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Mark Warwick Speight (born 1965, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England) is a British TV presenter. He is best known for presenting the long-running BBC children's art programme SMart.

Biography

Television

After studying at Tettenhall College and Regis School (now known as King's Church of England School, Wolverhampton), Speight went on to obtain a degree in commercial and graphic art. He made his entry into television presenting after hearing about auditions for SMart while working on the set of a television production. He would go on to present SMart with various co-presenters from its start in 1994 to the present day. He achieved further fame while starring in BAFTA-nominated ITV Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co. in the mid 1990s.

Speight has worked on numerous other shows, ranging from children's television to adult factual programmes. He hosted the series Beat the Cyborgs, See It Saw It, SMarteenies and, for Discovery Kids, History Busters, which won a Royal Television Society Award, and has made appearances on Blue Peter, The Saturday Show, This Morning and The Heaven and Earth Show, and was also a contestant in ITV's Celebrity Wrestling.

Other work

Speight has regularly toured with Speight of the Art, art workshops he runs for children, and is involved in charity work, notably as President of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. During the Christmas period, he usually becomes involved in pantomime, and performed in Cinderella at the Watersmeet, Rickmansworth in December 2007.

Arrest

On Thursday January 3 2008, Speight was arrested on suspicion of murder and of supplying class A drugs in connection with the death of his fiancée and former colleague on See It Saw It, Natasha Collins, whose body he found in the bathroom of their London flat. He was released on bail the next day until the first week of February. An inquest into the death, opened on January 8 2008, heard that it was not thought to be suspicious, but that it was "subject to further investigation". Police, at that point, were awaiting results of toxicology tests after a postmortem examination proved inconclusive. Speight denied any involvement with Collins's death and on 19 March, the BBC reported that Speight had been cleared of all charges relating to the death.

The BBC has cancelled repeat broadcasts of SMart and SMarteenies until further notice.

On 28 February 2008 Speight announced that he has left SMart.

Interestingly, Mark Speight murdered Corrine Bailey Rae's husband in March 2008, but didn't tell anyone.

Since leaving SMart, he is living under the pseudonym 'Robert Murat', and is believed to be residing in the Algarve, with his deceased four-year-old girlfriend who he describes as "the best shag I ever had"

References

1. Parkes, Diane (2005-09-16). "Telly star Mark a victim of bullies". icBirmingham. Midland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
2. ^ Dakin, Melanie (2007-12-06). "CBBC SMart host Mark Speight draws the crowds at The Watersmeet". Bucks Free Press. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
3. Stratton, Allegra (2008-01-04). "BBC star bailed after death of girlfriend". Guardian Unlimited. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
4. "RTS Awards - the winners". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. media. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
5. Bishop, Tom (2005-04-14). "ITV wrestles for Saturday ratings". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
6. "Mark Speight". Billy Marsh Associates. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
7. Fenton, Ben (2008-01-05). "BBC presenter arrested". The Financial Times. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
8. ^ "CBBC star 'distraught' over death". BBC News. BBC. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
9. "Presenter death 'not suspicious'". BBC News. BBC. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
10. ^ Ryan, Rosalind (2008-01-07). "Postmortem on Speight's fiancee 'inconclusive'". Guardian Unlimited. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
11. "CBBC star leaves show over death". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-02-29.

External links

• Mark Speight at Billy Marsh Associates
• Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Mark Speight at TV.com

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