The News Raider: So just who is the tubby man in the woolly pully who's gatecrashed 100 TV news bulletins this year? - He is a TV star like no other. He doesn’t surround himself with PR minders and ghastly yes-men. There are no outrageous salary demands. He doesn’t even insist on a make-up artist before his prime time performances.
Paul Yarrow — star of BBC1, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News and even the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network — has appeared on television more than 100 times this year. The only problem is that the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News and Al Jazeera don’t want him to be there.
What they want is for their TV reporters to be left in peace. What they don’t want is Yarrow — a balding, fat man who often wears a wrinkled white sweater — popping up behind their star correspondents, distracting viewers from the Very Important News that they are trying to deliver.
For his part, 42-year-old Yarrow, from Southwark in South London, has a very simple mission: to get himself on television as often as possible, without being invited. No wonder the ‘news raider’ has become an overnight internet sensation.
With modesty almost unknown among TV performers, this fighter pilot’s son says: ‘You just have to watch the news and use your common sense to know where the cameras will be.’
Yarrow’s TV ‘career’ began with a series of appearances on various channels one day last October, when British National Party leader Nick Griffin was invited to appear on the BBC’s Question Time.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the BBC TV Centre in West London - along with one interloper in a grubby sweater, determined to get on TV.
Yarrow duly appeared all afternoon and evening in the background of several live reports from the demonstration on Sky News. He also secured himself a slot on Channel 4 News that night.
His appetite whetted, a few weeks later he made his way on to the BBC’s local London news. He appeared in the background as the deputy leader of Southwark council, Kim Humphreys, was being interviewed outside a refuge centre in Peckham, South London.
Same sweater. Same messy hair. Only this time, he had a prop: a pensioner’s-style shopping bag on wheels.
On the phone: Mr Yarrow is obvious in this shot as he stands alone behind an ITV reporter outside Scotland Yard on July 22
Nonchalant: Mr Yarrow at parliament Square during a BBC London News broadcast on July 2
So why does Yarrow, a carer who lives on a council estate and in 2008 won the South London Press Good Samaritan of the Year Award for his local community work, do it? Is he just a particularly persistent member of the ‘Hello Mum’ brigade?
Far from it, he says. His TV appearances are designed to strike a blow for the ordinary-looking man in the street.
There are too many beautiful people on television, he argues. The people who run television companies are happy to put blonde lovelies on air but seem curiously averse to filling the screen with balding fat men in wrinkled white sweaters.
And it has to change.
‘It’s a serious issue and I’m trying to make a statement: “Be who you are.” I’m just a common person in the street,’ says Yarrow.
‘People say we live in a fairer, more understanding society these days, but elderly and overweight people still get pushed aside. The camera crews try to move me out of the way but I’m a human being.’
Uncanny timing: Yarrow makes an appearance outside the High Court on the Strand after a decision on the BA cabin crew strike was handed down
His roles are always non-speaking, though he does sometimes pretend to read a newspaper or make a call on his mobile phone. Most amusingly, he never cracks a smile.
‘I know it’s very odd but I’m saying: “This is me.” I might be overweight but this is who I am.
‘I don’t do it to be funny. I’m quite a serious person really but I’m quite unsightly and that makes some people laugh.’
How does he know where to turn up? He simply works out the most likely spots, he says.
During the election, he hung around the Houses of Parliament, from where all the TV news organisations were anchoring their coverage.
In May, he turned up at the High Court in London to hijack TV reports of a British Airways injunction against the Unite union.
He was back there again earlier this month, for a court ruling on the Yorkshire Ripper’s bid for parole. He was present at a demonstration in Parliament Square and at a memorial ceremony for the victims of the July 7 bombings.
Paper boy: Yarrow made an appearance on Sky News from St Pancras Station on Election day
He says he is drawn to the causes of ‘common people’ — recent events such as the eviction of protesters from Parliament Square, and reports on the Crown Prosecution’s decision not to prosecute any police officers over the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson at last year’s G20 demonstration.
‘I’ve been demonstrating and campaigning for over 20 years because I believe in people’s right to free speech,’ says Yarrow. ‘So many times the reporter could ask me for my views but they ignore me and choose a pretty girl with a nice cleavage.
'I don’t fit into that society where the media put pressure on us to look good.’
Great fun? Not for Yarrow, who says he is totally serious in his intent. But would it be uncharitable to wonder if there’s just a little bit of exhibitionism at play?
Why, one wonders, did he inveigle himself on to the Antiques Roadshow — hardly a mainstay of youthful lovelies — Fiona Bruce’s recent rear-of-the-year award notwithstanding?
And why did a man calling himself Paul Yarrow post a entry on the official Big Brother website, touting for a place on the latest series of the show by writing: ‘I am a son of a World War II fighter pilot [who] was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by King George VII... I am currently known as the fat guy who wants to be on television.’
Smile, you're on TV: Yarrow almost cracks a smile during this appearance on Channel 4 outside Television Centre
Yarrow has said no more about the specifics of his father Patrick’s wartime heroism. His Facebook entry says that after the War, Patrick went on to work in the film business as a property manager, and that he worked alongside Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.
Yarrow claims to have been educated at the local primary school in Heber Road, Southwark and then at the private Hellenic College of London, where a fellow pupil was Prince Nikolaos of Greece.
As to why he is now living in a small council flat if — as he claims — he went to a moneyed private school, he has so far remained silent.
But Yarrow was happy to talk this week about his new-found fame.
‘People stop in the street and say: “You’re the guy on TV, keep up the good work.” I seem to have brought happiness into people’s lives.
‘I’m getting emails from all sorts, from 14-year-olds saying: “You are a legend,” to 60-year-olds who have found me on Facebook. It’s growing and growing every day. The thought of becoming famous is quite frightening.’
Then, 100 appearances in, he delivers his first unconvincing performance.
‘I wanted my identity to stay secret,’ he says. ‘But now all this has gone through the roof.’
Memo to the balding fat man in the wrinkled white sweater: if you don’t want people to notice you, it’s best not to appear on TV.
On air: Yarrow makes yet another live appearance on a live BBC news broadcast from Peckham, south London 
Peek-a-boo: There is is again poking his head up as Sky news interviews Diane Abbot during the general election campaign
( dailymail.co.uk )
Paul Yarrow — star of BBC1, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News and even the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network — has appeared on television more than 100 times this year. The only problem is that the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News and Al Jazeera don’t want him to be there.
What they want is for their TV reporters to be left in peace. What they don’t want is Yarrow — a balding, fat man who often wears a wrinkled white sweater — popping up behind their star correspondents, distracting viewers from the Very Important News that they are trying to deliver.
Face in the crowd: Paul Yarrow among a group at the Gaza protests in London on May 31
For his part, 42-year-old Yarrow, from Southwark in South London, has a very simple mission: to get himself on television as often as possible, without being invited. No wonder the ‘news raider’ has become an overnight internet sensation.
With modesty almost unknown among TV performers, this fighter pilot’s son says: ‘You just have to watch the news and use your common sense to know where the cameras will be.’
Yarrow’s TV ‘career’ began with a series of appearances on various channels one day last October, when British National Party leader Nick Griffin was invited to appear on the BBC’s Question Time.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the BBC TV Centre in West London - along with one interloper in a grubby sweater, determined to get on TV.
Yarrow duly appeared all afternoon and evening in the background of several live reports from the demonstration on Sky News. He also secured himself a slot on Channel 4 News that night.
His appetite whetted, a few weeks later he made his way on to the BBC’s local London news. He appeared in the background as the deputy leader of Southwark council, Kim Humphreys, was being interviewed outside a refuge centre in Peckham, South London.
Same sweater. Same messy hair. Only this time, he had a prop: a pensioner’s-style shopping bag on wheels.
On the phone: Mr Yarrow is obvious in this shot as he stands alone behind an ITV reporter outside Scotland Yard on July 22
At it again: Mr Yarrow in the same jumper, and on the phone once again, during a BBC1 live cross about the Yorkshire Ripper on July 16
Nonchalant: Mr Yarrow at parliament Square during a BBC London News broadcast on July 2
So why does Yarrow, a carer who lives on a council estate and in 2008 won the South London Press Good Samaritan of the Year Award for his local community work, do it? Is he just a particularly persistent member of the ‘Hello Mum’ brigade?
Far from it, he says. His TV appearances are designed to strike a blow for the ordinary-looking man in the street.
There are too many beautiful people on television, he argues. The people who run television companies are happy to put blonde lovelies on air but seem curiously averse to filling the screen with balding fat men in wrinkled white sweaters.
And it has to change.
‘It’s a serious issue and I’m trying to make a statement: “Be who you are.” I’m just a common person in the street,’ says Yarrow.
‘People say we live in a fairer, more understanding society these days, but elderly and overweight people still get pushed aside. The camera crews try to move me out of the way but I’m a human being.’
Uncanny timing: Yarrow makes an appearance outside the High Court on the Strand after a decision on the BA cabin crew strike was handed down
His roles are always non-speaking, though he does sometimes pretend to read a newspaper or make a call on his mobile phone. Most amusingly, he never cracks a smile.
‘I know it’s very odd but I’m saying: “This is me.” I might be overweight but this is who I am.
‘I don’t do it to be funny. I’m quite a serious person really but I’m quite unsightly and that makes some people laugh.’
How does he know where to turn up? He simply works out the most likely spots, he says.
During the election, he hung around the Houses of Parliament, from where all the TV news organisations were anchoring their coverage.
In May, he turned up at the High Court in London to hijack TV reports of a British Airways injunction against the Unite union.
He was back there again earlier this month, for a court ruling on the Yorkshire Ripper’s bid for parole. He was present at a demonstration in Parliament Square and at a memorial ceremony for the victims of the July 7 bombings.
Paper boy: Yarrow made an appearance on Sky News from St Pancras Station on Election day
He says he is drawn to the causes of ‘common people’ — recent events such as the eviction of protesters from Parliament Square, and reports on the Crown Prosecution’s decision not to prosecute any police officers over the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson at last year’s G20 demonstration.
‘I’ve been demonstrating and campaigning for over 20 years because I believe in people’s right to free speech,’ says Yarrow. ‘So many times the reporter could ask me for my views but they ignore me and choose a pretty girl with a nice cleavage.
'I don’t fit into that society where the media put pressure on us to look good.’
Great fun? Not for Yarrow, who says he is totally serious in his intent. But would it be uncharitable to wonder if there’s just a little bit of exhibitionism at play?
Why, one wonders, did he inveigle himself on to the Antiques Roadshow — hardly a mainstay of youthful lovelies — Fiona Bruce’s recent rear-of-the-year award notwithstanding?
And why did a man calling himself Paul Yarrow post a entry on the official Big Brother website, touting for a place on the latest series of the show by writing: ‘I am a son of a World War II fighter pilot [who] was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by King George VII... I am currently known as the fat guy who wants to be on television.’
Smile, you're on TV: Yarrow almost cracks a smile during this appearance on Channel 4 outside Television Centre
Yarrow has said no more about the specifics of his father Patrick’s wartime heroism. His Facebook entry says that after the War, Patrick went on to work in the film business as a property manager, and that he worked alongside Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.
Yarrow claims to have been educated at the local primary school in Heber Road, Southwark and then at the private Hellenic College of London, where a fellow pupil was Prince Nikolaos of Greece.
As to why he is now living in a small council flat if — as he claims — he went to a moneyed private school, he has so far remained silent.
But Yarrow was happy to talk this week about his new-found fame.
‘People stop in the street and say: “You’re the guy on TV, keep up the good work.” I seem to have brought happiness into people’s lives.
‘I’m getting emails from all sorts, from 14-year-olds saying: “You are a legend,” to 60-year-olds who have found me on Facebook. It’s growing and growing every day. The thought of becoming famous is quite frightening.’
Then, 100 appearances in, he delivers his first unconvincing performance.
‘I wanted my identity to stay secret,’ he says. ‘But now all this has gone through the roof.’
Memo to the balding fat man in the wrinkled white sweater: if you don’t want people to notice you, it’s best not to appear on TV.
On air: Yarrow makes yet another live appearance on a live BBC news broadcast from Peckham, south London
Peek-a-boo: There is is again poking his head up as Sky news interviews Diane Abbot during the general election campaign
( dailymail.co.uk )
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