"From Playdates to Payday: The Shocking Second Act of Your Favorite TV Star!"
Added on April 10, 2026 inFree CelebrityNews
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What happens when a star fades from the small screen but shines even brighter in a new role? Meet Michael Underwood, the beloved children’s TV presenter who captivated a generation of British kids. After hanging up his showbiz hat in 2018, he ventured into a new career path that would bring his talents to a new audience—kids eager to learn! Did you ever think that the cosmic energy of teaching could be as powerful as TV fame? With a dash of nostalgia, Underwood’s journey from entertaining tots on CBBC and CITV to shaping young minds in the classroom shows that sometimes the stars align in the most unexpected ways. Curious about how he transitioned from the bright lights to the classroom? Check out his story! LEARN MORE.
A children’s TV presenter beloved by Brits has shared an update on his life after stepping away from the small screen.
Michael Underwood entertained an entire generation of children throughout the 2000s and was at the helm of popular channels such as CBBC and CITV.
But he hung up his showbiz hat in 2018 and embarked on a new career path – and now, the offspring of those who grew up watching him have just got wind of his former fame.
Underwood previously revealed that he didn’t dream of becoming a television presenter since he was a kid, as he actually much preferred acting.
However, his family ‘could never afford to send him to drama school’, so he instead went down the academic route and got a degree instead – which came in handy later down the line.
The 50-year-old first got his foot in the door of the entertainment industry after bagging a job at at BBC Radio Northampton as a researcher, before later being hired as a presenter by the broadcaster.
The kids TV legend switched careers when ‘the phone stopped ringing’ (Instagram/@michaelunderwoodteach)
He was later poached by ITV and ended up hosting a string of hit shows which Brits were raised on – including The Big Bang, Eliminator, Jungle Run, and Ministry of Mayhem.
Underwood also enjoyed stints on shows such as Dancing on Ice, Celebrity MasterChef, and All Star Mr and Mrs throughout his TV career.
Sweetly, he got hitched to fellow children’s TV star Angellica Bell in New York back in December 2010. The pair share a son and daughter together and now reportedly live in Kingston-upon-Thames, London.
But after being booked and busy throughout the last few decades, the star said work suddenly dried up for him a few years ago and he realised he had to switch things up.
“The phone stopped ringing,” he told the Mirror in 2025. “It’s just not a nice place to be in. I needed to make a decision.
“I thought you know what, I’ve got my teaching degree, I’ve got 20 years in broadcasting behind me, maybe I can take that skill set and put it to good use.”
Underwood is married to fellow kids TV legend Angelica Bell and they share two children ( Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)
Explaining his master plan, Underwood added: “Help build children’s confidence, help them with their oracy and their presenting skills.
“That’s when I thought: ‘Yeah, let’s grab the bull by the horns and maybe take a step out into a different career’.”
And that’s exactly what he did.
Underwood became a drama teacher on a part-time basis in February 2018 at a prep school in Surrey, before later becoming a form tutor there.
The former Heart FM presenter has since moved onto another posh school in Wimbledon, where he now teaches full-time.
And recently, one of his pupils found out about how popular Underwood is among the parents, given that a lot of them grew up watching him on a daily basis.
In a video shared to TikTok on Thursday (9 April), the father-of-two explained: “A boy in my class came up to me and said, ‘Mr Underwood, my dad said he used to rush home after school to watch you on the telly! Are you famous?’
“We worked out that his dad went home to watch Jungle Run…so I may have played an episode of Jungle Run during a wet lunch break.”
Simply hearing the words ‘wet lunch break’ brought a rush of nostalgia to those watching, just like seeing Underwood’s face crop up on their for you pages did.
“They absolutely loved it,” the presenter-turned-teacher said of showing his students the CITV show. “Although they did say, Mr Underwood you look so young!
“And, right at the end when the children won the prizes [on Jungle Run], I had to explain to my class what an MP3 player was because they had absolutely no idea. I am a dinosaur.”
Underwood previously explained that a lot of his relatives are involved in the education sector, so it was a natural back-up plan for him.
“My mum was a nursery nurse, my sister was a nursery nurse, so working with children was in the family,” he said.
“It was my mum who actually said: ‘Why don’t you think of doing drama as a teaching degree, specialise in that and you’ve got something to fall back on if the acting doesn’t work out’.”
I guess mums really do know best.
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