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 32) 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]