Martin Leyland Roberts is an English television presenter and is a property expert, investor, entrepreneur and author who currently presents the BBC One property auction series, Homes Under the Hammer with co-presenters Martel Maxwell and Dion Dublin, although his co presenter for many years was Lucy Alexander. He also hosts the Talk Radio show 'Home Rule with Martin Roberts' where he also chats about property.
Early life and career
Born in Warrington, Cheshire, Roberts began his career in the late 1980s at BBC Radio Manchester. Roberts' grandfather was a well known organist at various Warrington chapels He attended Appleton Hall Grammar School then studied Electronic Engineering at Bradford University 1983–86 and was a DJ on Ramair, the university's radio station. Roberts has been working as a property developer since the early 1990s and has contributed to several publications, both on the subject of property development and travel. Since then, he has presented several other programmes including Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is and How to Survive the Property Crisis, both for the BBC as well as ITV's travel programme Wish You Were Here...? Roberts is most famous for being BBC's UK and Overseas Property expert writing and presenting Homes Under the Hammer having done since the programme began in 2003 to the present day, as well as making regular appearances on BBC Breakfast, BBC News 24 and The One Show Roberts has also made appearances on Ready Steady Cook with Homes Under the Hammer co-presenter, Lucy Alexander. He has been a celebrity contestant on BBC gameshows Hole in the Wall and Pointless, raising money for charity. In July 2010 Roberts entered the BBC television programmeCelebrity MasterChef, though he was eliminated at the first opportunity despite having performed well on the ingredient recognition task. In November 2016, Roberts was a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He was eliminated after spending 15 days in camp, coming in sixth place. Roberts has presented radio throughout his career as the BBC's UK and Overseas Property expert contributing to many shows on BBC radios 2, 4 and 5 Live. He is a regular guest presenter on The Jeremy Vine Show which airs on BBC Radio 2 and Moneybox which airs on BBC Radio 4. In March 2016, Roberts began hosting a weekly property radio show for Talk Radio named “Gazumped”. The show was later renamed “Home Rule” and Sunday editions are no longer live, but recorded, broadcast from 6am to 8am. In September 2012, Roberts publicly criticised proposed government changes to the planning laws of England that would double the size of extensions that do not need approval. He is known for his catchphrase from Homes Under The Hammer: "It's a bit unusual, but I like it" As well as presenting on both radio and television Roberts has written many books such as Teach Yourself Making Money from Property, and The Property Auction Guide Roberts has also contributed to travelling books including Great Festivals of the World, The Travellers' Handbook and Intrepid Africa. Roberts is the author of The Villes Children's Books series. One of the books in the series, Sadsville, was written in partnership with the NSPCC to encourage children to contact ChildLine if they need someone to talk to about any problems, although it is unrelated to the subject of mental health. To promote this book, Martin Roberts went to his local primary school, at which his children attended. He performed a reading of the book and brought in a red bus for the children to go on.
Personal life
Roberts was brought up in Stockton Heath, a suburb of Warrington. For the past 25 years he has lived near Bath, Somerset, and is married with two children. In 2017, he opened his village's annual "Party in the Park". He made a short speech about his recent success to fame on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. He was also pulled over for drink driving although refused to complete a breathalyser test due to asthma. He lost his appeal and his wife, Kirsty, now has to drive his family around.
