Simon Reeve (British TV presenter)

Simon Alan Reeve (born 21 July 1972) is an English author, journalist, adventurer, documentary filmmaker and television presenter.

He makes global travel and environmental documentaries, and has written books on international terrorism, modern history, and his adventures. Amongst his many television programmes and series for the BBC, Reeve has presented Holidays in the Danger Zone: Places That Don't Exist, Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve, Equator and Tropic of Capricorn.

Reeve is the author of The New Jackals (1998), One Day in September (2005) and Tropic of Capricorn (2007). He has received a One World Broadcasting Trust Award and the 2012 Ness Award from the Royal Geographical Society (RGS).

Reeve divides his home time between London and Devon.

Early life
Reeve was born and raised in Acton, West London, by his parents, Alan Reeve, who was a teacher, and Cindy Reeve, who was an occupational therapist and worked in restaurants. He has a younger brother called James. He attended the Twyford Church of England High School in Acton.

Reeve had a ‘tense and sometimes violent relationship’ with his father when he was growing up. He said that in his house ‘there was endless shouting, lots of crashing and banging, and a few times it was so violent we or our neighbours called the police to come and break us up’.

From the age of 14, he required counselling due to behavioural problems, such as starting fires, vandalism, and setting off an explosive at the Ealing Broadway Centre. He ended up carrying a knife by the time he was 12 or 13.

He described his final months at school being "a bit of a blur". He left school with one GCSE, living on benefits, and with mental health problems. At the age of 17, Reeve stated he was even a "whisker away" from suicide. He found himself standing on the edge of a bridge, unable to "face existence", but something made him climb back.

Career
After leaving school, he took a series of jobs, including working in a supermarket, a jewellery shop and a charity shop. At the age of 18, he began work at the British newspaper The Sunday Times, initially as a post boy  and then in the cuttings library, where he assisted a team of investigative journalists. During this time he spent nights working on investigations into nuclear and weapons smuggling, and terrorism. One of his formative roles at 18 was to follow a weapons dealer from Gatwick Airport.

At the age of 21, citing his "fearlessness of youth", Reeve was investigating the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He wrote a book The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism; eventually published in 1998, it was the first book on Osama bin Laden, Ramzi Yousef, and al-Qaeda; this became a New York Times bestseller. Classified documents obtained by the author, with uninhibited access from the likes of the FBI and the CIA, detailed the existence, development, and aims of al-Qaeda, yet his book warning of an apocalyptic act by terrorists went unnoticed.

After the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States of America, Reeve became a media expert on terrorism on the basis of his book. The BBC initially wanted him to make a programme involving infiltrating al-Qaeda. He eventually began making travel documentaries. Tom Hall, travel editor for Lonely Planet publications, has described Reeve's travel documentaries as "the best travel television programmes of the past five years".

In January 2013, Reeve appeared in a charity special of The Great British Bake Off.

6 September 2018 saw the release of Reeve's autobiography called Step by Step: The Life in My Journeys; covering his humble beginnings to successful author and television presenter.

After catching malaria on a journey around the Equator, Reeve became an ambassador for the Malaria Awareness Campaign. Along with Sir David Attenborough and other conservation specialists, Reeve is a member of the Council of Ambassadors for WWF, one of the world's leading environmental organisations.

In 2020, Reeve was commissioned to present his first UK-based travel show Cornwall With Simon Reeve, which was ordered by BBC Two alongside Incredible Journeys With Simon Reeve. The latter show is due to be a 'look back' programme similar to Joanna Lumley's Unseen Adventures or Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime (a show which featured both Reeve and Lumley talking about the ex-Monty Python actor's travels).



Television

 * 2003 – Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans
 * 2004 – House of Saud (also broadcast as: Saudi: The Family in Crisis)
 * 2005 – Holidays in the Danger Zone: Places That Don't Exist
 * 2006 – Equator (Silver Award winner, 2007 Wanderlust Travel Awards)
 * 2008 – Tropic of Capricorn
 * 2009 – Explore
 * 2010 – Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve
 * 2012 – Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve
 * 2012 – Cuba with Simon Reeve
 * 2013 – Australia with Simon Reeve
 * 2013 – Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve
 * 2014 – Tea Trail/Coffee Trail with Simon Reeve
 * 2014 – Sacred Rivers with Simon Reeve
 * 2015 – Caribbean with Simon Reeve
 * 2015 – Ireland with Simon Reeve
 * 2016 – Greece with Simon Reeve
 * 2017 – Turkey with Simon Reeve
 * 2017 – Colombia with Simon Reeve
 * 2017 – Russia with Simon Reeve
 * 2018 – Burma with Simon Reeve
 * 2018 – Mediterranean with Simon Reeve
 * 2019 – North Americas with Simon Reeve
 * 2020 – Cornwall with Simon Reeve
 * 2021 – Incredible Journeys with Simon Reeve
 * 2021 – The Lakes with Simon Reeve
 * 2022 – Simon Reeve's South America
 * 2023 – Simon Reeve's Return to Cornwall
 * 2024 – Wilderness with Simon Reeve
 * 2025 – Scandinavia with Simon Reeve (w/t)
 * TBA – Wilderness with Simon Reeve (Series two)



Awards and accolades

 * 2005 – One World Broadcasting Trust (OWBT) Popular Features Award (with Will Daws)
 * 2007 – Wanderlust Travel Awards Silver Award
 * 2012 – Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Ness Award

Personal life
Reeve is married to Anya Reeve (née Courts), a television camerawoman and campaigner who has stood as a Green Party candidate. The couple have a son called Jake.