Prior to taking over the radio show, Evans presented TV shows, most notably Don't Forget Your Toothbrush (gameshow) and TFI Friday. He is most famous for re-inventing morning breakfast TV, revolutionising the genre with the zoo-format The Big Breakfast on Channel Four. (since widely imitated worldwide).
His previous stint at the BBC, on Radio One, was marred by allegations of bullying staff and ended in his being sacked for refusing to work on Fridays because it clashed with his TV show for a rival channel. However, all appeared to have been forgiven and forgotten, and Evans became very popular in the morning radio shownote , gathering consistently high ratings and a loyal fan-base.
Evans was also notable as one of the two main co-presenters of the BBC flagship series Top Gear after its revamp following the indiscreetly public retirement of its old presenter, Jeremy Clarkson. Following a rating slump and allegations of misconduct, including renewed allegations of bullying and harassing staff and co-presenters, Evans resigned from this show after only one series. His Channel Four show TFI Friday was also axed.
He was formerly married to singer-turned-actress Billie Piper, now famous for her work on Doctor Who.
In September 2018, it was announced that Evans will be leaving the BBC's morning radio show to return to Virgin Radio. His successor is long-time BBC presenter Zoe Ball.
He is not to be confused with the American actor Chris Evans.
This radio presenter's career and work contains examples of:
- Amicable Exes: He and Billie are so OK with each other that shortly after their breakup she was the first guest on his new Sunday talk show, and he opened by joking "When are you going to pick up the rest of your stuff?"
- Cluster F-Bomb: Not him, but on TFI Friday. As the show aired pre-watershed, the show's live nature proved problematic for some of his guests after several uses of "Fuck" were blared out on occasions, with the most noteworthy example being Shaun Rider, forcing the regulators to insist potentially contentious parts be pre-recorded. The moment itself that got the show barred from live broadcasts
complete with Evans in a state of dread as the camera cuts back to him.note - Drinking on Duty: Some of the work he did during the latter stages of his marriage to Billie Piper has overtures of this. Both were frequently pictured leaving supermarkets with a shopping basket full of booze, and Evans himself admits he was drinking far too heavily at this point.
- Emphasise Everything: A criticism of his presentation style is that it's far too shouty and over-excited.
- Excited Kids' Show Host: A criticism of Evans' presenting style is that he presents everything as if he was hosting a Saturday Morning Kids’ Show, regardless of the target audience.
- Manic Pixie Dream Boy: in the opinion of ex-wife Billie Piper, who asserts he saved her from mental breakdown and possible suicide by being... himself.
