Dean McCullough

Dean McCullough (born 9 July 1992) is a British radio presenter from Northern Ireland. He currently presents at BBC Radio 1 and has previously presented on Gaydio. In 2024, he was a contestant on the twenty-fourth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where he was the second celebrity to be voted off.

Dean McCullough
Born	(1992-07-09) 9 July 1992 (age 33) Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Alma mater	Glengormley High School
Occupation	Radio presenter
Employer	BBC

Early and personal life

McCullough was born on 9 July 1992.^[1] He is from Newtownabbey in the south-east of County Antrim in Northern Ireland.^[2] McCullough realised he was gay at the age of 11 or 12. He attended Glengormley High School and obtained a scholarship from Laine Theatre Arts.^[1]

Career

McCullough began presenting on the radio as a volunteer for Wandsworth Radio.^[1] In May 2018, McCullough began presenting in the afternoon with Emma Goswell on Gaydio. Their show covered current LGBTQ+ issues. McCullough and Goswell moved on to present the Gaydio breakfast show until 2021.^[3][4]

In December 2020, McCullough filled in for Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1 for two days. He returned in March 2021 to cover the early breakfast show on Fridays for five weeks.^[5] In September 2021, he began hosting the 10:30 to 13:00 slot on Radio 1, Fridays to Sundays, replacing Jordan North - who went on to host the station's weekday (except Fridays) drivetime show alongside Vick Hope.^[6][7] His show is broadcast from MediaCityUK in Salford.^[8]

In July 2022, it was announced that McCullough and Vicky Hawkesworth would replace Scott Mills and Chris Stark as co-hosts of Radio 1's afternoon show, from 1pm until 3.30 pm. Mills and Stark left Radio 1 to respectively present shows on Radio 2 and Capital.^[9]

Since 2023, McCullough has appeared regularly on Big Brother: Late & Live. In November 2024, McCullough appeared as a contestant on the twenty-fourth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.^[10] He became the second campmate to be eliminated from the series, finishing in eleventh place.^[11]

Deans first TV break came when he starred alongside the UK’s most in demand hand model Thomas King on E4’s ‘Young free and single live’. The show hosted by Steve Jones, followed a gang of young singletons on a quest for love. The show was cancelled after one series due to low views