Is Russell going to surprise everybody by settling down?

Russell to host Brits mayhem - Dec 4 2006
Brace yourselves - Russell Brand is to host the 2007 Brit Awards, and he’s promising "mayhem".

The loudmouth comic has been brought in to liven up the ceremony, often criticised for being too tame.

"I will do my level best to tear it up," the flamboyant TV star told The Sun. "It is going to be like the rock and roll Brits of old, returned to the controlled mayhem and danger.

"I am going to be the ringleader in this carnival of mayhem and I’m really looking forward to it."

In the past, the ceremony courted controversy - Jarvis Cocker famously invaded the stage during Michael Jackson’s Earth Song in 1996 and Chumbawamba threw a bucket of water over Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in 1998.

Then, the organisers banned booze and pre-recorded the show to make it tamer.

But Peter Jamieson, Co-Chairman of the Brits organising committee, has said it’s all change. "We always promised that Brits 2007 would be an edgy, exciting show.

"First we announced we’d broadcast live. Then we announced Oasis as our Outstanding Contribution Award winner. And now there’s Russell Brand."

Russell, famed for his celebrity conquests and old-fashioned phrases, said presenting the February 14 awards was an honour.

And he added cheekily: "If part of the procedure of the awards is to have an attractive woman help hand out gongs, I certainly won’t be insisting contractually that she is a moose."

Where Russell’s concerned, she’s much more likely to be an ex...

Comedian Russell to join Radio 2 - Nov 2 2006
Controversial comic Russell Brand is joining Radio 2, it was announced today, hosting a new night-time show on Saturdays.

The move comes after he was credited with turning digital station 6 Music into a huge ratings success, with his Sunday morning show helping boost the station’s audience by 40%.

"Love muscle" Russell will quit 6 Music to join Radio 2, where he has already proved popular with listeners after deputising for Mark Radcliffe earlier this year.

Lesley Douglas, controller of both BBC stations, said: "I’m sure Russell’s new show will become a ’must listen’ for Saturday nights.

"Russell established himself as a genuine radio talent on 6 Music and has done a brilliant job there.

"Radio 2 gives him a fresh challenge and a new audience."

His new show will go out in a weekly 9-11pm slot beginning on November 18. It will be available on podcast and Brand will also write an accompanying blog.

Russell, 31, is a former heroin addict who was sacked from his job at MTV in 2001 for turning up for work the day after the September 11 attacks dressed as Osama bin Laden.

He found mainstream fame as the host of Big Brother’s Little Brother on E4 and landed his own show, Russell Brand’s Got Issues.

The legendary lothario has been linked to a string of stars, including supermodel Kate Moss.

This Sunday’s 6 Music show will be his last.

Russell gives radio ratings a boost - Oct 26 2006
The BBC’s digital radio station 6 Music has scored a huge ratings rise thanks to "the Russell Brand effect".

Over the past year the audience has shot up by 40%, from 285,000 to a record 400,000.

Bosses believe the presence of anarchic presenter Russell is largely responsible for the station’s success.

He joined 6 Music in March to host a headline-grabbing Sunday morning show.

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