Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is an English retired broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ, and comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show Tiswas from 1974 to 1981 and the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from its inception in 1998 until 2014.
Tarrant's career began in 1972 when he was hired by the television broadcaster ATV. He presented ATV Today, a current affairs programme serving the Midlands area of England, until 1982. Tarrant rose to prominence after becoming a co-host on Tiswas, the children's television show broadcast on Saturday mornings from 1974 to 1981. Tarrant was a member of the Four Bucketeers group, whose single "Bucket of Water Song" reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. In January 1982, along with Bob Carolgees, John Gorman, Randolph Sutherland and Lenny Henry, Tarrant launched a late-night show, O.T.T. ("Over the Top"), thought of as an "adult" version of Tiswas, which despite being short-lived, was popular among adults. His co-host Sally James presented the concurrent and final series of Tiswas alone.
Tarrant was a Capital Radio host from 1984 to 2004, presenting the early-morning show Capital Breakfast. The show was highly popular, increasing Capital Radio's audience share in London. Tarrant presented the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 1998 to 2014, while also providing audio recordings for some console games, and a tabletop game made by Tiger Electronics based on the show. He recorded a total of 592 episodes across 30 series, in which five contestants won the top cash prize of £1 million. In 2012, Tarrant began a travel documentary series, Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railways, with locations including the Congo-Ocean Railway, the Ghan across Australia and the Konkan Railway in India.
Tarrant's other television credits include Tarrant on TV, a programme that shows clips featuring a number of unusual television programmes from around the world, and Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose, a programme which gives three- to six-year-olds the chance to fulfil their greatest ambitions in the adult world. He also hosted several other game shows, including It's Not What You Know and The Colour of Money, The Main Event 1993. Tarrant was appointed an OBE in 2004 for his charity work, in particular his campaigning on behalf of disadvantaged children. In 2006, he was ranked number 38 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars. Tarrant announced his retirement in December 2024, after 52 years in television.
Christopher John Tarrant was born on 10 October 1946 in Reading, England, to Basil Avery Tarrant (1919–2005) and Joan, née Cox. His father, who would become marketing and sales director of biscuit tin manufacturer Huntley & Bourne & Stevens, had joined a territorial unit of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in 1936 and was among those evacuated from Dunkirk in the retreat of May 1940. He was also active in the Normandy landings. He ended his military career, having joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment, with the rank of Major.
Tarrant was educated as a boarder in Choir House at the King's School, Worcester from 1960 to 1964. He represented the school at hockey and cricket and gained A, B and D grades at A-level in English, history and ancient history. He then studied English at the University of Birmingham, graduating in 1967.
Tarrant worked as a schoolteacher and also briefly as a film director for the Central Office of Information before joining ATV in 1972 as a newsreader on ATV Today, a current affairs programme serving the Midlands area of England, until 1982.
Tarrant rose to prominence after becoming a co-presenter on Tiswas, a children's television show broadcast on a Saturday morning from January 1974 to March 1981, alongside Sally James. It also featured the young Lenny Henry and occasionally Jim Davidson together with Bob Carolgees and his puppet, Spit the Dog. John Gorman, former member of The Scaffold, was also a presenter.
In 1982, along with Bob Carolgees, John Gorman, Randolph Sutherland and Lenny Henry, Tarrant hosted the short-lived Saturday late-night show O.T.T. ("Over the Top"), which was billed as an adult version of Tiswas but was not such a success. Despite being short-lived, the show was popular amongst adults. After this, Tarrant did a stint on the breakfast television station TV-am. Sally James presented the concurrent and final series of Tiswas alone.
In 1984, Tarrant joined Capital Radio as a presenter, initially presenting the station's Sunday lunchtime show before moving to a late-morning weekday slot, following David Jensen. From March 1987 until April 2004 he hosted Capital Breakfast. The show was highly popular, increasing Capital Radio's audience share in London. Tarrant had regular co-presenter Kara Noble (eventually replaced by Zabe Newsome for a very short duration) as his sidekick for the early years until Noble moved to Heart FM in 1995 with regular contributions from Flying Eye traffic reporter Russ Kane and newsreader Howard Hughes.
At 9:00 am on 2 April 2004, after hosting 4,425 shows, 20 years on Capital Radio and giving away prizes to the value of £3.5 million, Tarrant said his farewell to the station.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Tarrant began hosting the television quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 1998. The format was sold to over 100 other countries. Tarrant coined the format's catchphrase, "But we don't want to give you that," and continued his older catchphrase, "Is that your final answer?", contributing it to the format. Tarrant presented the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 1998 to 2014, while also providing some audio recordings for some console games, and a tabletop game made by Tiger Electronics based on the show. He recorded a total of 592 episodes across 30 series, in which a total of five contestants won the cash prize of £1 million.
One contestant, Charles Ingram, won the £1 million cash prize (and was declared by Tarrant as "the most amazing contestant we have ever, ever had") but was denied his winnings when it was determined that he had cheated. Tarrant attended the trial regarding the Ingram fraud case. When called to testify, he stated that he had not noticed anything amiss during the filming and had not heard any coughing. He said that following the win the Ingrams had been behaving "as normal as people who had just won £1m would be in that situation." Tarrant also said that he would not have signed the cheque if he had had suspicions of cheating and was "shocked" when he heard about the allegations.
In subsequent interviews about the Ingram case, Tarrant has always said he was completely unaware of any coughing around him at the time of Ingram's run, but realised something wasn't right after viewing the tape afterwards. He has also said he was very sad about the whole situation, saying: "This was a very cynical plan, motivated by sheer greed. It is hugely insulting to the hundreds and hundreds of other contestants who have come on the show, just hoping for much smaller amounts of money but prepared to try and win their money honestly."
In July 2000, Tarrant signed a contract with ITV to present the show until December 2002. This contract was later extended to 2013. On 22 October 2013, Tarrant announced that, after fifteen years of hosting the programme, he would be leaving Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which consequently led ITV to cancel the programme once his contract was finished; no more specials would be filmed after this announcement, leaving only those made before it to be aired as the final episodes. After the final celebrity editions, Tarrant hosted a clip show entitled "Chris' Final Answer", which aired on 11 February 2014 and ended the original series.
In 2018, ITV commissioned a new series of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, to be presented by new host Jeremy Clarkson. In a television interview, Tarrant said he had chosen not to watch the revived series. He said he would have "politely turned down" an offer by the network to return to the show had he been approached.