Alan Dedicoat

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Alan Dedicoat : biography

1 December 1954 –

Alan Dedicoat (born 1 December 1954) is an English announcer for programmes on BBC One and BBC Radio 2; he is probably best known as the "Voice of the Balls" on the National Lottery programmes on BBC One. He also reads the news on BBC Radio 2 where he is nicknamed Deadly Alancoat.

Personal life

He is the co-owner of a Routemaster (one of London’s famous red buses) with Charles Nove, Ken Bruce, Steve Madden and David Sheppard.

He is Patron of the Hospital Broadcasting Association and has taken part in the National Hospital Radio Awards either as the voiceover or in person.

He is also the President of Hospital Radio Bedside, a hospital radio station that broadcasts to hospitals in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and Wimborne in the UK.

Dedicoat lives in Harrow.

Early life

He was born on 1 December 1954 in Hollywood, Worcestershire. The son of a newsagent, Dedicoat was educated at King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in Birmingham, and the University of Birmingham. Dedicoat originally worked in the Civil Service as an Executive Officer before joining the BBC

Career

Dedicoat joined BBC Radio Birmingham at Pebble Mill in 1979 as a presenter, before moving to BBC Radio Devon four years later. After his time in the West Country, he moved to London to join the Presentation Department of BBC Radio 2 at Broadcasting House, and later became its head, a position he retains. As part of this job, he read the news on BBC Radio 2’s weekday breakfast programme, Wake Up to Wogan, before its demise in December 2009, as well as on Sarah Kennedy’s show until she left the station in 2010. He then became the newsreader for Vanessa Feltz and on Sundays, but following a reshuffle of newsreaders in late 2012, he currently reads the news on weekdays between 10am and 5pm. He is also the voice of the Radio 2 "emergency CD" played when there is a fire alarm or other unforeseen break in programming.

It was as part of Wake up to Wogan that Dedicoat acquired the nicknames "Voice of the Balls" and "Deadly" from Terry Wogan, the latter by way of a deliberate Spoonerism – "Deadly Alancoat".

On television, as well as his role on the National Lottery programmes, he also takes part in the BBC’s telethons such as Children in Need, announcing the totals at certain intervals and also voicing previews and the voice-overs in Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. Since 2005, Dedicoat has been the voice-over for Dancing with the Stars, the American version of Strictly Come Dancing. Since 2009 he has been the voice-over for the CBBC show Copycats.

Dedicoat also works as an After Dinner Speaker.