Factfile Dale has written his autobiography, 'My Story' (Arrow, 2003) where he tells of The problems, pain and the personalities he has encountered, dealing in depth with the highs and lows of a life in the spotlight. In his book he explains how his personal life has been marred by poverty and tragedy, his difficult rise to fame, his bullying father who died on the day of his bar mitzvah, and particularly the very close relationship he had with his beautiful but troubled mother, whose lengthy struggle with depression and carefully planned suicide has haunted him since the afternoon he found her, just days after his 21st birthday. | | | See also external link; BBC Radio 2 POTP |
| Radio Days Born in 1955, Dale Winton grew up in North London and attended Aldenham Public School, Hertfordshire, England. He began his DJ career in London clubs before moving on to work professionally at United Biscuits Network (UBN) in 1974 where he presented his own morning show, broadcasting to the workforce. In 1977 he went to work at Nottingham's Radio Trent, then much further afield to Radio Danube (Yugoslavia). He came back to the UK to front an entertainment show at Chiltern Radio (Luton) . Television In 1986 he was seen on TV for the first time with BBC's "Pet Watch" programme. He joined Beacon Radio (Wolverhampton) in 1988 for three years, and during the same period was seen on Home Today with Fern Britton on ITV, plus his own talk show on satellite's Lifestyle Channel. Supermarket Sweep was Dale's big success in 1990 and became a hit with ITV's daytime audience followed by The Weekend Show, Pets Win Prizes, and the National Lottery (from 1996) all for BBC 1. BBC Radio In August 1995 Dale stood in for Simon Mayo for two consecutive Sundays presenting the Classic Years on BBC Radio 1. He did such a great job that the BBC remembered him and in March 2000 they asked him to take over the reigns from Alan 'Fluff' Freeman who was retiring after four years presenting the Saturday golden oldies show Pick of the Pops on Radio 2. Dale said in an interview at the time that he was "nervous about taking over the show from such a legendary broadcaster". For over 25 years Dale Winton's winning ways have made him one of Britain's most popular and powerful personalities. |
