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QUENTIN WILLSON |
| Quentin's career began respectably enough by studying English Literature under Philip Larkin but after university he 'went completely off the rails' & started up a car dealership selling ancient Ferraris & Maseratis. Which is how he amassed his now famous knowledge of everything on four wheels & made him unique among motoring pundits. Quentin's expertise is very real as he's the only car commentator who has bought & sold literally thousands of cars. |
| He first came to the public's attention in the early 90s as Deputy Editor of the only magazine solely devoted to second hand motors, Buying Cars & was soon poached by the BBC to co-host Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson. His deep knowledge of the market changed the way British consumers bought used cars & caused most carmakers to regularly reach for their valium. For a decade he appeared every week on Top Gear, routinely exposing shoddy service & poor product, educating car buyers on how to beat the system as well as pressurising the industry to lower new car prices in the UK. |
| He also presented his own classic car series The Car's the Star along with the first property show to talk about money - All the Right Moves both for the BBC. He then left Top Gear to present Channel Five's rival motoring programme, Fifth Gear. Whilst at Five he created the Britain's Worst Driver format which was nominated for best reality show in the coveted Montreux Golden Globe Awards. A raft of Worst derived shows followed, including Britain's Worst DIYer, Worst Mother in Law, Worst Husband, Worst Teenager & Worst Builder to name just a few. |
| The Worst format is now an international brand & has been televised in 30 different countries including America, Canada, Holland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden & Belgium. Quentin has also presented many other shows including How to Fail Your Driving Test, The Biggest Car Fraud in the World & Television's Most Shameful Moments. A familiar face on most channels he regularly appears on BBC Breakfast, GMTV, Panorama, Watchdog, Tonight, This Morning, Richard & Judy & most news & current affairs programmes. |
| Quentin's voice is almost as recognisable as his face & he's narrated Driving School, War & Piste, Cops Uncut, How to Live Longer as well as network TV ads for Barclays Bank, Carphone Warehouse, Kelloggs, Parcelforce, Shell Optimax, Black & Decker & Tic Tac. He's also a BAFTA Judge & Fellow of The Royal Society of Artists. |
| He admits to being particularly proud of achieving the lowest ever recorded score on the BBC's second series of Strictly Come Dancing - a toe-curling 8 out of 40, which is still an unbroken record. He claims he is 'to dancing what Frank Bruno is to English literature' & dances 'with all the finesse & elegance of a hoard of Mongol storm troopers on a three day pass.' Quentin pens regular columns for The Sunday Mirror & Classic Cars Magazine as well as writing for scores of other newspapers & periodicals. He's also written 10 motoring books. |
For more information on Quentin Willson, Contact Arena. Tel: 0113-239-2222 |