This Scottish born and bred hell-raiser kicked off his career in Australia, as a “corporate whore” – nine to five, suit and ties and all that jazz. It wasn’t long before he realized this was definitely not the life he so desperately craved. He lit the bonfire, burned all the suits and jetted off around the world with only the clothes on his back. When he was somewhere around the vicinity of North America (recollections of that time are a little bit hazy – he wishes he could remember why), he realised he had a bit of a knack for making people laugh and it occurred to him that this may be where his destiny lay…
His first job on his return to the sun-burnt country (that’s Australia for those who don’t know) was as a compere for a nightly wet t-shirt competition up in Airlie Beach. A dirty job but, yes, someone had to do it! The bohemian life was looking good! He was thoroughly enjoying entertaining people, and it has to be said there were a couple of other perks with the job, too! When life in the wet t-shirt game got a bit too hot, even for Darren, he headed back to Sydney and scored himself his first TV job hosting a monthly car show called ‘Ignition’. It was an absolute hit with car lovers and a great ‘jump start’ to his career in front of the camera.
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Darren's next job on the box was hosting Australia’s Arena TV's 'Exclusive', a show that he had helped to create. It was similar to 'Entertainment Tonight' and saw him cozying up to some of the biggest names in the industry. For a self-confessed layabout, Darren really takes his background research very seriously and finds the secret of conducting a good interview is being able to get into someone's head - and, well, yes, occasionally other anatomical areas! Itching to be the bad Rock ‘n’ Roll boy he was at heart, the Arena gig saw him breaking boundaries left, right and centre - from crashing the stage at Eskimo Joe's 'Homebake' performance to getting arrested at a Robbie Williams' concert and even turning the crowd on Johnny Knoxville at his own premiere, dressed as one of Johnny’s alter egos, Jean Pierre!
MTV came along at that point and gave Darren the perfect opportunity to let loose with his wild and crazy antics as the host of 'The Lair', MTV's live music show. 'The Lair' is the epitome of gritty, dirty, rock and roll music; it has no rules and neither does Darren, and, therefore, was a match made in heaven!
Darren next hit the silver screen as host of ’Fan Vs Band’, a show that he helped to write and develop for MTV. He created a character for himself called 'Cheesy Mac'. On the surface Cheesy was an over-the-top, synthetic TV host but, deep down, he was one very disturbed individual. When the true Cheesy came to light, live on air, in front of his celebrity guests, reactions were priceless.
Next up it was time for primetime network television on Channel Nine's 'Commercial Breakdown', a show that he helped to write and develop for Australian audiences. On the success of the first season Channel Nine asked him to come back and do several one-hour “adults only” specials of 'Commercial Breakdown'. Which, of course, was right down the young chap’s alley.
Darren has hosted a number of high profile televised events and award shows, including four consecutive years of ‘Snow Jam,’ the free, open-air music festival that takes place on ski slopes the world over. So far they have visited Australia, New Zealand and Japan. When booze money runs short, he also pimps himself out as MC at large corporate events.
Not content with all the above listed medians, in his quest for world domination Darren has also lent his hosting talents to 'Event TV', another 'Entertainment Tonight' style show, which is screened in the foyers of Event, Greater Union and Birch Carroll and Coyle cinemas all around Australia and New Zealand.
He then managed to put his mis-spent youth to some use as the host of ‘Minute To Win It’ in Australia, a game where contestants play off the wall games with off the shelf items to win one million dollars. It played primetime on the Channel 7 network.
Next up Darren took to the jungles of Costa Rica to film NBC’s primetime summer blockbuster, ‘Love In The Wild’, which is airing on NBC in America and CTV in Canada on Wednesday nights and has had fantastic ratings.
Thankfully, Darren made it out of Costa Rica alive and was homeward bound to shoot a revamped version of Minute To Win It for ITV 2. On the back of the success of that show he was then offered a massive break by BBC 1 hosting their extremely popular Saturday night entertainment show, The Magicians.
Looks like this is yet another Scotsman who has been given the "00" licence to kill!!