Xand van Tulleken

See also: Van Tulleken brothers

Alexander Gerald van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken (born 18 August 1978)^[1] is a British doctor and TV presenter. He is best known for presenting the CBBC children's series Operation Ouch!^[2] with his identical twin brother Chris, and the Channel 4 show How to Lose Weight Well.^[3]

Jonkheer Xand van Tulleken
van Tulleken in 2015
Born	Alexander Gerald van Hoogenhouck Tulleken (1978-08-18) 18 August 1978 (age 46) London, England
Nationality	British
Education	King's College School, Wimbledon
Alma mater	Somerville College, Oxford LSHTM Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Television	Operation Ouch!
Spouse	Dolly Theis ​ (m. 2023)​
Children	2

Van Tulleken has presented many documentaries, including an episode of Horizon discussing male suicide^[4] and a BBC programme on the European migrant crisis.^[5] He can often be seen offering up his own body for science experimentation in diet show How to Lose Weight Well, as well as in BBC Horizon episodes "Sugar vs Fat"^[6] and "Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?"^[7] As of July 2023, he was appearing regularly on the BBC1 weekday programme Morning Live, providing a variety of medical advice. Van Tulleken is also a member of the "Made of stronger stuff" podcast on BBC Sounds.

Ancestry

He is descended from Jan van Hoogenhouck Tulleken [nl] (1762–1851),^[8] a Dutch rear-admiral who was later raised to the nobility with the title of Jonkheer (equivalent of a Baronet). As his descendant, this gives van Tulleken this title as well.

In June 2023, van Tulleken, along with his brother Chris, were the subject of the BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?, in which they learned that Jan van Hoogenhouck Tulleken's father, Ambrosius Tulleken, was a wealthy slave-trader who had a plantation in Demerara in The Guianas.^[8]

Early life and education

He went to both Hill House preparatory school, and then King's College School, an independent day school for boys in Wimbledon, London, with his twin Chris. He then went to Somerville College at the University of Oxford.^[9] There he studied medicine, specialising in tropical medicine.^[10]

Personal life

Van Tulleken is married to doctor Dolly Theis, a visiting researcher at MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge and former Conservative Party candidate for Vauxhall in the 2017 general election.^[11] He has one son from a previous relationship and has a son with his wife Dolly, born April 2024.^[12]

Television career

The van Tulleken twins often appear on shows together, but also both have individual appearances on various programmes.

With Chris van Tulleken

• Presenters of Channel 4's Medicine Men go Wild (2008).^[13]
• Presenters of CBBC's Operation Ouch! (2012-2021).
• Presenters of BBC Two's Trust Me, I'm A Doctor (2013) alongside Michael Mosley.^[14]
• Presenters of both What's The Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special (2015),^[15] and also Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad? (2015), testing the effects of sporadic alcohol consumption compared to regular alcohol consumption.^[16]
• Appeared on Series 5 of Hacker Time.^[17]
• Presented a documentary series called The Twinstitute.^[18]
• Presented Surviving the Virus: My Brother & Me (2020). The show explores how Xand was left with an irregular heartbeat after catching COVID.^[19][20]
• Assisted Chris on the first of the 2024 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

References

1. Nederland's Adelsboek (in Dutch) (95th ed.). The Hague: Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie. 2010. p. 403. ISBN 978-90-5802-081-9.
2. "Operation Ouch! - CBBC - BBC". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
3. "How to Lose Weight Well: How to Lose Weight Well". Channel 4. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
4. "BBC Two - Horizon, 2018, Stopping Male Suicide". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
5. "BBC One - Frontline Doctors: Winter Migrant Crisis". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
6. "BBC Two - Horizon, 2013-2014, Sugar v Fat". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
7. "BBC Two - Horizon, 2014-2015, Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
8. Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 20: 5. Chris and Xand van Tulleken, retrieved 1 July 2023
9. "Roll of Honour". King's College School Boat Club. King's College School, Wimbledon. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
10. "Five things you didn't know about Chris and Xand van Tulleken". Who Do You Think You Are Magazine. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
11. "Dr Xand Van Tulleken married: Operation Ouch! presenter marries partner Dolly". 21 May 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
12. Tulleken, Xand van (12 December 2021). "I'm a long-distance dad so Covid was terrible – but it helped me let go of my guilt". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
13. "Medicine Men Go Wild". Channel 4. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
14. "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor". BBC Two. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
15. "What's The Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special". Horizon. BBC. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
16. Todd, Sophie (20 May 2015). "Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?". Horizon. Series 51. Episode 11. London. BBC. BBC Two. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
17. "BBC iPlayer". CBBC Channel Schedule. BBC. 18 April 2016.
18. "What time is The Twinstitute on TV? What's it about and how does it work?". Radio Times. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
19. Mangan, Lucy (5 August 2020). "Surviving the Virus: My Brother and Me review – a rigorous dispatch from the Covid frontline". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
20. Scullard, Vickie (6 August 2020). "BBC viewers sob as doctor recovering from covid has heart restarted". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 July 2023.

External links

• Xand van Tulleken at IMDb