Simon Alan Reeve[1] (born 21 July 1972) is an
English author, journalist, adventurer, documentary filmmaker and television presenter.
Reeve divides his home time between London and Devon.[2][3] He makes global travel and environmental documentaries, and has written books on international terrorism,[4] modern history, and his adventures. Amongst his many television programmes and series for the
BBC, Reeve has presented Holidays in the Danger Zone:
Places That Don't Exist,[4]Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve, Equator and Tropic of Capricorn.
Reeve was born and raised in
Acton,
West London, by his parents, Alan Reeve, who was a teacher, and Cindy Reeve, who was an occupational therapist and worked in restaurants.[7] He has a younger brother called James.[8] He attended the
Twyford Church of England High School in Acton.[9]
Reeve had a ‘tense and sometimes violent relationship’ with his father when he was growing up.[10] He said that in his house ‘there was endless shouting, lots of crashing and banging, and a few times it was so violent we or our neighbours called the police to come and break us up’.[11]
From the age of 14, he required
counselling due to behavioural problems, such as starting fires, vandalism, and setting off an explosive at the
Ealing Broadway Centre.[3] He ended up carrying a knife by the time he was 12 or 13.[12]
He described his final months at school being "a bit of a blur".[3] He left school with one GCSE, living on benefits, and with mental health problems.[3] At the age of 17, Reeve stated he was even a "whisker away" from
suicide.[3] He found himself standing on the edge of a bridge, unable to "face existence", but something made him climb back.[13]
Career
After leaving school, he took a series of jobs, including working in a supermarket, a jewellery shop and a charity shop. Eventually, aged 18, he ended up as a
post boy at the British newspaper The Sunday Times.[14][15][16]
After starting at The Sunday Times as a post boy, he then worked at the cuttings library, before helping a team of investigative journalists,[3] and by night he was working on investigations into nuclear and weapons smuggling, and terrorism.[14][15] One of his formative roles at 18 was to follow a weapons dealer from
Gatwick Airport.[14]
After the attacks of
11 September 2001 in the United States of America, Reeve became a media expert on terrorism on the basis of his book.[15] The BBC initially wanted him to make a programme involving infiltrating al-Qaeda.[15] He eventually began making travel documentaries. Tom Hall, travel editor for
Lonely Planet publications, has described Reeve's travel documentaries as "the best travel television programmes of the past five years".[19]
6 September 2018 saw the release of Reeve's autobiography called Step by Step: The Life in My Journeys; covering his humble beginnings to successful author and television presenter.[16]
After catching
malaria on a journey around the
Equator, Reeve became an ambassador for the Malaria Awareness Campaign.[20][21] Along with
Sir David Attenborough and other conservation specialists, Reeve is a member of the Council of Ambassadors for
WWF, one of the world's leading environmental organisations.[22]
In 2020, Reeve was commissioned to present his first UK based travel show Cornwall With Simon Reeve,[23] which was ordered by BBC Two alongside Incredible Journeys With Simon Reeve. The latter show is due to be a 'look back' programme similar to Joanna Lumley's Unseen Adventures or Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime[24] (a show which featured both Reeve and Lumley talking about the ex-Monty Python actor's travels).
Reeve is married to Anya Reeve[3] (née Courts), a television camerawoman and campaigner who has stood as a
Green Party candidate.[40] The couple have a son called Jake.[3][41]
^
abReeve, Simon (2018). Step By Step The Life In My Journeys.
Hodder & Stoughton.
ISBN9781473689107. "Taking chances is often where the best memories are, and the richest rewards in life come from a bit of risk-taking. We can all benefit from pushing ourselves, our partners, friends or family, out of our respective comfort zones"