Keith Chegwin

Keith Chegwin (17 January 1957 – 11 December 2017), also known as Cheggers, was an English television presenter and actor, appearing in several children's entertainment shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Cheggers Plays Pop.

His early career saw him performing in such West End stage shows as Tom Brown's School Days and Captain Pugwash.

He also had a career as a singer, releasing singles on the Pye Records label and worked as a disc jockey for 194 Radio City in Liverpool.

He spent four years at BBC Radio 1 on Tony Blackburn's weekend morning show.

Chegwin was born in Walton, Liverpool, on 17 January 1957.

He entered an end-of-the-pier talent competition in Rhyl, North Wales, and later joined 'The Happy Wanderers', a concert party that toured the pubs and clubs of the North West.

He was then spotted by June Collins (mother of Phil Collins) of the Barbara Speake Stage School on Junior Showtime, a Yorkshire Television children's talent series.

She invited him to London to audition for the stage show Mame with Ginger Rogers.

He attended stage school with his twin brother, Jeff.

As part of a play he performed in at the school, Chegwin sang the first song that Phil Collins ever wrote.

While at school, Chegwin auditioned and gained roles on TV, film and stage.

He appeared in Children's Film Foundation productions, including as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double (1967) and Egghead's Robot (1970).

In the mid 1970s, Chegwin moved away from acting, becoming a household name presenting programmes such as Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (1976–82), Cheggers Plays Pop (1978–86) and, in the 1980s, Saturday Superstore.

Chegwin went on to present a revived version of the 1970s gameshow It's a Knockout on Channel 5 from 1999 to 2000.

He also toured the country hosting Graham Fisher's International Knockout for corporate and charity events.

His most prestigious acting role was that of Fleance in Roman Polanski's film Macbeth (1971); he also had a small role in the film The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973).

In 1973 he appeared in the pilot episode of Open All Hours.

Chegwin performed in West End stage shows such as Tom Brown's School Days with Russell Grant and Simon Le Bon; The Good Old Bad Old Days with Anthony Newley; and Captain Pugwash by John Kennett at the King’s Road Theatre in 1973.

After that he had parts in The Liver Birds, The Adventures of Black Beauty, My Old Man, Village Hall, Z-Cars (both 1974), ITV's The Wackers and The Tomorrow People serial Worlds Away (both 1975).

His last major acting role was the title role in the film Robin Hood Junior (1975), although he had two small roles with Tom Courtenay in the Chester Mystery Cycle (1976) and some years later in the film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999).

He appeared in TV ads for products such as Pepsi and Cadbury Creme Eggs as well as for Ready Brek, Toffo and Tizer, and was also associated with the Freemans catalogue.

He had a career as a singer, releasing singles on the Cherub and Pye record labels, such as 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' (1977), but turned down an offer to front the band Kenny (who had a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart with "The Bump").

He also worked as a disc jockey for 194 Radio City in Liverpool, and worked at BBC Radio 1 on Tony Blackburn's weekend morning show for four years.

Chegwin's career waned in the late 1980s and 1990s, due to his alcoholism, as detailed, in his own words, in his semi autobiographical book, Shaken But Not Stirred.

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 Britain, where he helped children swap their toys.

On Superstore, Chegwin had a similar role.

Chegwin was known for his off-the-cuff ad-lib style of broadcasting.

He stated that no-one had ever written a word for him.

From 1989 to 1991, he hosted the live nightly Sky talent programme Sky Star Search.

Chegwin 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 and subsequently hosted the show from 1995 to 1996.

Chegwin also presented a short-lived cookery show called The Heat is On for UK Living in 1997.

Only 1 series of the show was produced and was not renewed for further series.

In 2000, he presented the Channel 5 nudist game-show Naked Jungle, appearing naked except for a hat and later describing it as "the worst career move" in his life.

Chegwin was known for his off-the-cuff ad-lib style of broadcasting and stated that no one had ever written a word for him.

In 2000 Chegwin presented his own internet TV show, where his daily audience for the seven-week trial reached over 250,000.

In 2012, he was scheduled to take part in the sixth series of Dancing on Ice, but he was forced to withdraw after breaking three ribs and fracturing his shoulder on the first day of training.

In 2015, he was a housemate on Celebrity Big Brother Series 15 where he finished in fourth place.

He died on 11 December 2017 of the lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.