13 October 2023 , 07:00
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He's the most famous choirmaster in Britain and has appeared on many beloved TV shows, including MasterChef, Bake Off and of course his own show, The Choir, back in 2007. Gareth Malone didn't set out for fame, but it's followed him on his journey and mission to get the nation singing and enjoying choral music.
Back in the mid-2000s, Gareth was running the young and community choir for the London Symphony Orchestra when a television production company approached him to make a series about singing in schools. From there, his BAFTA award-winning series was born and Gareth has gotten the most unlikely of people to sing in places where it's not common activity.
Gareth was thrown into the spotlight back in 2007 on his show (TWENTY TWENTY)
Gareth with his wife Becky, who is a school teacher, in 2015 (Getty Images Europe)He started off by forming a school choir from scratch and getting them to compete in the 2006 World Choir Games in just nine months, then he he tackled the perception that "boys don't sing" in series two. Next was Unsung Town, where Gareth broke through misconceptions to get the working class community in South Oxhey, Watford to stage a choral festival. He also enlisted voices for an all-women choir in Military Wives and done a number of special things for charity, including a celebrity chef choir for Comic Relief.
The Military Wives, formed from partners of military personnel deployed to Afghanistan, managed to beat X Factor winners Little Mix to Christmas number 1 back in 2011. Their song, Wherever You Are, got the most sales and Simon Cowell was forced to admit defeat in the race to the top. "That felt good. That felt really good. But, to his credit, he said he bought two copies," Gareth told The Metro at the time. "If you're going to be beaten to the Christmas No.1 by something, to be beaten by a charity single sung by a group of women whose husbands are doing amazing things for our country, it's kind of hard to argue with that, even if you are Simon Cowell."
But it hasn't all been a success as his 2017 BBC series, Pitch Battle, was supposed to be the new X Factor but was axed after just one series. In 2022, Gareth took part in The Great Celebrity Bake off for Stand Up To Cancer. "I practised like a madman. I was up at 6.30 every morning making shortcrust pastry," he told Mail Online. In August the same year, he put his cooking skills to the test again by taking part in BBC's Celebrity MasterChef. He's also appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and written two books about choir singing.
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Away from the showbiz world, Gareth is married to English teacher Becky and they have three children, daughter Esther, 13, son Gilbert, 10, and Dvora, four. Gareth has previously hinted how he wooed his wife and put his charm with ladies down to being part of a choir, of course. He told the Mirror in 2012: "I always say to guys: 'If you want to meet women, go and join a choir'. It worked for me. As a teenager it was a sure way of meeting women. I could tell you some stories... but I won't."