Gordon Smart

Gordon Smart (born 31 March 1980 in Edinburgh and raised in Kinross) is a Scottish journalist and editor of The Sun's celebrity column Bizarre.

Journalism career

Smart's career in journalism started at DC Thomson in Dundee where he was employed as a junior reporter on the Evening Telegraph and Dundee Courier in June 1998. He opted to go to university and studied journalism at Napier University in Edinburgh.

Unable to find work in newspapers Smart turned to football earning a living coaching for Dutch company Coerver between 2001-02. After a second serious football injury he returned to Scotland to work for Deadline Press and Picture Agency, covering news in the east of Scotland. During the MTV Europe Music Awards held in Edinburgh in 2003, Smart got his big break after a former colleague from DC Thomson introduced him to Victoria Newton, then editor of the Bizarre showbiz column of The Sun newspaper. The introduction resulted in shifts in London which then paved the way for a move to the News of the World on a three month contract.^{[citation needed]}

Bizarre

Smart joined Bizarre at The Sun full-time in 2004 as Victoria Newton's deputy; when Newton was promoted to head of entertainment in November 2007, he became the column editor. In his opening column for the paper, he formed a 'cabinet' around himself comprising Pete Samson ("Office of the minister of music"), Danielle Lawler and other deputies. Lawler left to join The Daily Mirror as a 3am Girl soon after, while Samson now holds the US Editor position at The Sun. ^[1]

In April 2009 he reported that BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles was to be axed as host of the station's flagship Breakfast Show, despite BBC Radio 1 officials denying they were to axe Moyles. This prompted Moyles to launch a 12 minute rant in the direction of Smart live on his show the following Monday. The story proved to be untrue as in July Moyles signed a new contract, keeping him as host of the Breakfast Show until the summer of 2010. Moyles then signed a further 12 month contract extension in 2010, keeping at BBC Radio 1 until 2011.

In December 2009 he made remarks in his Bizarre column about Kate Moss regarding her criticism of Katie Price's use of perfume, stating: "I've lost faith in the female species if instructions on wearing perfume are required from a woman who pouts and walks for a living."^[2]

Other media work

Smart has appeared on The Xtra Factor as a part of the celebrity panel. In May 2010 he appeared on Channel 4's Real Stories discussing the careers of music stars including Cheryl Tweedy, Rihanna and Simon Cowell with host Dave Berry.^[3][4] Smart is also a regular on "Andy Goldstein's Sports Bar" on talkSPORT, in which he chats about the celebrity news story of the week.

Personal life

A Hibernian fan,^[5] Smart was fined £50 for breach of the peace by entering the Celtic end of Parkhead Stadium whilst shouting 'I love long neck sweaters'.^{[citation needed]}

He married Kate Leishman, daughter of football manager Jim Leishman on 7 June 2003 at Cleish Parish Church, near Kinross. The couple announced they were expecting their first child in February 2010 after Alexandra Burke, 2008 winner of The X Factor, used her Twitter account to congratulate him.

Smart has allegiances to rock bands Kasabian, Oasis, Coldplay, Glasvegas, The Enemy and pop act Take That, as well as Freddie Mercury, The Jackson Five and Steve McManaman.

References

1. ^ Pete Samson Biography
2. ^ Kate: Jordan has got it pong The Sun, 22 December 2009
3. ^ Real Stories Channel 4
4. ^ 4Music Real Stories Make Art Not War, 26 April 2010
5. ^ Cristal Palace The Sun, 18 March 2010

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Name	Smart, Gordon
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Date of birth	31 March 1980
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