Melanie Sykes is best known for co-hosting Today with Des and Mel with Des O'Connor and Let's Do Lunch with Gino D'Acampo.
41 Facts About Melanie Sykes
1.
3.
Melanie Sykes ended her career in the entertainment industry in 2021, following a comment from Celebrity MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace.
4.
Melanie Sykes was born in 1970 at Ashton-under-Lyne to an English father and an Anglo-Indian mother.
5.
Melanie Sykes attended Mossley Hollins High School and studied A-level Religious Studies at Ashton Sixth Form College.
6.
Melanie Sykes was a member of the Ashtonian Brass Band, along with her father, mother and two sisters, playing the baritone horn.
7.
Melanie Sykes' television presenting career started by hosting Sky One's Real TV UK series in the mid-90s.
8.
Melanie Sykes has hosted a variety of awards ceremonies, including Miss World, the BAFTA Awards and the Q Awards.
9.
Melanie Sykes presented Today with Des and Mel with Des O'Connor in 2002.
10.
Melanie Sykes appeared as a guest panellist on Loose Women in October and November 2005 and later returned as a guest anchor in October 2008 and May 2009.
11.
From 2006 to 2009, Melanie Sykes occasionally filled in for Paul O'Grady as presenter of The Paul O'Grady Show when O'Grady was unable to appear.
12.
Melanie Sykes was the presenter of the daytime series Gene Detectives for BBC One.
13.
In 2010, Melanie Sykes guest presented five episodes of The 5 O'Clock Show with Denise van Outen on Channel 4.
14.
On 13 September 2011, Melanie Sykes co-hosted the three-part series Missing Millions with Paul Heiney on ITV.
15.
In February 2014, BT Sport announced that Melanie Sykes would become part of their MotoGP team.
16.
In 2014, Melanie Sykes took part in the fourteenth series of I'm a Celebrity.
17.
In 2015, Melanie Sykes co-presented Humble Pie, a cookery series for Watch, alongside Marco Pierre White.
18.
On 4 April 2017, Melanie Sykes was confirmed as the new voice of Blind Date, taking over the role most famously held by Graham Skidmore in the original series.
19.
In 2017, Melanie Sykes appeared on a "celebrity" charity edition of TV quiz show, The Chase.
20.
Melanie Sykes departed early and did not make the final round.
21.
In March 2018, Melanie Sykes won Star Baker in Channel 4's The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off.
22.
Melanie Sykes progressed to the semi-final where she won Star Chef on the fourth day.
23.
Melanie Sykes revealed that a comment, during this period, from Celebrity MasterChef judge, Gregg Wallace, led her to end her career in the entertainment industry.
24.
Melanie Sykes presented The A List, a national radio chart show based on total sales, produced by Unique the Production Company at the studios of London's Heart 106.2.
25.
Melanie Sykes left the show towards the end of 2006 and was replaced by Gail Porter.
26.
Melanie Sykes was heard on BBC Radio 2 with Aled Jones sitting in for Steve Wright in the Afternoon on 22,23 and 24 December 2008.
27.
Melanie Sykes continued on the show until its end in March 2012.
28.
Melanie Sykes returned on Boxing Day 2015 with Alan Carr for a one-off show on BBC Radio 2.
29.
Melanie Sykes presented a show with Carr on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas Eve and another on New Year's Eve in 2017.
30.
Melanie Sykes has appeared in advertisements for Morrisons, Wynsors World of Shoes and Churchill Insurance.
31.
Melanie Sykes posed naked for the December 2011 edition of men's magazine Esquire.
32.
Melanie Sykes had her own line of underwear and lingerie with high street chain and retailer Debenhams.
33.
In June 2016 Melanie Sykes created FRANK Magazine, "the magazine for open-minded women of all ages across the world".
34.
Melanie Sykes was the girlfriend of Matt Goss from early 1991, for five years.
35.
In July 2008, it was reported that the couple had separated, with Melanie Sykes having "grown apart" from Caltagirone, who had moved out of their Hampstead, London home.
36.
Melanie Sykes married Jack Cockings on 18 May 2013 at Sherborne Castle in Dorset.
37.
In November 2013, Melanie Sykes was arrested and cautioned by police over a common assault against Cockings.
38.
The caution was later revoked and deleted from police records, and Melanie Sykes has since campaigned for better treatment of women facing domestic violence, including from partners who make spurious allegations of assault so as to legally and financially harm their victims.
39.
Melanie Sykes has said that the police handled her case badly and misled her into accepting a caution as the quickest way out of her situation.
40.
In November 2021 Melanie Sykes received an autism diagnosis, which she said gave her a "deeper understanding of myself, my life, and the things I have endured".
41.
In July 2023 Melanie Sykes revealed she had self-diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.