Hardeep Singh Kohli

His Sikh parents came to Britain from India in the 1960s.

The family's roots lie in the Punjab.

His mother was a social worker, and his father a teacher who became a successful landlord in the Bishopbriggs suburb.

His younger brother is the actor and writer Sanjeev Kohli.

His first school was Hillhead Primary School in the West End of Glasgow, after which he attended Meadowburn Primary in Bishopbriggs.

At age eight, he moved to John Ogilvie Hall, the primary school of St Aloysius' College, a private Roman Catholic school in central Glasgow.

Hardeep Singh Kohli (born 21 January 1969) is a British presenter, writer and director who has appeared on various radio and television programmes.

Having moved to Scotland at a young age, he has had a long association with the arts in Scotland and is known more widely across the United Kingdom as a presenter on BBC television and radio, and on Channel 4.

Kohli studied Law at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1990.

While at university he worked in a vegetarian restaurant and as an usher at the Citizens Theatre.

After graduating from university Kohli joined the BBC Scotland graduate production trainee scheme.

He later worked in BBC Television Centre, London, directing children's TV, before moving to Youth and Entertainment Features in Manchester to become a series director on Janet Street-Porter's series Reportage.

He was a director of It'll Never Work, which was the first children's TV show to win an award from the Royal Television Society and BAFTA in its first season.

Kohli left the corporation in 1996 to work independently.

He directed commercials and worked in TV development and broadcast occasionally on BBC Radio 5 Live.

He wrote, directed and starred in Channel 4's Meet the Magoons in 2004.

The critical response was lukewarm and it failed to find an audience.

The more positive reviewers listed here include Nancy Banks Smith who wrote it was "modern to the point of surreal" with A. A. Gill put forward a hope that it might "evolve into something classic" The show was entered for a Rose at the Montreux Comedy Festival but did not make the final list.

He was a finalist on Celebrity MasterChef in 2006 and a contestant in Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.

Kohli was arrested and charged in 2023 with non-recent sexual offences and is currently under trial in a Glasgow Court.

Kohli was born in London and moved to Glasgow, Scotland, when he was four.

In September 2006, Kohli took part in the first series of BBC One's Celebrity MasterChef programme, reaching the final along with Roger Black and finishing second to the ultimate winner, Matt Dawson.

In January 2007, he had a three-part series on Channel 4, £50 Says You'll Watch This.

The series was the first documentary exploring all forms of gambling.

The show included Kohli taking part in a celebrity card game and visiting casinos in Las Vegas.

In October 2006, February 2007 and January 2009 he appeared on the BBC political panel programme Question Time, and was an occasional presenter on Newsnight Review, Saturday Live on BBC Radio 4 and Loose Ends.

In 2008 Kohli presented "New British Kitchen" a cookery series for UKTV with John Torode.

This was followed by Kohli's solo show "Chefs and the City" for the same channel.

He also appeared on Gordon Ramsay: Cook Along Live and participated in a celebrity edition of The Apprentice to raise money for charity.

Sport Relief Does The Apprentice was part of the BBC's annual charity initiative Sport Relief and aired on 12 and 14 March 2008.

He was the first Celebrity Apprentice to be "fired".

He appeared in the Scottish segment of the BBC's 2008 Children in Need appeal, anchored by Jackie Bird and Des Clarke.

Also in 2008, Kohli filmed a documentary about Scientology, mainly the so-called Free Zone, titled The Beginner's Guide to L. Ron Hubbard.

He presented a documentary, In Search of the Tartan Turban, which explored cultural identity as a Briton and a Scot belonging to an ethnic minority.

The show won a Schools BAFTA.

Channel 4 commissioning a five part series called "Hardeep Does..."

that covered topical issues, including sex, religion and pets.

Kohli was the presenter of the second series of CBBC game show Get 100.

In June 2009, he was one of five volunteers who took part in a BBC series of three programmes Famous, Rich and Homeless about living penniless on the streets of London.

Kohli has appeared as a panelist on The Wright Stuff on Channel Five.