Angus Purden

Infobox Person
name = Angus Purden


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birth_name = Angus Purden
birth_date = Believed to be Birth year and age|1974
birth_place = Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK
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residence = Glasgow, Scotland
nationality = British
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occupation = Television presenter
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height = About convert|6|ft|m|abbr=oncitation|author=Lisa Adams|title=Hunk Angus back on home territory|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=hunk-angus-back-on-home-territory&method=full&objectid=18618512&siteid=66633-name_page.html|newspaper=Daily Record|date=14 February 2007] .]
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Angus Purden (believed to be born in 1974) is a British television presenter from Scotland. A teenage Mr Scotland and model, he wrote for a local evening newspaper and is now best known for presenting do-it-yourself and Scottish lottery shows. Apart from being one of the regular presenters for the BBC series "Cash in the Attic" since 2002, Purden has also appeared in programmes such as Channel 4's "Room For Improvement" (2004) and "Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns" (2005–2006) by Living TV. He makes frequent appearances on Scottish television, including becoming the face of the People's Postcode Lottery in 2008.

Early life

The youngest in his family with two sisters and a brother, Purden is believed to have been born in 1974. [This is an estimate based on information in a "Sunday Mail" article that Purden was 32 years old in 2006: citation|author=Natasha Weale|title=Wearing a kilt makes you feel like George Clooney; TV hunk Angus says ladies go tartan barmy for Scots gear|url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17011927&method=full&siteid=64736&headline=wearing-a-kilt-makes-you-feel-like-george-clooney--name_page.html|newspaper=Sunday Mail|date=30 April 2006.] He was raised in Lanarkshire, Scotland. As a teenager, he won the title of Mr Scotland in a "Daily Record" competition in 1992. The win opened the door to working as a catwalk model in Paris and Milan, including a three-year modelling stint for Giorgio Armani in Milan.citation|author=Sally Raikes|title=Work ethic|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/magazine.cfm?id=102712004|newspaper=The Scotsman (Scotsman Magazine)|date=31 January 2004.] According to Purden, "I was surrounded by beautiful people so I remember laughing my head off that they thought I looked exotic. I was just a wee boy from a housing estate in Lanarkshire but I had thick, long curly hair and they liked me. The designer Romeo Gigli used me as his muse, and designed an entire collection on me. It was an amazing time."

Career

Purden subsequently turned to journalism, writing a column for the Glasgow "Evening Times". His first break on television was on STV as a prize presenter for the quiz show "Wheel Of Fortune" presented by John Leslie. Subsequently, he was a reporter for "GMTV" and "Five News".citation|title=Angus Purden|url=http://www.rdfmanagement.com/clients/angus_purden.html|publisher=RDF Management|accessdate=2007-11-16.]

Purden is one of the regular presenters of the BBC's "Cash in the Attic". In the programme, the presenter visits a family's home to find out what they need to raise money for. They then explore the home to find items that may be taken to auction, which are valued by experts. Before this, he presented Series 1 to 3 of Channel 4's "Room For Improvement", a home renovation show.

Purden appeared in programmes with TV personality and self-described psychic medium Derek Acorah. In 2005 he presented "Derek Acorah's Quest for Guy Fawkes", which attempted to discover what happened during the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 by contacting Guy Fawkes's spirit. In the first season of "Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns" (2005–2006), Purden and co-presenter Danniella Westbrook accompanied Acorah to towns and cities throughout Great Britain said to be haunted. These programmes were produced for Living TV.

Purden has done television work for British Airways TV, RBS, Scottish Television (now STV) [He was the presenter of the STV show "Watch to Win": citation|author=Lisa Adams|title=Hunk Angus back on home territory|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=hunk-angus-back-on-home-territory&method=full&objectid=18618512&siteid=66633-name_page.html|newspaper=Daily Record|date=14 February 2007. From 2007, he also hosted "Postcode Challenge": citation|author=Paula Murray|title=People's Postcode Lottery launched in Scotland: Postcode game will raise millions|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2007/11/06/people-s-postcode-lottery-launched-in-scotland-86908-20067501/|newspaper=Daily Record|date=6 November 2007.] and the Travel Channel, and also fronted "TV We Love To Hate" for BBC Three. Radio appearances include BBC Radio Scotland and LBC 97.3, and he writes occasional travel pieces for the Scottish tabloid the "Sunday Mail".

In 2006, Purden played a shopping channel presenter, Clive, selling a Kalashnikov assault rifle, in a cinema advertising campaign against the arms trade for Amnesty International. [citation|author=Lesley Roberts|title=Every home should have gun: Exclusive shopping channel ad attacks arm trade|url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16640287&method=full&siteid=64736&headline=every-home-should-have-gun--name_page.html|newspaper=Sunday Mail|date=29 January 2006.]

elected work

Some information in this table was obtained from citation|title=Angus Purden: Filmography|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2053629/|publisher=Internet Movie Database (IMDb)|accessdate=2007-11-16.

Personal life

Purden is interested in interiors and architecture. In January 2004 it was reported that he and his partner owned a 1722 five-storey Georgian townhouse in the East End of London which had taken seven years to renovate and furnish from its original near-derelict state. He later moved to Notting Hill.citation|author=Nichola Hunter|title=Rooms for improvement|url=http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1115102007|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=21 July 2007.]

By April 2006 Purden had returned to Glasgow's West End after having spent 12 years in London. He said that being back in Scotland was a "breath of fresh air" and added: "Life seemed too hard in London. I needed to be there initially because of my career but now that I'm more established I feel it's going to be easier to commute. I'm elated to be back." [citation|author=Natasha Weale|first=Natasha|title=Wearing a kilt makes you feel like George Clooney; TV hunk Angus says ladies go tartan barmy for Scots gear|url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17011927&method=full&siteid=64736&headline=wearing-a-kilt-makes-you-feel-like-george-clooney--name_page.html|newspaper=Sunday Mail|date=30 April 2006.] In Glasgow, he acquired and renovated two B-listed properties.

Purden lists his other main interests as including food, travel (he speaks fluent Italian) and consumer issues. However, in February 2008 he was branded a kitchen calamity after recording the lowest-ever score on the BBC programme "Ready Steady Cook". [citation|author=Beverley Lyons|author2=Laura Sutherland|title=Angus Purden in a stew on Ready Steady Cook|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-news/2008/02/23/angus-purden-in-a-stew-on-ready-steady-cook-86908-20328934/|newspaper=Daily Record|date=23 February 2008; citation|author=Heather Greenaway|title=Angus Purden has kitchen nightmare on Ready Steady Cook|url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/tv-showbiz-news/entertainment-news/2008/02/24/angus-purden-has-kitchen-nightmare-on-ready-steady-cook-78057-20329531/|newspaper=The Mail on Sunday|date=24 February 2008.]

Notes

References

*imdb name|2053629|Angus Purden. Retrieved on 16 November 2007.
*citation|title=Angus Purden|url=http://www.rdfmanagement.com/clients/angus_purden.html|publisher=RDF Management|accessdate=2007-11-16.

Further reading

*citation|author=Heather Greenaway|title=Attic panic: Exclusive TV star loses crucial show reports after forgetting laptop on a plane|url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17042422&method=full&siteid=64736&headline=attic-panic--name_page.html|newspaper=Sunday Mail|date=7 May 2007.
*citation|title=Cashing up in the attic blog entry|url=http://diaphania.blogspirit.com/archive/2007/06/index.html|publisher=Diaphania: Something of Nothing|date=28 June 2007|accessdate=2007-11-16.

External links

* [http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/presenters/angus_purdenn.html Angus Purden at Channel 4]
* [http://www.dressedtokilt.com/ny2007gallery.html Angus Purden at Tartan Week NY on 2 April 2007]

Persondata
NAME = Purden, Angus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = British television presenter from Scotland
DATE OF BIRTH = Believed to have been born 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH = Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =