Bacon's first job in the media was as a reporter for
BBC Radio Nottingham, notably on the programme
The Beat. In February 1996, he joined
L!VE TV as a reporter; this saw him being banned from the
State Opening of Parliament, and having a beer thrown at him by
Damon Albarn as he tried to interview him leaving a nightclub.
Blue Peter Bacon's television break was as a presenter on the children's show
Blue Peter, which he joined on 21 February 1997. He presented alongside
Romana D'Annunzio,
Katy Hill,
Konnie Huq and
Stuart Miles., he was the programme's first-ever presenter to have his contract terminated in mid-season, after the tabloid newspaper
News of the World published a report of Bacon taking
cocaine. His tenure on the programme lasted just over 18 months. The then head of
BBC children's programmes
Lorraine Heggessey went on air to explain Bacon's dismissal to
CBBC viewers. Bacon was required to return his
Blue Peter badge upon his dismissal. On the 60th anniversary of
Blue Peter, former presenter
Peter Purves presented Bacon with a Blue Peter badge.
TV career since Blue Peter Bacon's television career survived the setback, and he has since presented such shows as
The Big Breakfast,
Top of the Pops, and
reality TV shows
Back To Reality and
Castaway Exposed. In August 2005, the band
The Magic Numbers walked out of
Top of the Pops, after Bacon made a remark that was widely thought to be about the body shape of members of the band; during rehearsals he referred to the band as a "big, fat melting pot of talent". Between 2006 and 2011, Bacon narrated the
BBC Three series
Most Annoying People. Bacon guest-hosted
ITV's
This Morning during 2005,
Channel 5's
The Wright Stuff on several occasions during 2007 and 2008, and
BBC Two's
Something for the Weekend from 2008 to 2009. He was the narrator for series 1 to 3 of
Sky's police documentary
Brit Cops. In late 2010, he presented ''
Richard Bacon's Beer & Pizza Club on ITV4. A second series aired in late 2011. Just before the 2010 World Cup he hosted a show called World Cup's Most Shocking Moments'', with
Peter Crouch. Bacon presented editions of BBC Three's ''
Young Voters' Question Time''. On 13 January 2013, Bacon appeared on
All Star Family Fortunes with his family playing against
Louie Spence. On 25 November 2013, Bacon hosted one series of ITV's game show
Show Me the Telly. On 17 February 2014, he hosted a one-off show,
Benefits Britain: The Debate, for Channel 4. In the same year he presented the live Channel 4 programme
How Rich Are You?, about the UK economy. In 2015, Bacon co-presented the first series of
The Big Painting Challenge alongside
Una Stubbs for
BBC One, and sports show
Eternal Glory for ITV. He also joined
Reena Ninan as a substitute co-host of
ABC's
World News Now overnight and
America This Morning news programme. In November 2016 Bacon became the presenter of the
National Geographic Channel's
Explorer programme, which comprises several (usually three) short films, introduced by Bacon, involving matters of social, political, environmental or humanitarian significance. Each film is then discussed before a live studio audience with Bacon moderating, and usually includes the filmmaker or another representative of the film and at least one expert on either side of the issue. For the debut show, Bacon hiked through
Yosemite National Park with
President Barack Obama. In June 2017, he began hosting a daily half-hour newsmagazine show called
Top 30. It originally aired on Fox affiliates for four weeks before being picked up as a regular series, broadcast nationally across America in September 2017. On 13 September 2017, it was renewed through 2019. In July 2019, he was a guest presenter filling in for
Piers Morgan on
Good Morning Britain. In October 2019, the American TV network
ABC commissioned his original "whodunnit" game show format
The Hustler for an eight-part series, hosted by
Craig Ferguson. Production began in the fall, with Bacon serving as one of its
executive producers. It was cancelled in 2022. Richard Bacon has also produced
This Is My House (2021–2022) and
I Literally Just Told You (2021) presented by
Jimmy Carr.
Radio career Bacon joined
BBC Radio 5 Live to present the late-night show on Saturdays and Sundays. After this, he worked as an announcer for
BBC 7 and then a DJ for
Capital FM followed by
Xfm London. He returned to 5 Live, and from November 2007 until December 2009 presented the late-night programme, in which his sign-off ("Goodnight Great Britain, wherever you are") copied that of Jack Killian, the main character in the
NBC television series
Midnight Caller. In January 2010, Bacon became the regular presenter of the 5 Live mid-afternoon show from Mondays to Thursdays, in which he replaced the departing Simon Mayo. The show covered news, sport, celebrity interviews and special features. On Tuesdays there was a TV review with Boyd Hilton and another guest, looking back over the week's television and previewing future programmes. In the Moan-In on Wednesdays, listeners could share their moans and receive marks out of 10 from Bacon and a guest, often
Dave Vitty. On Thursdays the feature was Chart The Week, where two guests would discuss the week's most talked-about news stories. At the same time, Bacon started to present a regular Saturday afternoon show on
BBC Radio 6 Music; he later left to concentrate on other commitments. He returned to 6 Music in January 2012 for six weeks to present a Saturday morning programme. Bacon's afternoon show attracted criticism for its content, which was classified by the
BBC Trust as "news". Rival broadcaster
Talksport made a general complaint in 2010 to the BBC Trust, claiming the BBC Radio 5 Live station was not providing its mandatory 75% news output, "with many items falling outside of the remit, such as 'entertainment-based interviews' and listener-generated features." Talksport's complaint "particularly singl[ed] out Bacon's two-hour weekday afternoon show for criticism", finding in a poll that only 20% of listeners considered Bacon's show to comprise "news". In their response, the BBC Trust rejected Talksport's complaints, but admitted that a review was required to develop "'a more nuanced method of monitoring the proportion of news output' on 5 Live compared to the current system, which counts the whole of Richard Bacon's afternoon show as news". In August 2011, Bacon recommended that his listeners should watch a
YouTube video of comedian
Doug Stanhope, in which he mocked
Sarah Palin's disabled son Trig. The
Down's Syndrome Association complained to the BBC about the broadcast, stating "the association is shocked that a BBC employee has publicised the work of a comedian which is nothing more than a vile offensive rant." Both Bacon and the BBC apologised for the broadcast, with Bacon writing "I full well understand my responsibilities as a broadcaster and such a reference fell below the standards I set myself personally in my broadcasting." On 1 July 2014, it was announced that Bacon would be leaving BBC Radio 5 Live later in the year. Bacon covered for Simon Mayo on his
BBC Radio 2 Drivetime show, when Mayo was on holiday in August 2015 and in April 2016. Bacon covered for
Ian Payne on his
LBC afternoon shows on 6 and 7 July 2019. ==Yes Yes Media==