2016 Prudential RideLondon Celebrities

Scroll down for full biographies

1. Sam Bailey

2. Stefan Booth

3. Colin Charvis

4. Hugh Dennis

5. Michelle Dewberry

6. Lauren Drummond

7. Tim Foster, CBE

8. Darren Gough

9. Dr Dawn Harper

10. Dame Kelly Holmes

11. Mark Hunter, MBE

12. Martin Johnson, CBE

13. Allan Lamb

14. Lemar

15. Leon Ockenden

16. Mark Webber

17. Jo Whiley

Sam

Stefan

Bailey

BOOTH

Second Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100Sam Bailey won the X-Factor in 2013 under the mentorship of Sharon Osborne and went on to record a number one UK album and a sold-out headline tour.A mum-of-three, she won the X-Factor after quitting her job as a prison officer in HM Prison Gartree. She has since gone on to top the UK album charts with her debut The Power of Love, support Beyonce on tour and, most recently, star in the UK touring production of the musical Chicago.She completed her first Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 last year and returns to raise money once again for the charity Scope.

Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debutStefan Booth is best known for playing Greg Jessop in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He also had a two-year spell on Hollyoaks and has also appeared in The Bill and The Royal. In 2006, he came second in the ITV ice-skating competition Dancing on Ice.

Colin

Hugh

CHARVIS

DENNIS

Second Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100Colin Charvis is a former captain of the Welsh national rugby union team and was capped twice for the British and Irish Lions. Charvis, who retired in 2009, scored 22 tries for his country and previously held the record for most tries scored by a forward in Test match rugby.Since retiring from rugby he has started up his own business. In 2013 he completed the ABSA Cape Epic, a 700km, seven-day race across Africa.Colin is riding the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 for the second time and is fundraising for Sparks.

Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debutHugh Dennis is best known for being one half of Punt and Dennis with comedy partner Steve Punt and playing Pete Brockman, the father in the BBC One sitcom Outnumbered Since 2005, Dennis has been a regular panellist on the BBC Two satirical comedy show Mock the Week. Dennis, who is riding for ActionAid, is a keen cyclist and took part in the 2007 L’Etape du Tour, cycling an open stage of the Tour de France for amateurs.

Michelle

DEWBERRYPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debutMichelle Dewberry was the winner of the second series of The Apprentice in 2006. The win gave her a £100,000-a-year job with Sir Alan Sugar for whom she worked for nearly a year.She has since become a motivational speaker, Sky News breakfast TV pundit and magazine columnist. She runs a business consultancy and founded bargain deals website DailyChic.Michelle ran the London Marathon in 2007 but this is her first time riding the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100.

LaurenDRUMMONDPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debut Lauren Drummond played the role of Mika Grainger in the BBC drama Waterloo Road for its first three seasons.She went on to appear in another BBC drama, Holby City, as nurse Chantelle Lane and has also starred in Coronation Street, Doctors and Grange Hill.

TimFOSTER, CBESecond Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100Tim Foster is a former Olympic and world champion rower. He was part of the gold medal winning coxless four with Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.After retiring from international rowing in July 2001, Time went on to coach at the University of London Boat Club before joining the UK Sport-sponsored Elite Coach Programme in 2004. He now divides his time between coaching and public speaking in the business world.

Darren

GOUGHPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debut Darren Gough is one of England’s most popular ever players. He spearheaded England’s bowling attack through much of the 1990s and is his country’s second highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals with 234. He also took 229 wickets in 58 Test matches and was a former captain of his home county of Yorkshire.He appeared in the 2005 edition of Strictly Come Dancing and now has a regular slot on Talksport where he co-presents the weekday afternoon drivetime show.

Dr Dawn

HARPERSecond Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 Dr Dawn Harper has appeared on the Channel 4 series Embarrassing Bodies since 2007. She also appears regularly on This Morning as a medical expert and gives medical advice on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4.The mother-of-three, who is a keen cyclist, continues to work as a part-time GP in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Dame KellyHOLMESPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 debut Kelly Holmes became one of Great Britain’s greatest Olympians when she won a middle-distance gold medal double at the Athens Olympics in 2004, winning both the 800m and 1500m.Holmes also won two Commonwealth Games gold medals during a glittering athletics career.Since retiring, she founded the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust to support young athletes and help the lives of young people across the UK.In April, she ran her first Virgin Money London Marathon finishing in 3:11 and raising money for her own Trust as well as Myeloma UK, Pickering Cancer Centre, Mind UK and Hospice in the Weald.

MarkHUNTER, MBEPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debutMark Hunter won an Olympic gold in the lightweight double sculls at the 2008 Olympics and came agonisingly close to repeating the feat four years later with partner Zak Purchase at London 2012, only for the Danish team to come through in the final stages to snatch gold from them.Mark also won two world championships and, after retiring from the sport in 2013, he took on the NOMAN Barcelona to Ibiza race and won the 200-mile ocean rowing race.

MartinJOHNSON, CBEThird Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100Martin Johnson is a former World Cup winning rugby international captain, widely regarded as one of the greatest locks to have ever played. He toured three times with the British and Irish Lions, becoming the only man to have captained them on two separate tours. He also led Leicester Tigers to consecutive Heineken Cup victories and to six league titles. After retiring in 2005, he was appointed the team manager of the England rugby union side, a position he held from 2008 until 2011.

Allan

LAMBSecond Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 Allan Lamb is a former cricketer who played for and captained the England team throughout the 1980s, playing a total of 201 international matches.He retired in 1995 and has featured on the presenting teams for Sky Sports and Channel 5’s cricket coverage. He set up his own business, Allan Lamb Associates, in 1986, focusing on corporate hospitality.Between 2005 and 2007, he featured alongside fellow cricket hero Ian Botham in an advertising campaign for the English Beef and Lamb Executive, known as ‘Beefy and Lamby’. Cartoon characters were created for each of them, with the duo providing the voices for the adverts alongside legendary cricket commentator Henry Blofield.

LEMARPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debutLemar is an English R&B singer–songwriter and record producer. Lemar has had a run of chart success in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. He rose to fame after finishing in third place on the first series of British talent show Fame Academy.Since then, Lemar has had seven top ten UK singles and sold more than two million albums. He is seen as one of the most successful artists to come out of a reality TV show. Lemar has also won two Brit Awards and three MOBO awards to date.

Phot

o: R

eute

rs

Leon

OCKENDENPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debut Leon Ockenden is well known to soap fans as Coronation Street’s Will Chatterton. Before that he played the PE teacher Hector Reid on the BBC school drama Waterloo Road and Serge De Bolotoff in the period drama Mr Selfridge.

Mark

WEBBERPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 debut Australian Mark Webber spent 11 years in Formula One and notched up 11 wins during that time including the 2012 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He had spells with Minardi, Jaguar, Williams and Red Bull and was one of the most popular F1 drivers until his retirement in 2013.After retiring from F1, he signed with Porsche to race in the FIA World Endurance Championships, an event he won alongside Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley last year.Mark is also a pundit for Channel 4’s 2016 Formula One coverage.

Jo

WHILEYPrudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 debut Jo Whiley is one of the best known DJ’s of her generation. She spent 14 years at Radio One, fronting a weekday lunchtime show for nearly 12 of those years. The mother-of-four then moved to Radio Two where she now presents the drivetime show. Jo has been a presenter of Top of the Pops and has been a regular presenter of the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage.

Phot

o: R

eute

rs