Born:
April 21, 1973
in
Bagshot, Surrey
Best Known For:
The BBC's Deadly 60 series.
Early-life:
Stephen James Backshall was born in Bagshot, Surrey, on April 21, 1973. His parents both worked for British Airways, so he spent a lot of time travelling around the world. He backpacked solo around Asia and Africa before studying English and theatre studies at the University of Exeter. He then studied biology at the Open University. After university, he spent a year in Japan learning about marital arts. Upon his return to the UK, he wrote the Rough Guides to Indonesia and South East Asia.
Career:
Backshall's first taste of TV came in 1998 when he filmed a pilot in the jungles of Colombia for the National Geographic channel. He spent five years making programmes for the channel before landing a role on the BBC's Really Wild Show in 2003. He is best known as the presenter of BBC children's series Deadly 60, which required him to travel around the world to find deadly creatures in their natural habitat. In 2014, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
Quote:
On signing up for Strictly Come Dancing: "It's going to be my wildest challenge yet!"
Trivia:
He is the patron of a number of wildlife charities, including Sharktrust and Manta trust.