Career As A TV Presenter
In the mid 1970s, he moved away from acting and became a household name presenting programmes such as Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Cheggers Plays Pop and, in the 80s, Saturday Superstore. As Brown Sauce, he and Swap Shop co-presenters Noel Edmonds and Maggie Philbin released the pop single "I Wanna Be a Winner", which reached number 15 in January 1982, and a follow-up single as The Saucers called "Spring Has Sprung". On Swap Shop and Superstore he was featured in outside broadcasts; on Swap Shop they were called Swaparama, appearing at outdoor venues around the UK, where he helped children swap their toys. On Superstore he had a similar role only the toys were called Bargains and the concept was that he worked on the Store's delivery van.
Chegwin's career waned in the late 1980s and 1990s because of his alcoholism, as detailed in his autobiography, Shaken But Not Stirred. He hosted the live nightly Sky talent programme Sky Star Search in 1990. He stopped drinking after his appearance on the Richard and Judy show This Morning on 5 November 1992. Chegwin's career regained speed in 1993 when he presented the "Down Your Doorstep" outside broadcast segment on The Big Breakfast, in which he cried, "Wake up you beggars, it's Cheggers!". He subsequently hosted the show itself, and went on to present a revived version of the 1970s gameshow It's a Knockout in 1999 on Channel 5.
In 2000, Chegwin presented the Channel 5 and Yorkshire Television's Naked Jungle, He identifies Naked Jungle as "the worst career move" in his entire life. The programme and Chegwin were condemned in the House of Commons.
He worked for 7 years on GMTV. He appeared as himself in an episode of the Ricky Gervais sitcom Extras in 2006 where he sent himself up and gained plaudits for doing so. He also has his own recording studio and video edit suite and does his voice over work from home. He frequently sends in jingles to the Chris Moyles Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1. Chegwin has hosted the BAFTA Television & Film Industry Awards in London.
He hosts his own quiz nights for the corporate world and also runs his own It's A Wey Hey Knockout as well as Cheggers Mini Knockout Rodeo Show which also travels the country putting on corporate events.
Chegwin runs his own gaming on-line bingo website www.cheggersbingo.com
The Kill Keith movie was released in November 2011 and Chegwin also makes an appearance in the new Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant comedy series Life's Too Short, alongside Shaun Williamson and Les Dennis. In August 2012 he was presented with a Life Time Achievement Award at the National Reality TV Awards During 2011 he broke his shoulder and three ribs whilst filming for Dancing On Ice with Torville & Dean He went on 'This Morning' and was asked by Phillip Schofield to appear in the 2013 series He is to feature, alongside Les Dennis & Shaun Williamson, in a 'one off' of Life's Too Short' to be broadcast next year
Read more about this topic: Keith Chegwin
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