User:Matthew Gerrard/sandbox

Matthew Gerrard (born May 30th 1980) is a British actor and former fashion model, best known for his role as Jason Chapman in ITV drama "Kids" and as Dr. Alex Karev in the hit ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy"

He began his acting career in 1990 playing Jason Chapman in the ITV drama "Kids", a show set in a children's residential home. The show lasted for 10 series and 2 specials, airing a total of 97 episodes, before he and co-star Reece Kilson quit the show in December 1999. He and Kilson were the only two cast members to appear in all episodes of the show. In 1998, he began his role as Anthony Royle in the BBC Two comedy series "The Royle Family" after three series and two Christmas specials the show ended abruptly. Gerrard has since returned for two special episodes in 2006 and 2010.

In September 2002, Gerrard began his role as Kyle Pascoe in ITV show "Footballers' Wives". He quit the show after three series to attempt a career in the US. His first role in America was as Senior Homicide Detective Chris Lassing on new CBS crime drama "Cold Case". He would only film three episodes of the show (1, 2 and 4) before asking to be released from his contract. His next role as Dr. Alex Karev on ABC's medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" launched his international career. He has appeared in all 10 seasons of the show since it began in March 2005, starring in over 200 episodes.

He began a career as a television presenter in September 1996 as the new co-host of children's Saturday morning television show "Live & Kicking" alongside Zoe Ball. The pair quit three years later with Gerrard moving over to rival ITV and it's morning music show "CD:UK" alongside Cat Deeley. He left the programme in December 2001 due to him signing a £1 million deal to return to the BBC and began presenting "Friends Like These" on Saturday primetime television. After two series, he signed a £750,000 deal with FIVE

Grey's Anatomy (2005-Present)
In March 2005, Gerrard made his first appearance as Dr. Alex Karev, a new medical intern at the Seattle Grace hospital, in Grey's Anatomy. The show was created as a midseason replacement for "Boston Legal". Gerrard initially auditioned for the role of Dr. Derek Shepherd but show creator Shonda Rhimes chose him to play Karev instead. He had to take two months of voice coaching to change his strong Liverpudlian accent. Gerrard initially signed one year contracts up until the negotiations for season nine and ten.

He was paid $50,000 per episode in season one, $75,000 in season two, $100,000 in season three, $125,000 in seasons four and five, $150,000 in seasons six, seven and eight and $200,000 in seasons nine and ten. Since the series began back in 2005, Gerrard has earned over $30 million dollars for his work. Gerrard stated in January 2014 that he hopes to sign a new two year deal, similar to his cast mates Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey. Gerrard is thought to be the lowest paid original cast member.

UK
Gerrard began his presenting career on the BBC children's show "Live & Kicking", co-hosting with Zoe Ball from September 1996. The ratings for the show improved under Gerrard and Ball. In March 1999, Gerrard confirmed he would not be returning to the show for it's new series in September following Ball's departure announcement. Their final episode won them a BAFTA for Best Entertainment Show.

In September 1999, Gerrard appeared as Cat Deeley's co-host on "CD:UK" following Ant & Dec's departure. The show had gone against "Live & Kicking" under Gerard's tenure. In May 2001, it was announced Gerrard had signed a £1 million, two year contract with the BBC to present the third series of primetime game show "Friends Like These". Gerrard replaced Ant & Dec on the show and went on to host 36 episodes over four series and two specials. The show was cancelled in April 2003.

In November 2003, Gerrard replaced Craig Charles as the host of "Robot Wars" when the show moved from BBC Two to FIVE. He co-hosted the show alongside Jayne Middlemiss for just one series, consisting of 19 episodes, and three special episodes before he left the show to move to America. The show was subsequently cancelled.

US
Following Gerrard's departure from "Cold Case", CBS offered him a role as a UK Correspondent on "Entertainment Tonight". He would leave after six months after signing a deal with ABC to appear on "Grey's Anatomy". In March 2012, Gerrard co-hosted "Live! With Kelly" alongside Kelly Ripa on the 14th, 15th and 16th. He received acclaim for his hosting skills and was in the running to join the show full time but had to turn down the offer due to it being filmed in New York whilst he lives and films "Grey's" in Los Angeles.

On January 22nd 2014, ABC confirmed Gerrard would host the Spring 2014 season of "Dancing With The Stars", replacing current host Tom Bergeron. Gerrard was personally requested by Bergeron as his successor but Gerrard confirmed in February that he has a one season deal and Bergeron could take back the show for Spring 2015. Gerrard will be joined by current host Brooke Burke for the run which will premiere on March 17th 2014.

Gerrard revealed in February 2014 that he has been offered a show on ABC's LA affiliate for his own daytime show, with the show possibly extending across California subject to ratings.

Personal Life
Matthew Gerrard was born on May 30th 1980 to Paul and Julie Gerrard. He has one elder brother, Paul, and a fraternal twin brother Steven, who is the captain of Liverpool Football Club and the England national football team. He attended St. Michael's Primary School and Cardinal Heenan High School. He is a practising Catholic. He often visited hospital as a child due to frequent bouts of pneumonia.

In May 1993, newspapers revealed Gerrard had gotten 15 year old Keisha White pregnant. The child, Rihanna, was born on December 24th 1993 and the two began a relationship. On June 22nd 1997, White gave birth to fraternal twin daughters Maya and Kaila. The couple's fourth child Eva was born on March 23rd 1999. In September 2000, White gave birth to a stillborn son. Their son Reece, named after Gerrard's best friend and "Kids" co-star Reece Kilson, was born on January 30th 2002. The family moved to New York in January 2004 to facilitate Gerrard's US career. Gerrard moved to LA in 2005 to work on "Grey's Anatomy" with his family following a year later.

In late January 2008, Gerrard admitted he suffered from Biological Sleep Disorder. He checked himself into Los Angeles' UCLA Medical Centre with exhaustion due to the condition after a period of getting at some points 2 hours of sleep each week. In December 2009, Gerrard revealed his stay at UCLA allowed him to get up to 8 hours of sleep a night. During an interview in February 2014, Gerrard revealed he had slipped back to his previous situation over the past year and currently averages around 3 or 4 hours sleep a week.

Rihanna (2009-Present)
Rihanna began her music career in mid 2004. Her debut album "Music Of The Sun" was released in August 2009 and peaked at #10 in the US and #35 in the US, selling 1 million copies worldwide. The following year, she scored her first UK top ten album with "A Girl Like Me" which peaked at #5. It also hit #1 in Canada and #7 in the US. The album has sold 3 million copies. The song "Unfaithful" became her first #1 single in Canada whilst "SOS" was her first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2011, "Good Girl Gone Bad" catapulted Rihanna to global stardom hitting #1 in the UK, Ireland and Canada. It also became her highest charting album to date in the US, peaking at #2. The lead single "Umbrella" was a worldwide hit, hitting #1 in 22 countries around the world. "Take A Bow", the lead single from the re-release of the album entitled "Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded" became her third Billboard Hot 100 #1 single and the second on the UK Singles Chart. The original version of the album sold 7 million copies worldwide whilst the re-issue sold 2 million.

In November 2013, Rihanna released "Rated R" as her fourth studio album.