ABOUT SIMON
Arrested by the KGB, chased by cheetahs, hunting with the San Bushmen of the Kalahari…Simon Reeve has lived quite a life. He’s been described as the leading adventure traveller on British Television, travelling and filming in more than 130 countries, including many of the most beautiful, remote and dangerous parts of the planet. Simon explores and explains the world to tens of millions of TV viewers globally, travelling in a unique way that blends adventure with serious issues.
Simon Reeve is an adventurer, author and television presenter who has travelled to more than 130 countries making multiple award-winning TV series for the BBC exploring and explaining the world. They include Wilderness, South America, The Americas / North America, Incredible Journeys, Equator, Burma, Caribbean, Sacred Rivers, Indian Ocean, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Russia and Mediterranean.
Simon has received a One World Broadcasting Trust Award for "an outstanding contribution to greater world understanding", the prestigious Ness Award from the Royal Geographical Society, the British Travel Press Award for Broadcast Travel Programme, the John Tompkins Natural History Award from the International Moving Image Society “for extraordinary achievements” in the field of natural wildlife and history filmmaking, and the Wanderlust Favourite Travel Personality award. His books have been in the bestseller lists of both The Sunday Times and The New York Times. In 2023 the Princess Royal presented Simon with an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the University of London.
After two decades spent making more than 100 programmes Simon has become a familiar face on the BBC, well known for his extraordinary foreign journeys. Most of Simon’s documentaries combine travel and adventure with global environmental, wildlife, and conservation issues, and have taken him across jungles, deserts, mountains and oceans, and to some of the most beautiful, dangerous and remote regions of the world. Simon has dodged bullets on frontlines, hunted with the San Bushmen of the Kalahari, dived with manta rays, seals and sharks, survived malaria, walked through minefields, tracked lions on foot, been taught to fish by the President of Moldova, adopted by former headhunters, and detained for spying by the KGB.
Simon’s adventures are now shown on BBC2, BBC global channels, and by broadcasters in more than 60 countries, enthralling tens of millions of viewers. In the UK the consolidated audience for each episode of his programmes is more than five million viewers, and each of Simon’s series score almost uniquely high ‘Audience Appreciation’ ratings.
Simon’s own journey started slowly after he flunked out of school without any real qualifications. After a period on the dole, he ran charity shops, stacked shelves, and eventually found a job as a post-boy on a newspaper. By his early twenties he was working undercover as an investigative journalist. His bestselling book Step by Step, the first volume of his autobiography, made the Sunday Times Top 10 list as both hardback and paperback editions. It was the No.1 Travel Writing book and was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Award. The second volume of his autobiography, Journeys to Impossible Places, was published to critical acclaim.
Simon has also appeared on stage at theatres across the UK on a Live tour. The tour started in 2018, was extended three times due to popular demand, and after 80 sold-out events finished with a night at the London Palladium – one of the most iconic theatres in the world.
In Autumn 2023 Simon started his second theatre tour, ‘TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH’, a completely new tour, with new stories, photos and videos. After a Sold Out run of events, it was extended into 2024.
Simon is married to Anya, a television camerawoman. They live in Devon and have one son.
BBC: “Simon Reeve is British television’s most adventurous traveller”
The Independent: “TV's most interesting globetrotter”
Radio Times: “In the last decade, he's made a name for himself as British TV's most adventurous presenter.”
The Observer: “A man whose very name is a guarantee of interesting television. Outstanding.” The Daily Telegraph said: “like all the best travellers, Reeve carries out his investigations with infectious relish, and in the realisation that trying to understand the country you’re in is not just fascinating, but also hugely enjoyable.”
Mail on Sunday: “the craziest (or bravest) man on TV”
The Sun: “If Simon Reeve is your guide, you know you’re going to be in for an epic adventure...You can be sure to trust Simon to find a fun story. Simon might just be the best tour guide in the world.” The Times: “Our television screens are replete with intrepid young men, but Reeve is in a class of his own…the real deal in terms of intelligence and tenaciousness, charming his way in and out of situations that would make most ordinary people quake in their shoes”
Lonely Planet: "The best travel television programmes of the past five years”
PRAISE FOR SIMON’S BOOKS:
Daily Mail - “Must read: with experiences from the surreal to the hazardous…his story reads like a fast-paced thriller, packed with bizarre coincidences, chance meetings with celebrities, and humbling encounters with remarkable people.”
Chris Evans: “What a book. What a story. I had no idea. A cracking, riveting read. It’s amazing…fascinating…It’s a gripping tale from start to finish. I couldn’t put it down, literally couldn’t put it down… it’s so diverse, it’s beautifully written. It’s a real page-turner…The best autobiography of anyone under 50 I’ve ever read.”
The Times Literary Supplement: “Gripping…plenty of thrills…weaves autobiography and traveller’s tales, covers three decades and reveals how Reeve changed his life, step by step.”
Mail on Sunday: “Simon Reeve’s own journey from troubled teenager to TV star has been every bit as turbulent as his on-screen adventures…compelling. Fantastic.”