Alex Zane

Alex Zane (born Faris Alexander L. Albayaty; 3 March 1979) is an English television presenter and DJ.

Background

Zane was born in Leeds and attended Boston Spa School before going on to study Medicine at University College London, a course which he left after a year, and then Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College.

Stand-up comedy and radio

Zane began his career at the age of 18 when he became a finalist on an open-mic competition called So You Think You're Funny. He moved to London to concentrate on his career, and before leaving medical school, he presented "The Alex Zane Show" on UCL's student radio station Rare FM. He also presented on Wired FM, which led to his own show on London alternative/Indie station Xfm. His radio show was heard by MTV producers, who subsequently signed him up to present shows such as Screenplay and TRL. From April 2007 to April 2009 he presented the weekday breakfast show on Xfm. Zane and his team (Marc Haynes and Sunta Templeton) were suspended from the show in August 2008 after he broadcast a self-created song about rape, deemed to be offensive by the station. All three returned a week later, with Zane accusing Xfm of "over-reacting in the extreme" and claiming that his song had been misinterpreted. Zane left Xfm in April 2009, with the station stating that his sudden departure was by "mutual agreement". In April 2010 it was announced Alex would jointly present a Friday evening radio show on NME Radio with the creator of the indie club night Propaganda, DJ Dan. The Show launched 30 April and has a 6pm-8pm time slot. The show is presented live and blends Alex and DJ Dan's taste in music with the NME Radio playlist. In 2010 Alex performed at the Edinburgh Festival with his stand-up show 'Just One More Thing...'.