Chris Smith

Christopher Smith is an English radio newsreader. He is most famous for presenting Newsbeat on BBC Radio 1 and co-hosting the That's What He Said podcast alongside Greg James. Early life Smith was born in Kettering, England and grew up in Raunds, where he was a Bus Prefect. He studied English at Queen's University Belfast and was offered on-the-job training at a radio station afterwards. Then, he started reading the news on air. Radio Smith first broadcast on Chiltern Radio in Dunstable, where he started as an intern and became trainee journalist afterwards. He then moved to the newly launched Heart 106.2 in London. He was the newsreader and cohost on the Christian O'Connell breakfast show on XFM London. When O'Connell moved to Virgin Radio (now Absolute Radio), Smith joined him. He left in 2007 and began reading the news on BBC Radio 1. He took over from Tulip Mazumdar as the regular afternoon newsreader in May 2011. These bulletins were simulcast on BBC Radio 1Xtra from September 2012. He regularly presented both the 12:45 and 17:45 Newsbeat programmes. Smith joined Radio 1's Greg James Show regularly and took part in a number of segments during the show, when he was free of Newsbeat duties. On air he was almost always referred to with the extended moniker "Chris Smith with the news", reflecting the way he was habitually introduced in his Newsbeat segments by Greg James and other presenters. He took part in various games, such as Mayor of Where and What's My Age Again. Smith was also co-host of the "Greg James - That's What He Said Podcast", that started in October 2013 and was released every Friday until August 2018. On the podcast, Smith established himself as a singer/songwriter by writing, producing and singing 'The Ghost Owl' song and the theme tune to the game 'Mug on a Dog'.