Karl Pilkington

Karl Pilkington's accidental path to fame began in 1989 when a trip to a Manchester hospital inspired him to become a hospital radio DJ. After filling news bulletins with strange-but-true stories and using the transmitter to broadcast pirate radio, Pilkington was sacked and moved to Manchester's Piccadilly Radio, where he hosted a late-night show filled with impenetrably cryptic puzzles. He then moved to Xfm in London, where he was producer and later a star of Xfm's Ricky Gervais Show, forerunner of the podcasts. Pilkington says that his favourite job to date was his paper round.