New show - Aug 05
Neil Morrissey is headed to BBC 2 after landing a new presenting deal. The actor will host an entertainment show Petrolheads, described as a fusion of have I got News for you and Top Gear. Ex girlfriend Amanda Holden has also landed something new; she is expecting her first baby.
By Kerri Hoo-fong

Neil Morrissey arrested - April 04
Neil Morrissey has been arrested at a Los Angeles airport by US customs.

According to The Evening Standard, he was arrested by US customs for being "rude and drunk". The actor lost his temper whilst in a long queue to complete immigration formalities, after flying in from London. He later admitted to having drunk excessive amounts of red wine in the first-class cabin on the 12-hour Virgin Atlantic trip. He was released without charge after being held for an hour and apologised for his behaviour. "I was a bit exuberant in the line and I did have something to declare - too much red wine," he said afterwards.

Neil is thought to be visiting his girlfriend of six months, 33-year-old American lawyer Emma Killick .The couple met while he filmed in LA last year.

Biography
Neil Anthony Morrissey was born in Stoke on Trent on July 4 1964 and raised in nearby Stafford by psychiatric nurses Larry and May.  Regularly in trouble with police from a young age Neil and younger brother Stephen were placed in care in 1976.  The system eventually put him on the right track and Neil gained A levels and went to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Following his graduation Neil somehow managed to land a bit part in Mel Gibson’s Mutiny on the Bounty, while his second role as Rocky in TV series Boon shot him to fame and made him something of a heartthrob.  The role was followed up by his taking over from Harry Enfield in Men Behaving Badly as Tony, the sitcom became one of the most popular of the 1990s.  Meanwhile Neil took roles in Brit movie Up and Under and voiced several parts in kids TV show Bob The Builder, a role that would also land him a number one single.

2004 saw Neil return to the sitcom with a leading part in Carrie and Barry, he also turned his hand to further kids TV work, voicing Morph and Maisy.  In addition he has made a name for himself on stage appearing, notably, in a stage adaptation of Acorn Antiques and in a West End production of Guys and Dolls.  Since 2006 he has presented car related gameshow Petrolheads.  Business-wise he is an investor in Babington House and Cactus Productions, he also owns several investment properties in Welsh village Laugharne.

A prodigious ladies man Neil was engaged to Goodnight Sweetheart’s Elizabeth Carling in 1986, however they never married and he was later hitched to Amanda Noar (who went on to appear in Brookside), with whom he has one son, Tom, born in 1989 just before their divorce.  He also dated Rachel Wiesz.

In 2000 Neil hit the headlines for his affair with married actress Amanda Holden, the dalliance put him at the centre of a long running tabloid story, however Neil escaped relatively unscathed while Amanda and husband Les Dennis divorced.

Neil lives alone in a two bedroom flat in Crouch End, North London.
updated January 2007