He was the larger than life, utterly brilliant TV host who made us want to get up early in the school holidays. Wearing bright coloured clothes and glasses he was an 80’s fave and he has continued to appear on our screens in recent years in a number of reality TV shows. Let’s take a look back at Timmy’s career!
1. Chris Evans
In the early 80’s Timmy Mallett worked as a DJ on Manchester’s Radio Piccadilly on a show aimed at young people called Timmy’s Tranny. He introduced us to a young Chris Evans who had his first taste of fame playing the popular character Nobby No Level.
2. Wacaday
In 1983 Mallett got his big TV break when he joined Michaela Strachan to present The Wide Awake Club, which later became known as Wacaday. ITV had desperately needed a school holiday morning programme after Roland Rat left for the BBC. What a hit this show was!
3. Mallett’s Mallet
The iconic Mallett’s Mallet was one of the most popular segments of Wacaday. The two children chosen as contestants would sit opposite other and play a quick fire word association game. If they failed they would be hit over the head. The child who received the most hits had a plaster stuck on their face, whilst the winner won a prize!
4. Margaret Thatcher
In December 1988, Mallett was the envy of millions of us when he had the opportunity to hit Margaret Thatcher over the bonce!
5. Magic
Do you remember Magic, Timmy’s pet cockatiel who joined him on Wacaday?
6. Mike Myers
Hollywood megastar Mike Myers aka Austin Powers got his big break on Wacaday in a segment called The sound asleep club. Timmy Mallett remembers Myers as being terrible for getting out of bed in a morning. There were occasions where crew members had to go round to his flat and throw stones up at the window.
7. Timmy’s Towers
Wacaday went off the air in 1992 but in 1997 Timmy was back on our screens starring as himself alongside Mark Speight in Timmy Towers.
8. Herbie The Hammer
Timmy stepped in to prevent West Ham United selling toy versions of their mascot, “Herbie The Hammer”. It was deemed too similar to “Pinky Punky”, the toy version of his mallet and trademark.
9. Bombalurina
At the height of his fame, Timmy teamed up with Andrew Lloyd Webber to front a band which included Dawn Andrews (the future wife of Gary Barlow) and Annie Dunkley. They had a number one hit in August 1990 with “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.”
10. Del Costa
Timmy further ventured into the world of music. Under the name “Del Costa” he released the single “Hot Hot Hot” filming the music video in Ibiza.
11. Skepta
English Grime artist and rapper, Skepta invited Timmy Mallett to make a cameo appearance in his music video for “Do The Rolex Sweep” in 2008. Timmy also attended The Mobo Awards with Skepta in the same year.
12. Art
A man of many talents, Timmy is also an award winning artist. He has pained portraits of famous people including Lorraine Kelly and Ulrika Jonsson.