39 Facts About Colin Murray

Colin Murray was born on Colin Wright on 10 March 1977 and is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter.

Colin Murray has hosted the Channel 4 game show Countdown since 2022.

In 2006, Colin Murray began his first role on BBC Radio 5 Live, hosting the sports-themed Saturday morning comedy panel game Fighting Talk, and began presenting Channel 5's live UEFA Cup football coverage on midweek evenings.

Colin Murray has previously hosted regular Channel 5 television and Radio 1 shows.

Colin Murray announced via Twitter in July 2016 that he was to leave Talksport in September 2016, following the takeover of the station by News Corp.

Colin Murray stated that the concomitant business links between Talksport and The Sun meant that, after the scandal of the Hillsborough disaster and of its coverage by The Sun, his position would be untenable owing to the feelings of Liverpool fans towards that newspaper.

Colin Murray was born on 10 March 1977 in the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, a suburb of East Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up on Dundonald's Ballybeen estate.

Colin Murray said on the 5 September 2022 edition of Countdown that for two days his name was Luke Wright, until "a family member pointed out that was a direction"; he later took his stepfather's surname.

Colin Murray started work as a news journalist, working both in Northern Ireland as a trainee for The News Letter, before in 1994 moving to Toronto, Canada, for a year, working on a fellowship for the Toronto Sun.

Colin Murray initially thought the audition was for a show on BBC Radio Ulster.

In 2006, Colin Murray became the new presenter of BBC Radio 5 Live's Saturday morning comedy sports panel quiz show, Fighting Talk, his first regular show on 5 Live.

Also in February 2006, Colin Murray became the anchor for Channel 5's midweek evening live European UEFA Cup football television coverage, with former anchor John Barnes acting as a roving reporter.

From February 2008, Colin Murray began presenting a weekly late-night music show on BBC Radio Ulster in Northern Ireland.

Colin Murray hosted the BBC Two nightly highlights show for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa through June and July.

In sports television, Colin Murray has presented coverage of late-night American Football and the European Poker Tour for Channel 5.

From January 2010, Colin Murray has presented the BBC's televised coverage of the annual BDO World Darts Championship, alongside Bobby George.

In music television, Colin Murray has co-hosted Glastonbury Festival coverage for both BBC Three and Radio 1, presented a late-night music show Ear Candy on Channel 4 and guest-presented the BBC music show Top of the Pops.

Colin Murray has presented ITV2's coverage of the Brit Awards.

In documentary television, in 2010 Colin Murray co-wrote and presented the BBC Two documentary Davis v Taylor: The '85 Black Ball Final, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1985 World Snooker Championship final.

Colin Murray expressed deep regret for the line and stated that he did not come up with it, but that it had been written on his autocue.

Colin Murray hosted alongside Stuart Pearce and Perry Groves on Monday, Des Kelly and Michael Gray on Tuesday, Steve Bunce and Didi Hamann on Wednesday, Daley Thompson and Danny Murphy on Thursday, and Bob Mills and Perry Groves on Friday.

In early 2023, Colin Murray announced his resignation from Fighting Talk and Rick Edwards took over from its return from summer recess in September 2023.

Colin Murray hosted the late evening show from 22.30 to 1.00 Monday to Thursday until January 2023, which included a virtual pub called The Lock-Inn which was broadcast via radio and Zoom.

Colin Murray has continued his journalism work into his presenting career by writing a monthly "radio diary" piece for The Guardian newspaper.

In 2007 Colin Murray directed magician Chris Cox's Edinburgh Fringe Festival show, Everything Happens for a Reason.

Outside the UK, Colin Murray has been a weekly fixture on The Fan 590's breakfast programme in Toronto, Canada.

Colin Murray appears on Fridays with frequent FT panellist Greg Brady and Jim Lang wherein he discusses the week's big sporting topics in the UK, as well as the upcoming weekend's Premier League action.

Colin Murray is credited as the interviewer for "Lock the Box", a 40-minute video interview with Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, which discusses the tracks selected for the band's retrospective album Stop the Clocks.

On 7 November 2020, it was announced that Colin Murray would replace Nick Hewer as host of Countdown as the second coronavirus lockdown precluded Hewer, 76, from being able to travel to the set.

Colin Murray began hosting three special episodes in December 2020 and then his first regular episode was shown on Channel 4 on 13 January 2021 and he hosted it until Hewer returned on 16 March.

Colin Murray returned to Countdown as a permanent host on 14 July 2022, following Anne Robinson's departure, staying until at least early November, where he would take a short hiatus while four guest presenters hosted each week in honour of the programme's 40th anniversary before returning on 28 November.

Colin Murray has been a fan of Liverpool and the Northern Ireland national team since childhood.

Colin Murray got five stars tattooed on his arm when Liverpool won the European Cup for the fifth time.

Colin Murray has stated he is a Chester fan after falling in love with the club following their rise from closure and fronted by the fans.

Colin Murray was guest of honour at their end-of-season awards.

Whilst living in Toronto, Canada, Colin Murray became a supporter of the baseball team Toronto Blue Jays and a fan of Major League Baseball in general, and has since spent his annual summer holidays in North America watching MLB games.

Colin Murray is a season ticket-holder at the Welsh club Pontypridd Town, with whom he has promoted tours across Spain, where Pontypridd played pre-season fixtures against Villarreal and Valencia.

Colin Murray stated on his 5 Live show on 21 December 2020, following a reference to paganism, that he was an atheist.

In 2002, Colin Murray was named IPR Northern Ireland Entertainment Journalist of the Year, for his long-running music column in the Irish Sunday People.