'I was one of the most recognisable faces on TV but I gave it all up to become a teacher'
A face many people grew up with on CBBC and CITV Michael Underwood left his life in front of camera to become a primary school teacher in South West London
An icon of children's TV in the late 90s and early 00s Michael Underwood hosted many of the shows a generation grew up on but after work started to dry up he made the incredible decision to re-train and start a very different life.
Having almost fallen into presenting after finding a call out for audition tapes while working at a radio station, Michael went on to host some classic kids' TV shows from Jungle Run to Ministry of Mayhem. But it wasn't just kids' TV, he was also a regular entertainment reporter for GMTV and Good Morning Britain.
Aside from presenting, the 39-year-old appeared on some big reality shows, including Dancing on Ice, Celebrity MasterChef and All Star Mr and Mrs with his wife, presenter and Celebrity Big Brother star Angellica Bell, who also hosted classic children's shows such as Xchange, 50/50 and That's Genius!.
The couple live a relatively normal life in a five-bedroom Victorian semi-detached house in Kingston-upon-Thames, London, with their two children, a son and daughter.
But despite his success eventually the jobs dried up, he explained to The Mirror: "The phone stopped ringing. 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. 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'."
He first began teaching part-time for two days a week at Surbiton High Boy's Prep School, teaching Year 4 drama. That was until 2019 when he moved into a role as a form teacher. But in September last year after completing his full teaching degree he moved into a full-time role at King's College School in Wimbledon.
He added: "I never grew up wanting to be a television presenter, acting's what I loved but my family could never afford to send me to drama school.
"My mum was a nursery nurse, my sister was a nursery nurse, so working with children was in the family. 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.'"
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