Paul Dominik Diamond (known as Dominik Diamond) is a Scottish television and radio presenter and newspaper columnist. He is best known as the original presenter of Channel 4's video gaming programme GamesMaster, as host of The Dominik Diamond Breakfast Show on Xfm Scotland and as a columnist for the Daily Star. He is currently on air at Q107 in Toronto.

Early life[link]

Born in Arbroath, Diamond attended Strathallan School in Forgandenny, Perthshire.^[1]

He then went on to study drama at Bristol University, also attended by Little Britain star David Walliams. Walliams and Diamond were part of a comedy troupe called "David Icke and The Orphans of Jesus", in which they were also joined by Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). Walliams and Diamond fell out after Walliams appeared as a guest on Diamond's Paramount show "Dom'n'Kirk's Night O Plenty" - after which Diamond said that Walliams and co-Little Britain star Matt Lucas were "complete arseholes". Diamond has not spoken to Walliams since, yet still refers to him as a "comic genius".^[2]

Pegg appeared on Diamond's Xfm Scotland Breakfast Show as a guest while promoting Hot Fuzz and revealed that seeing Diamond do stand-up comedy at Bristol University inspired him to do it as a career.

Television & publications[link]

An avid Celtic fan, Diamond had a column in the monthly football magazine FourFourTwo when it launched in 1994. Diamond co-hosted sports programme Live and Dangerous in 1997, and When Games Attack, aired in 2004. Since 1996, he has written a twice-weekly column in the Daily Star and had a regular column in the monthly magazine PC Zone until the August 2006 edition.

Diamond's biggest role on television to date came on Channel 4 computer and video game show Gamesmaster, which ran from 1992-1998. However he was absent during the show's third series, which he attributed to a disagreement with the show's then-sponsors, McDonald's.^[3] He went on to present the short-lived BBC Scotland panel show Caledonia McBrains in 2002.

In 2006, Diamond filmed Five documentary, Crucify Me. During filming, he took part in the live annual Holy week re-enactment of the crucifixion at San Pedro Cutud. However, he backed down at the last minute, breaking into tears.^[4][5]

He also has appeared on the Discovery Real Time programme, Rubble Trouble, which charts the development of his house extension. While residing in Brighton from 2002 to 2004, he trained and worked as a bus driver with the local transport company Brighton and Hove Bus Company, recording his thoughts and feelings for a documentary to be shown on UK television Channel 5.^[6] Similarly to Diamond, many celebrities have worked for Brighton and Hove Bus Company, some of which are named on the front of the cities buses.^[7]

In July 2006, he appeared in the satirical quiz show spoof, "Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive" where his career was parodied. He has appeared many times as a host of What The Papers Say, a round-up of the week's newspapers on BBC2. In January 2009 Diamond became a columnist for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Nova Scotia.

Diamond's autobiography, 'Celtic & Me: Confessions From The Jungle', was published in the UK by Black & White Publishing in August 2010. The book is a combination of media memoir and the story of Diamond's life as a fan of Celtic Football Club. ^[8]

Radio career[link]

Diamond hosted the debut of Fantasy Football League on BBC Radio 5 at before it appeared on BBC TV. Diamond presented Sportscall on BBC Radio Five Live in the 1990s and occasionally hosted the station's phone-in football show, 6-0-6.

Xfm Scotland[link]

Diamond launched XFM Scotland with "The Dominik Diamond Breakfast Show" weekdays 6 till 10 on Xfm Scotland in January 2006. He was named Scottish Radio Presenter of the Year for his efforts at the 2007 XTrax Scottish Radio Awards. Diamond also received a nomination for a Sony Radio Award in 2007 as UK Radio Music Personality of the Year. His departure was first announced on 9 June 2007 when The Sunday Herald reported that Diamond had asked for a pay rise following his Sony Radio Award nomination. GCap Media bosses denied this, although Diamond repeated the claims in some detail in his autobiography when it was published in 2010 Celtic & Me: Confessions from the Jungle by Dominik Diamond. He aired his last show on 22 June 2007. Diamond was replaced on Xfm Scotland on 4 July 2007 by Julyan Sinclair. [1]

Diamond would frequently include producer Scott Shaw and news presenter Marisa de Andrade throughout the show, most notably a segment named "Fib Of The Day". The segment involved each of the three making an ambiguous - and sometimes near unbelievable - statement about a news issue of the day (where only one was genuine). Listeners would then text in which of the three statements they believed were true.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The A.M's

After declaring that Meg White of The White Stripes was "rubbish" at drumming, Diamond challenged Xfm news presenter Marisa de Andrade to learn to play the drums in the five days that the breakfast show took place. This would culminate in the entire breakfast team playing together, with Scott Shaw playing bass guitar and Diamond on guitar and vocals. The station followed de Andrade's progress throughout the week, and, as promised, the trio were recorded playing a special cover of The White Stripes' "7 Nation Army". The song was distributed on the Xfm website under the band name, "The A.M's".^{[citation needed]}

During UK Music Week 2007, the week which would mark a year since the band's creation, The A.M's announced through Xfm that they would be releasing their debut single on Nineteen Percent Records. The single, a double a-side of two of the band's own songs, "Billy the Dancer/Isobel Campbell", was released on 21 May 2007. The band most recently played a number of homecoming shows at numerous small venues in Glasgow. All three members of the band (and manager) have all now left Xfm Scotland, yet continue to play around the country. Prior to Diamond leaving, it was announced on the band's MySpace page that they would be playing at Wickerman Festival in Dumfries, Scotland on 21 July 2007. After moving to Canada in 2009 Diamond started writing and performing solo on the Nova Scotia folk-roots circuit.

[edit] Work for Talk 107

On 27 June 2007, RadioToday.co.uk announced that Diamond had joined Talk 107 to cover a number of programmes over the summer months. He also stood in for James Whale on talkSPORT for the month of July 2007. From 13 October 2007 Diamond presented the Dominik Diamond Breakfast Club on Talk 107. He was joined by Marisa de Andrade who worked with him on Xfm Scotland. In January 2008 Dominik took over Talk 107 Drive, again with Marisa de Andrade. In April 2008, following a station revamp, the show became known as Diamond and de Andrade. Diamond left Talk 107 due to exhaustion. Marisa de Andrade stayed at the station on the 'Drive Time' slot, with Diamond being replaced by Mark Donaldson, the station's sport editor. However, the station closed in December 2008. [2]

Work in Canada[link]

After living in Nova Scotia for a year Diamond returned to the airwaves co-hosting the Saturday afternoon show with Alicia Hunter on the South Shore's CKBW in March 2010. In July 2010 he became the station's daily Afternoon Drive host. In February 2011 he moved to "The Home of Rock & Roll" Q104 in the Nova Scotian capital of Halifax where among other shifts he presented the Classic Album Countdown every Sunday from Noon. [3][4]

Diamond moved to Toronto in October 2011 and can be heard on The Mighty Q - Q107 Classic Rock, weekday evenings from 6 - 11pm.

Personal life[link]

Diamond and his partner, Phoebe, have three children, Molly, Charlie and Honor. Diamond has frequently referred to his family on his shows. He also suffers from insomnia.^[9] In January 2009 he emigrated with his family to a farm in Canada ^[6] where, in his spare time, he grew vegetables and performed on the Nova Scotian folk-roots circuit. He moved to Toronto in 2011.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Dominik Diamond at the Internet Movie Database
• The A.M's on Myspace