John Michael McCririck, born on 17th April 1940, in Surbiton, Surrey, England, UK was a TV horse racing pundit, presenter and journalist. McCririck began his career at The Sporting Life, where he twice won at the British Press Awards for his campaigning journalism, before being sacked during 1984. John joined ITV Sport's horse racing coverage in 1981, which moved to Channel 4 during 1984 and 1985, as Channel 4 Racing. The channel announced in October 2012 that he was being dropped from its team, which McCririck blamed on ageism, having taken the matter to an employment tribunal but lost. John made many appearances on British TV from the '80s, including as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother, The Weakest Link and Wife Swap.