British radio and TV host, The X Factor’s Dermot O’Leary has a reported net worth of £2.7 million.
Born on May 24, 1973 in Colchester after his Irish parents emigrated to England, Dermot O’Leary began his career as a DJ at Essex Radio.
From TV to radio, how did O’Leary make his millions?
He began his TV career as a runner for the talk show Light Lunch (1997 – 98) and then became a presenter on Channel 4, eventually hosting Big Brother’s Little Brother in 2001. That same year, he also joined London’s XFM Radio.
O’Leary then began hosting Dermot’s Saturday Club (2004) on BBC Radio 2, which highlighted new music and live performances from musicians such as Oasis, Beck, Kasabian, Lily Allen, Moby, Kate Nash and Foo Fighters.
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His big break arrived when he was asked to step into Kate Thornton’s boots as presenter for ITV‘s The X Factor, in March 2007.
He won Sony Radio Academy Award Golds in 2008, 2010 and 2013 for Music Programme of the Year.
In 2009, the TV personality introduced Michael Jackson at a packed O2 Arena, which was to be the King of Pop’s last public appearance. He later began hosting David Walliams and Matt Lucas’ Rock Profile.
O’Leary also hosted programmes such as BBC One’s 1 vs. 100 (2006), ITV’s The Marriage Ref (2011), ITV’s telethon From the Heart (2013) and Channel 4’s Live From Space (2014).
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Hosting ITV’s Soccer Aid in 2010, 2012 and 2014 in support of Unicef, O’Leary has also been the face of ITV’s National Television Awards since 2010.
A faithful fan of Arsenal and Celtic football clubs, O’Leary ran the London Marathon (2005) in less than four hours and also played American football as a teenager.
O’Leary is active with charities such as Make Poverty History and Everyman.
A partner in FishyFishy restaurant in Brighton, O’Leary lives with wife Dee Koppang in their £3.5 million Primrose Hill home. He owns a £6,000 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
The TV host’s salary for The X Factor alone is reported to be £1 million plus per series.
