Jason Manford

Did You Know?

• In November 2008, Manford became patron of Savebabies, a charity campaigning for newborn screening.
• In April 2014, he became a supporter of the cancer charity Stephen's Story, set up by Stephen Sutton.
• Manford is a supporter of Manchester City FC.

Early life

Jason John Manford was born on 26 May 1981 in Salford to Sharon and Ian Manford, a courtroom stenographer and trade union shop steward in the NHS. His maternal grandmother, Nora, was an Irish Catholic from Dublin. He grew up with four siblings in a terraced house in the Whalley Range area of Manchester. He attended St Margaret's Primary School in Whalley Range and later Chorlton High School.

In school he formed a band with two friends, Simon and Neil; his mother later said this got him into singing. Before his comedy career, Manford worked in building sites, call centres, shops, bars, warehouses and offices. While working as a glass-collector at a local pub, he became interested in comedy after watching Eddie Izzard, Peter Kay and Johnny Vegas at the local comedy club. Kay recommended he undertake an HND in media and performance at the University of Salford, which he was accepted into despite not having the required A-level grades, and he later upgraded to a full degree. His brother Colin also graduated from the University of Salford and became a stand-up comedian.

Career

From June to November 2007, Manford had a small part in Ideal as Jack and later appeared in episode five of the series. He hosted a breakfast show on XFM Manchester until May 2008. During the same period he was Paramount Comedy's continuity announcer and writer. In June 2007 he took over from Dave Spikey as a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats.

On 26 May 2010 he was announced as the new presenter of BBC One's The One Show from July 2010, but resigned in November 2010 following allegations surrounding his private life. Since 21 June 2014 he has hosted A Question of Sport: Super Saturday, a BBC One spin-off from A Question of Sport. On 21 September 2014 he guest hosted an episode of Sunday Night at the Palladium. He played Marty in the 2015 BBC drama Ordinary Lies and that year hosted The Money Pit for Dave and It's a Funny Old Week for ITV.

Since 2017 he has been the voice of Daisy's dad in the cartoon Daisy & Ollie and writes some episodes. In 2018 he fronted What Would Your Kid Do? for ITV. In 2020 he came second as the Hedgehog on The Masked Singer and hosted The Royal Variety Performance 2020 from the Blackpool Opera House. In May 2021 he became presenter of BBC quiz show Unbeatable, and in August 2024 presenter of The Answer Run.

In February 2024 he joined the cast of BBC's Waterloo Road as headteacher Steve Savage. He toured the UK with shows including 'Turning into My Dad', 'First-World Problems', 'Muddle Class' and 'Like Me'. In 2011 he became a shareholder of the Chester comedy club The Laugh Inn, which closed in 2013.