 2006 the Ray D'arcy show won the Community/Social Action award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards for their work in highlighting road safety problems and deaths on the roads in Ireland. This was due in part, to their "Don't be a Fucking Eejit" radio adverts, which contained real-life stories.

In 2007 the Ray D'arcy show won the Best Light Entertainment Programme award at the PPI Irish Radio Awards[19].

References

  1. ^ "Jenny Kelly's Biog". Today FM. Accessed 9 November 2008.
  2. ^ "Ray D'Arcy Introduces the 49th Rose of Tralee International Selection". RTÉ. 2007-08-19. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  3. ^ "Zig and Zag return to TV for 21st anniversary". Evening Herald. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Fix It Friday" - Today FM
  5. ^ "OK Ray D'Arcy Show GO". Today FM. Accessed 15 November 2008.
  6. ^ "Ray in the nude!". Today FM. Accessed 15 November 2008.
  7. ^ "Sacked apprenctice [sic] Orla upset by D'Arcy's harsh words". Evening Herald. 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2008-10-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Naked taoiseach paintings removed
  9. ^ Today FM producer brands reaction ‘crazy’
  10. ^ "The Panel Thursday, 6 November 2008". RTÉ. Accessed 27 October 2008.
  11. ^ "Ray happy with Roses as he rules out run at 'Late Late'". Irish Independent. 2008-08-24. Retrieved 2008-11-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Mogadon Man Kenny turned the Late Late into the Late lamented". Irish Independent. 2008-09-14. Retrieved 2008-11-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ The Ray D'Arcy Show. Today FM. 1 December 2008.
  14. ^ About RTÉ
  15. ^ D'Arcy on The Ray D'Arcy Show, Today FM, 6 Oct 2008
  16. ^ "Pregnancy finally fixes the big Ray and Jenny question". Irish Independent. 2006-07-30. Retrieved 2008-11-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ ireland.com - Archive Search - Results 0.0054 seconds
  18. ^ RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Snow Patrol big winners at Meteors
  19. ^ PPI Radio Awards 2006 - Recognising the Best in Irish Radio Broadcasting
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