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Christine Bleakley
Born	Christine Louise Bleakley (1979-02-02) 2 February 1979 (age 33) Newry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Occupation	Television presenter
Years active	1997–present
Employer	ITV
Television	The One Show Daybreak Dancing On Ice
Partner	Frank Lampard (2009–present)
Parents	Frederick and Mina Bleakley

Christine Louise Bleakley^[1] (born 2 February 1979) is a television presenter from Northern Ireland. She joined Daybreak on ITV as co-presenter with Adrian Chiles in September 2010.^[2][3] She is a former co-presenter of BBC One's The One Show,^[4] and a former contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

On 18 November 2011 it was announced that Bleakley is to co-host Dancing On Ice alongside Phillip Schofield after Holly Willoughby left because of other commitments.^[5] She departed her role as Daybreak presenter on Monday 5 December 2011 following the appointment of a new editor.^[6]

Early life[link]

Christine Bleakley was born on 2 February 1979 in Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, to mother Mina and father Frederick, a musician, and grew up in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland.^[1] She has a younger sister, Nicola.^[7]

Bleakley started her television career as a runner and then trained to become a floor manager whilst studying for her A-Levels at Bloomfield Collegiate School in Ballyhackamore, Belfast. She continued to work at BBC NI whilst studying for a politics degree at Queen's University, Belfast. She did not complete her degree course, however, instead moving into television work full time.^[8]

Broadcasting career[link]

Radio[link]

Bleakley began her career in media at Belfast Citybeat as a news reader and presenter, working alongside Stephen Nolan.^[9]

BBC[link]

Bleakley then moved into television with BBC Northern Ireland hosting a wide variety of shows. One of her programmmes was called Sky High which saw her flying around Northern Ireland in a helicopter in 2004. A weekly entertainment show called First Stop followed, and she also hosted Would You Pass The 11+^[10][11] and BBC NI coverage of Children in Need.^[12] She also took part in cookery show, "Spill the Beans".^[13]

Outside Northern Ireland, she co-hosted the BBC Two talent show Let Me Entertain You^[14] and in July 2007 she became the co-host of The One Show on BBC One.^[14]

ITV[link]

In 2010 Bleakley left The One Show to join ITV1 as the co-host of Daybreak following Adrian Chiles' departure from the BBC to ITV. When Chiles left the BBC, there was a great deal of speculation on whether Bleakley would extend her BBC contract or move to ITV.^[15] Questions were raised in Parliament over the size and scale of the proposed £900,000 per year two year BBC contract.^[16] Shortly after she fired her long term manager and signed with Chiles' management company, on 20 June 2010, the BBC announced that it had withdrawn an offer to extend her current contract.^[16] Later that day ITV (owners of GMTV) announced she would again partner Chiles by co-hosting the revamped breakfast show with him, and also hosting prime time entertainment shows.^[2] On 8 July 2010 the BBC confirmed that Bleakley was not returning to The One Show after the programme returned from the World Cup break, from 12 July.^[4] In September 2010 Bleakley stated she would like to return to The One Show as a guest.^[17]

On 6 September 2010 Bleakley joined Chiles to host the new ITV breakfast show, Daybreak. The programme suffered mixed reviews and poor viewing figures in its first weeks on air,^[18][19] and Bleakley herself was the subject of criticism.^[20]. On 18 November 2011 it was announced that Bleakley and copresenter Chiles would be replaced.^[21]

Bleakley currently hosts quiz show Control^[22][23] and a number of music specials, including Simply Red: For the Last Time^[24] and Duran Duran: One Night Only.^[25] She also hosts the Christmas charity show Text Santa alongside Phillip Schofield on ITV1.

Other activities[link]

Strictly Come Dancing[link]

Bleakley took part in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Matthew Cutler.^[26]

Dances and marks[link]

Bleakley danced the Foxtrot (27 marks/out of 40), the Quickstep (26/40), the Samba (30/40), the Paso Doble (22/40), the American Smooth (29/40), the Jive (31/40), the Waltz (34/40), the Cha Cha Cha (27/40), the Tango (28/40) and the Salsa (30/40). Bleakley left on 30 November after Rachel Stevens beat her in the dance off.^[27]

Sport Relief[link]

Following a trip to Uganda in 2009, to see how Comic Relief money was being spent,^[28][29] in March 2010 Bleakley successfully water-skied across the English Channel in a time of one hour and 40 minutes for Sport Relief.^[30][31]

Comedy[link]

On 20 March 2010 Bleakley made her stand-up comedy debut when she took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London.^[32][33]

Game shows[link]

Bleakley appeared as a celebrity panellist on the 26 August 2009 edition of Shooting Stars.^[34] She also appeared as a panellist on the comedy show Would I Lie To You? on 7 September 2009.^[35] On 26 February 2010 she appeared on Chris Moyles' Quiz Night, coming second.

On 3 March 2011 and 9 February 2012 she was a panelist for Celebrity Juice on ITV2. She also appeared in an episode of Mad Mad World in Spring 2012 alongisde Peter Andre and Vinnie Jones.

Award ceremonies[link]

On 11 May 2011 she presented National Movie Awards on ITV.^[36]

Awards[link]

In November 2010 Bleakley was awarded the title 'Top TV Host' at the 2010 Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards.^[37][38] The award came after an intensely negative media campaign following her switch from the BBC to ITV.^[39]

Charity interests[link]

Bleakley is a patron of the CineMagic children's film festival^[40] and is Northern Ireland ambassador for The Prince's Trust.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Bleakley dated Belfast Giants star Curtis Bowen as she started her TV career. After breaking up with Curtis in 2003 Christine dated Dublin restaurant owner Christian Stokes who she got engaged to in 2004.^[41] She was then in a relationship with entrepreneur Mark Beirne from August 2007 until they split in January 2009.^[42][43]

After attending the Pride of Britain Awards in October 2009, she began a relationship with footballer Frank Lampard;^[44][45] their engagement was announced on 15 June 2011.^[46]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Christine Bleakley at itv.com
• Christine Bleakley at BBC Online
• Christine Bleakley at the Internet Movie Database
• Christine's Uganda gallery The One Show, BBC
• Team Bleakley gallery The One Show, BBC – Photos of Christine on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing
• Christine's trip to Uganda The One Show, BBC – Comic Relief footage

Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard with Chelsea
Personal information
Full name	Frank James Lampard[1]
Date of birth	(1978-06-20) 20 June 1978 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth	Romford, London, England
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2][3]
Playing position	Attacking midfielder Centre midfielder
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	8
Youth career
1994–1995	West Ham United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–2001	West Ham United	148	(24)
1995–1996	→ Swansea City (loan)	9	(1)
2001–	Chelsea	374	(126)
National team‡
1997–2000	England U21	16	(9)
1999–	England	90	(23)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:46, 9 April 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:51, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and the England national team. He also holds the position of vice-captain for his club side.^[4] He is considered to be one of the best English footballers of his time, and is widely regarded to be one of the best midfield players of his generation.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Lampard is best described as a box-to-box midfielder known for "his work-rate, range of passing and goalscoring ability."^[10]

Lampard began his career at West Ham United, for whom his father Frank Lampard, Sr. had also played. He had secured a place in the first team by the 1997–98 season, and the following year helped the team finish 5th in the Premier League, their highest-ever Premier League placing. In 2001, he moved to rival London club Chelsea for £11 million.

From his debut onwards he was ever-present in the Chelsea first team, setting a record 164 consecutive Premier League appearances. He established himself as a prolific scorer at the West London club and was a key part of the sides which won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and a domestic cup double in 2007. He signed a new contract in 2008, becoming the highest paid Premier League footballer at that time,^[11] and scored in his first Champions League Final that same year. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the winning goal in the final. In the 2009–10 season, Lampard won the Premier League title and FA Cup (domestic cup double) and also had his most prolific season with Chelsea, scoring 22 league goals and 17 league assists.^[12] In the 2011-12 season, Lampard captained Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League title.^[13]

A three-time Chelsea Player of the Year,^[14] Lampard is the club's third highest all-time goalscorer with 186 goals in all competitions. Lampard is also one of five players, and the only midfielder, to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League.^[15] He is second in the Premier League's all-time assists table with 91 assists.^[16] He has had over 1400 successful passes and 10 or more assists every season.^[17] In 2005, Lampard was runner-up in both the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year and the 2005 Ballon d'Or. On 23 December 2009, he was named the Premier League's Player of the decade by official statistics.^[18]

Internationally, Lampard has been capped 90 times by England since making his debut in October 1999, and has scored 23 goals. He was voted England Player of the Year for two consecutive years in 2004 and 2005. He played in Euro 2004, where he was named in the team of the tournament after scoring three goals in four games. He was top scorer for England in their successful 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, and played in the 2006 World Cup. He is England's most prolific penalty taker ever with 7 goals, surpassing the previous record holders, Ron Flowers and Alan Shearer.

He was named the 49th highest earning athlete in the world in June 2011.^[19]

Club career[link]

West Ham United[link]

Lampard began his career at West Ham United, his father's former club, joining the youth team in 1994.

Lampard joined West Ham United when his father was the assistant coach, entering as an apprentice in the youth team in 1994 and signing a professional contract the following year. He went on loan to Swansea City in October 1995, debuting in his team's victory 2-0 over Bradford City and scoring his first career goal in a match against Brighton & Hove Albion. Lampard played nine times for Swansea before returning to West Ham in January 1996, debuting for the team against Coventry City at the end of that month. However, he spent the rest of the season with the reserves.

The following year, Lampard suffered a broken leg during a match against Aston Villa, prematurely ending his participation in the 1996-97 season, where he accumulated 13 appearances. He had to wait until the 1997-98 season to score his first West Ham goal, against Barnsley. Lampard was an ever-present for West Ham in the 1998-99 season, helping his team to fifth place in the Premier League season and qualifying for the Intertoto Cup. In the 1999–2000 season Lampard finished as the club's third top scorer with a total of 14 goals. In this season he scored his first goals in European competition, in the Intertoto and UEFA Cups.

After the sacking of his father and uncle Harry Redknapp (the assistant manager and manager of West Ham respectively), Lampard left West Ham United for Chelsea for £11 million, the Hammers having previously declined a £15 million joint bid from Aston Villa for Lampard and Frédéric Kanouté.^[20]

Chelsea[link]

2001–2004[link]

Lampard warming up for Chelsea

Lampard's Premier League debut with Chelsea came on 19 August 2001 in a 1–1 draw with Newcastle United, while his first red card came in a match against Tottenham Hotspur on 16 September.

Lampard appeared in all of Chelsea's league matches and scored eight goals in the 2001–02 season. He netted the match-winner in Chelsea's 2002–03 season-opener against Charlton Athletic.

The following season, he was selected as the Barclays Player of the Month in September 2003, and the PFA Fans' Player of the Month in October. Chelsea finished 2nd in the 2003–04 Premier League behind unbeaten Arsenal and he was named in the 2004 PFA Team of the Year as he reached double figures in league goals (10) for the first time in his career, in addition to four goals in fourteen UEFA Champions League matches, as Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-final against Monaco he scored, but Chelsea lost 5–3 on aggregate.^[21] At the end of the season he came second, behind Thierry Henry, for the 2004 FWA Footballer of the Year award.^[22]

2004–2007[link]

Lampard played in all 38 Premier League matches for the third consecutive season in 2004–05. He finished with 13 goals (19 in all competitions), in addition to leading the league in assists with sixteen.^[23]

Frank Lampard in 2006–07

In August 2004, he scored the winning goal against Southampton in the League,^[24] and continued scoring important goals as he scored both in a 2-0 win against Tottenham.^[25] In March 2005 he scored a long-range goal from 30 yards against Crystal Palace in the Premier League which Chelsea won 4–1.^[26] Lampard continued his season strongly, and his brilliant performances for Chelsea in the Premier League and Champions League further increased his reputation as one of the best midfielders in the world.^[27] In the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League he scored one of the goals in Chelsea's famous 4-2 win over Barcelona helping Chelsea to progress to the quarter-finals.^[28] In the quarter-finals, he scored 3 goals in 2 legs against Bayern Munich as Chelsea won 6–5 on aggregate. His second goal in the first leg was a spectacular one; he controlled Makélélé's cross with his chest then turned and swivelled and sent the ball inside the far post with a left-foot half volley.^[29][30] In April 2005, He scored both goals against Bolton Wanderers in a 2–0 win which was the Premier League title winning match for Chelsea,^[31] which also won the first major trophy of his career as Chelsea bagged their first top-flight title in fifty years, by a twelve point margin. He was named as Barclays Player of the Season for 2004-05.^[32] Though Chelsea were eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals by league rivals Liverpool, they took home the Football League Cup, in which Lampard scored twice in six matches, which included the opening goal against Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final, which Chelsea won 2–1. He landed his first personal award by being named the 2005 Footballer of the Year.^[33]

He netted a career-high 16 league goals in 2005–06, and was a Premier League record for a midfielder to score goals in one season. In September 2005, Lampard was selected as a member of the inaugural World XI.^[34] He finished as runner-up to Ronaldinho for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards.^[35][36] His record of consecutive Premier League appearances ended at 164 (five better than previous record-holder David James) on 28 December 2005, when he sat out a match against Manchester City due to illness.^[37] Lampard scored 12 goals in his first 4 months of the 2005-06 season. He scored twice in three separate matches from August to November, including both in a 2-1 win over Aston Villa, making Chelsea the first team to win their first 7 matches in the Premier League.^[38] He scored twice again, this time against Blackburn Rovers in a 4–2 win, which included a free-kick from 25 yards. After the match, manager José Mourinho hailed Lampard as the "best player in the world".^[39] Chelsea eventually won the Premier League for the second time, in which Lampard was Chelsea's topscorer with 16 league goals. In the Champions League group stages, he scored a free-kick against Anderlecht. Chelsea proggresed to the first knock-out round to face Barcelona, with Lampard scoring a goal in the second leg but Chelsea were eliminated 3-2 on aggregate.

Due to a back injury sustained by John Terry, Lampard spent much of the 2006–07 campaign as team captain in his absence. He enjoyed a streak of seven goals in eight games. He scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Fulham and scored his 77th goal for Chelsea from a long range strike in a 3–2 win over Everton on 17 December, overtaking Dennis Wise as Chelsea's highest scoring midfielder.^[40] Then in the UEFA Champions League group stages he scored a goal from an extremely tight angle against Barcelona, at the Camp Nou, the match ended 2–2.^[41] Lampard finished with 21 goals in all competitions, including a career-high six FA Cup goals. He scored his first Chelsea hat-trick in the third-round tie against Macclesfield Town on 6 January 2007. He scored two goals to help Chelsea to a quarter-final draw with Tottenham Hotspur after having trailed 3–1, and he was named the FA Cup player-of-the-round for his performance.^[42] He gave the assist to Didier Drogba in the 2007 FA Cup Final which was the winning goal in extra-time, as Chelsea won it 1–0. In a post-match interview following Chelsea's FA Cup Final victory over Manchester United, Lampard said he wanted to stay at the club "forever".^[43]

2007–2009[link]

Lampard signing a match-day programme

Lampard's 2007–08 season was riddled with injury, managing to play 40 matches, 24 of which in the league-the fewest he had played in a season since 1996–97. On 16 February 2008, Lampard became the eighth Chelsea player to score 100 goals for the club in a 3–1 FA Cup fifth-round win over Huddersfield Town.^[44] After the final whistle, Lampard removed his jersey and flashed a T-shirt to the Chelsea fans with "100 Not Out, They Are All For You, Thanks" printed across the front.^[45] In the Premier League match with Liverpool he scored a penalty in a 1–1 draw at Anfield. He scored four goals in a 6–1 rout of Derby County on 12 March. Then in the Champions League quarter-final second leg he scored the winning goal against Fenerbahçe in the 87th minute as Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate.^[46] On 30 April, Lampard, grieving the loss of his mother a week earlier, decided to play in the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final against Liverpool, who were eliminated on 4–3 aggregate as he took an emotional penalty in the 98th minute of extra-time, which he scored confidently.^[47] In the final against Manchester United, he scored an equalising goal in the 45th minute, as Michael Essien's deflected shot found him as he went to the box with his trade-mark late run, and he scored with a left foot finish. The match ended 1–1 after extra-time and Chelsea eventually lost 6–5 on penalties. He was later named UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year.

Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo

On 13 August 2008, Lampard signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea worth £39.2 million, making him the highest-paid Premier League player.^[11][48] He started the 2008–09 season by scoring five goals in his first eleven league matches. He scored the 150th goal of his club career with a goal against Manchester City in the Premier League. In October 2008, in the Premier League he scored a chipped goal against Hull City with his left foot; he unleashed a chip from 20 yards that curled and swerved and fooled the goal-keeper as it went into the net. World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said after the game: "It was the best goal I have seen, my vote for World Player of the year award will go to him, only a player with his intelligence could have done that".^[49] He scored his hundredth career Premier League goal in a 5–0 victory over Sunderland on 2 November.^[50] Eighteen of Lampard's hundred goals were penalties.^[51] He was named Premier League Player of the Month for the third time in his career in October.^[52]

After a streak of matches without scoring, Lampard scored three goals in two games, the first being against West Bromwich Albion and the latter two against Fulham.^[53][54] On 17 January 2009, he made his 400th Chelsea appearance against Stoke City, scoring a stoppage time winner. He again scored a stoppage time winner, this time against Wigan Athletic. Then in the FA cup 4th round, he scored a free-kick from 35 yards against Ipswich Town. He scored twice against Liverpool in the second-leg quarter finals of the Champions League which ended 4–4, but Chelsea won 7–5 on aggregate. Then he provided two assists in the next game against Arsenal in FA Cup Semi-finals which Chelsea won 2–1. Lampard finished the season with 20 goals and 19 assists. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson heaped praise on Lampard saying: "Frank Lampard is an exceptional player – a huge asset to Chelsea, You pay attention to players who can get goals from midfield and he's been averaging 20 a season.You don't see him getting into stupid tackles or making a habit of becoming involved in silly rows. He remained restrained after Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona and even made a point of swapping shirts with Andrés Iniesta."

Lampard's 20th goal of the season was the winning goal in the FA Cup Final against Everton, with a left-foot shot from long-range. He repeated the corner flag celebration his father had done after scoring the winning goal in the 1979–80 FA Cup semi-final second leg against Everton. It was the fourth consecutive season that he scored 20 or more goals. He was named later named Chelsea's Player of the Year for the third time.

2009–2011[link]

Lampard celebrating after winning the Premier League with Chelsea

Lampard started the 2009-10 season by scoring against Manchester United, in the 2009 Community Shield, in the 72nd minute. The match ended 2–2, and Lampard scored in its penalty shootout which they won 4–1. He scored his 133rd goal for Chelsea in a Champions League match against Atlético Madrid on 21 October 2009, which moved him up to 5th among the club's all time goalscorers. He had been struggling to score the amount of goals he had in the past seasons however this soon changed as he scored two goals in the 5–0 defeat of Blackburn Rovers on 24 October 2009. On 30 October, he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the sixth straight year.^[55] He then scored a penalty against Bolton as Chelsea ran out 4–0 winners on Halloween. Lampard scored a crucial 79th minute winning goal on 16 December, against Portsmouth and on 20 December, Lampard scored a penalty against his former club West Ham in a 1-1 draw, however he had to take his spot-kick three times due to players running into the box too early, he nonetheless scored all three. In Chelsea's 7–2 thrashing of Sunderland in January 2010, Lampard scored twice to add to his league tally. On 27 January 2010, Lampard again scored two goals, in Chelsea's 3–0 win over Birmingham City in the Premier League. On 27 February Lampard yet again scored twice against Manchester City but despite his contribution Chelsea went on to lose the game 4–2 at home, for the first time in 38 games. He scored the opener and set up one for John Terry in a 2–0 win against Stoke City in the FA Cup quarter-final.