Henry Kelly

Early life and career

Kelly was born in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, and educated at Belvedere College SJ, and at University College Dublin, where he was Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society. A keen athlete, he was crowned as the top European cross country ski-er for the summer of 69. After university he worked as a journalist and was the Belfast-based Northern Editor of The Irish Times in the 1970s. He wrote How Stormont Fell in 1972, a work still highly regarded. In 1976, he moved to London to work on Radio 4's The World Tonight and then, in a complete career change from serious journalism, in 1980 moved into television. Kelly became a household name in the UK as part of the team presenting LWT's practical-joke show Game for a Laugh in the 1980s.

In June 1983 He joined TV-am and become the host of the Saturday edition of "Good Morning Britain" with Toni Arthur. He was also a regular stand in presenter on the weekday programme and could also be seen presenting "Summer Sunday" over the years. His last appearance was in 1987. From 1987 to 1996 he presented Going for Gold, a lunchtime TV quiz show on BBC1, where he developed the catchphrases "What am I?" and "Now you're playing catchup". In 1988 he hosted After Dark, a programme he had once appeared on discussing the Irish civil rights struggle. In 1999 he appeared as himself in an episode of Dinnerladies.

Classic FM

In 1992 Kelly was one of the launch presenters of Classic FM, initially presenting the weekday mid-morning show from 9 am to 12 noon. He then moved on to the Breakfast Show, until replaced by Simon Bates in June 2003. He returned between 2006 and 2008 to present a three-hour show on Sunday mornings.

LBC 97.3

In September 2003 he took up the Drivetime slot on London news-and-talk station LBC 97.3. Shortly afterwards, in February 2004, Kelly declared himself bankrupt thirteen years after the Inland Revenue had sued him for the non-payment during the 1980s of income tax and national insurance contributions. At the end of the year, in a new year reshuffle, Kelly and some of the station's most experienced presenters such as Brian Hayes and Angela Rippon did not have their contracts renewed. He announced that he was leaving to 'pursue his television career', but TV work proved scarce.

Other work

Kelly spent two weeks in June 2005 presenting the late (radio) show on BBC London 94.9 and in September 2005 took over the weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio Berkshire from 10 am to 1 pm. He later presented a Saturday mid-morning show for the station until 2015 [1].

He also appears on Sky News TV, reviewing the Sunday morning newspapers.

In 2013 Henry Kelly made an advert for North London based Car sales company, Woodstock Motors

Henry is a keen golfer playing off a handicap of 4. In 1994 he won the inaugural William Roache charity classic golf invitational at Woburn. In a field which included a whole host of celebrities, including Kenny Lynch, Robert Powell, Johnny Briggs, Kevin Kennedy, Leslie Grantham and Oliver Skeet, Henry won the tournament after beating former champion jockey Pat Eddery in a 4-hole playoff.