# Nicky Campbell
**Nicky Campbell** (born 1961) is the professional name of Nicholas Andrew Argyle Campbell, a Scottish broadcaster and journalist known for nearly three decades of phone-in and breakfast radio on [BBC Radio 5 Live](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-radio-5-live) and for television programs including *Wheel of Fortune*, *Watchdog*, and ITV's *Long Lost Family*, which he co-presents with [Davina McCall](https://www.edgepedia.org/davina-mccall).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132758/bio/) • [2](https://www.bipolarlives.org/people/nicky-campbell) He was appointed OBE in 2015 for services to adoption and fostering.[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961, Edinburgh, Scotland; birth name Nicholas Andrew Argyle Campbell; adopted at nine days old by the Campbell family[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132758/bio/) |
| Radio career | Northsound Aberdeen, then Capital Radio; BBC Radio 1 from October 1987; BBC Radio 5 Live from October 1997[4](https://www.nickycampbellatradioone.co.uk/default.htm) • [3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) |
| Signature radio work | 5 Live morning phone-in (9am–noon) and, from 2002, the breakfast show; Sony Gold Award 1998 for Best Daytime News Talk Show[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/sep/26/broadcasting.bbc) |
| Television | First and longest-running host of *Wheel of Fortune*; *Watchdog* from March 2001; *Long Lost Family* with Davina McCall since 2011; eleven series of BBC's *The Big Questions*[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) |
| Books | *Blue-Eyed Son* (1994), an account of his adoption; *One of the Family* (2021), about his dog Maxwell[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) • [6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/18NovHodderCat_Spring21_WEB-FINAL-1.pdf) |
| Honor | OBE, 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to adoption and fostering[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) |
| Current role | Weekday morning phone-in on BBC Radio 5 Live taking listeners' calls on the day's talking points; also watchable on BBC iPlayer[7](https://bbc.com.im/programmes/m00119mc/episodes/guide) |
## Early life and adoption
Campbell was born in Edinburgh in 1961 and was adopted at nine days old; his birth family name was Lackey.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132758/bio/) He graduated from Aberdeen University before entering radio, and his adoption became a central subject of his public life: his 1994 book *Blue-Eyed Son* describes his search for his birth family, including a difficult meeting with his birth mother, an Irish Protestant nurse who had given up two babies for adoption, and his relationship with his half-sister Esther.[2](https://www.bipolarlives.org/people/nicky-campbell) • [8](https://www.the-independent.com/news/media/a-hard-man-who-knows-where-to-hit-8696707.html) He appeared on the BBC's *Who Do You Think You Are?* in 2007, tracing his adoptive family's roots in Scotland and Australia.[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell)
## Radio career
**Early radio.** Campbell's first job was at Northsound Radio in Aberdeen, where he began by presenting an opera program before moving to popular music on a show called *The Other Side of Nicky Campbell*. He then moved to London's Capital Radio during its 1980s peak, and joined [BBC Radio 1](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-radio-1) in October 1987, starting with the Saturday 10pm to midnight slot; he later took the drivetime afternoon slot in 1994.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/14/nicky-campbell-5-live-25-years) • [4](https://www.nickycampbellatradioone.co.uk/default.htm) • [8](https://www.the-independent.com/news/media/a-hard-man-who-knows-where-to-hit-8696707.html)
**Radio 5 Live.** Campbell joined BBC Radio 5 Live in October 1997 as host of the morning news magazine show broadcast daily from 9am to noon. The program received two honors in May 1998: a Sony Gold Award for Best Daytime News Talk Show, earned through its conversation with [Gerry Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/gerry-adams), plus a Sony Award for Best Magazine Show.[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) Within a year of taking over the phone-in, listening figures had risen by almost 400,000 a week, about 25 percent, and peers described him as the strongest phone-in host then working.[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/court-of-the-phonein-king-1177616.html) In September 2002 he was given the station's breakfast show, replacing Julian Worricker and putting him in direct competition with Radio 4's *Today* program.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/sep/26/broadcasting.bbc) He co-presented the breakfast program for 18 years, latterly with Rachel Burden, before moving to his current weekday morning phone-in built around listeners' views on current issues.[2](https://www.bipolarlives.org/people/nicky-campbell)
His interviewing style has drawn attention for its directness. When [Tony Blair](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-blair) submitted to a round of BBC interviews in 2003, it was Campbell, not [John Humphrys](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-humphrys), who unsettled the Prime Minister, taunting him about his relationship with [Gordon Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-brown).[8](https://www.the-independent.com/news/media/a-hard-man-who-knows-where-to-hit-8696707.html) In a 2012 interview he described his approach as "without stuffiness, more user-friendly", noting that about 2 percent of listeners contacted the program by text, which helped him gauge the national mood.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/14/nicky-campbell-5-live-25-years)
## Television
Campbell was the first and longest-running host of the ITV game show *Wheel of Fortune*, and in March 2001 he joined BBC1's consumer affairs program *Watchdog*, taking over from [Anne Robinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-robinson).[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) His other television work includes *Top of the Pops*, *Newsnight*, *Panorama*, and eleven series of the BBC's Sunday morning ethics and religion debate program *The Big Questions*.[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) • [11](https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/nicky-campbell/4781)
Since 2011 he has co-presented ITV's BAFTA-winning *Long Lost Family* with Davina McCall, a program that reunites adopted people and foundlings with birth relatives, including the spin-off series *Born Without Trace*, now in its seventh season.[12](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nicky-cambell-adoption-guilt-and-a-dog-called-maxwell/id1517015748?i=1000513097318) • [13](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/long-lost-family-born-without-trace-season-7-release-date-hosts-episodes-and-everything-we-know) He has said the program functions as a kind of therapy for him, an antidote to covering events such as the [Manchester Arena](https://www.edgepedia.org/manchester-arena) attack and the [Grenfell Tower fire](https://www.edgepedia.org/grenfell-tower-fire), on which he was on air in 2017.[14](https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/long-lost-family-is-like-therapy-for-nicky/)
## Adoption advocacy and writing
Campbell is a patron of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and an ambassador for the charity Adoption UK, and he speaks publicly about his own adoption and tracing story.[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) • [15](https://www.adoptionuk.org/FAQs/nicky-campbell-obe) In 2023 he said publicly that he had been a victim of abuse at an Edinburgh school; NSPCC Scotland's assistant director Neil McIntosh praised his courage in speaking about abuse suffered in institutions meant to protect young people.[16](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/nicky-campbell-bbc-radio-5-live-edinburgh-bbc-bbc-sounds-b2131986.html) He has also called on the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to recommend support for abuse survivors.[17](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/nicky-campbell-scotland-daily-record-scottish-b2524971.html)
His books are *Blue-Eyed Son* (1994), an exploration of adoption, and *One of the Family* (2021), in which he describes how his golden Labrador Maxwell helped him come to terms with the pain and conflicting emotions of his adoption journey.[3](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell) • [6](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/18NovHodderCat_Spring21_WEB-FINAL-1.pdf)
## Health and personal life
Campbell has spoken openly about mental health problems rooted in his adoption. After meeting his birth mother, his struggles with identity deepened, ending with a breakdown in 2013 outside Euston Station, after which he was diagnosed with type 2 bipolar disorder, a condition his birth mother had also suffered.[12](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nicky-cambell-adoption-guilt-and-a-dog-called-maxwell/id1517015748?i=1000513097318) He lives with his wife Tina and their daughters; the death of the family dog Maxwell in March 2024 prompted an emotional on-air tribute on his 5 Live show.[18](https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/nicky-campbell-cries-dog-dies-b2516523.html)
## Recent work
Campbell continues to host the weekday 9am phone-in on Radio 5 Live, taking calls on topics from Brexit and pensions to the 2026 Teen Summit with BBC Bitesize, and the program is now also available on [BBC iPlayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-iplayer).[7](https://bbc.com.im/programmes/m00119mc/episodes/guide)
## References
1. [Nicky Campbell – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132758/bio/)
2. [Nicky Campbell – The Bipolar Biography Project](https://www.bipolarlives.org/people/nicky-campbell)
3. [Nicky Campbell OBE – NMP Live](https://www.nmplive.co.uk/nicky-campbell)
4. [Nicky Campbell @ Radio One](https://www.nickycampbellatradioone.co.uk/default.htm)
5. [Campbell given breakfast in Radio 5 Live shake-up, The Guardian (26 September 2002)](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/sep/26/broadcasting.bbc)
6. [Hodder Spring 2021 catalog, listing *One of the Family*](https://www.hachette.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/18NovHodderCat_Spring21_WEB-FINAL-1.pdf)
7. [BBC Radio 5 Live – Nicky Campbell episode guide](https://bbc.com.im/programmes/m00119mc/episodes/guide)
8. [A hard man who knows where to hit, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/media/a-hard-man-who-knows-where-to-hit-8696707.html)
9. [Nicky Campbell interview: 'Up north? For me, this is down south', The Guardian (14 October 2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/14/nicky-campbell-5-live-25-years)
10. [Court of the Phone-In King, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/court-of-the-phonein-king-1177616.html)
11. [Nicky Campbell – Pan Macmillan](https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/nicky-campbell/4781)
12. [Nicky Campbell: Adoption, guilt and a dog called Maxwell – Crisis What Crisis podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nicky-cambell-adoption-guilt-and-a-dog-called-maxwell/id1517015748?i=1000513097318)
13. [Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace season 7 – WhatToWatch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/long-lost-family-born-without-trace-season-7-release-date-hosts-episodes-and-everything-we-know)
14. [Long Lost Family is like therapy for Nicky Campbell, The Sunday Post (29 July 2017)](https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/long-lost-family-is-like-therapy-for-nicky/)
15. [Nicky Campbell OBE – Adoption UK](https://www.adoptionuk.org/FAQs/nicky-campbell-obe)
16. [Broadcaster Nicky Campbell says he was victim of abuse at Edinburgh school, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/nicky-campbell-bbc-radio-5-live-edinburgh-bbc-bbc-sounds-b2131986.html)
17. [Inquiry should recommend support for abuse survivors, says Nicky Campbell, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/nicky-campbell-scotland-daily-record-scottish-b2524971.html)
18. [Nicky Campbell cries and feels 'broken' following death of family dog, Independent TV](https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/nicky-campbell-cries-dog-dies-b2516523.html)
19. [Nicky Campbell – 2025 TIME100 Creators](https://time.com/collections/time100-creators-2025/7299160/nicky-campbell//)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcasters as people › Broadcast journalists and news presenters › British broadcast journalists and news presenters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license