Riyadh Khalaf

Riyadh Khalaf (born 7 February 1991) is an Irish broadcaster, author, activist, and YouTube personality who has worked in the media industry in Ireland, Australia and the UK.

Riyadh Khalaf
Khalaf in 2015
Born (1991-02-07) 7 February 1991
Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Other namesRiyadh K
Alma materBallyfermot College of Further Education
Occupation(s)Broadcaster, author, activist, YouTuber
Years active2008–present
Notable workGrowing Up Gay
Queer Britain

Early life

Born to Irish mother Lorraine and Iraqi father Sam, Khalaf is from Bray, County Wicklow.[1] He attended Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock. Having not done well on his Leaving Certificate, he decided to pursue a career in media. He started his own pirate radio station at the age of 16. He studied at Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute and Ballyfermot College of Further Education, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Production Management.[2]

Career

Khalaf began his YouTube channel whilst still in school, although his videos prior to 2013 are no longer available.[3] During his studies at Ballyfermot, Khalaf landed radio gigs at Dublin's 98FM and SPIN 1038.[4] Khalaf featured in the 2010 RTÉ One documentary series Growing Up Gay in which he discussed coming out to his at the time Catholic mother and Muslim father.[5] The same year he took part in the Irish version of Young, Dumb and Living Off Mum that was broadcast on TV3.[6] He also presented for Ireland's first temporary LGBT+ radio station, Open FM.[7] He reported for RTÉ's Two Tube in 2012 and in 2013 for KIIS 106.5 in Sydney and KIIS 101.1 in Melbourne. Khalaf publicly campaigned for marriage equality (the "Yes vote") in the 2015 Irish constitutional referendums. His family's cars were attacked with acid in response.[7]

Upon relocating to London in 2016, Khalaf briefly worked as a video producer for MailOnline.[8] In 2017, Khalaf presented the six-part BBC Three documentary series Queer Britain[9] and was an interviewer for Pride in London's Love Happens Here YouTube series.[10] He produced and presented a short documentary I Am... in 2017.[11] In May 2018, he began hosting a NSFW chat podcast Unexpected Fluids for BBC Radio 1 with Alix Fox.[12] Khalaf created and uploaded Fighting for Pride: Swaziland, a documentary to his YouTube channel as part of #CreatorsForChange in 2018.[13] Since November 2018, Khalaf has been a relief presenter on BBC Radio 1.

In 2019, Khalaf published his debut novel Yay! You're Gay! Now What? A Gay Boy's Guide to Life. That December, he took part in Celebrity Mastermind.[14]

Khalaf's other presenting work includes the YouTube Red event Stream #WithMe to raise money for the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic[15] and a BBC Sounds podcast, Obsessed with... Normal People, with Evanna Lynch.[16] He has periodically done work with BBC Radio 1 and guest presented The One Show.

Khalaf won the 15th series of BBC One's Celebrity MasterChef in 2020. He dedicated his semi-final dishes to his father.[17][18]

Personal life

Khalaf moved to London in 2016. He has a cat named Claire.[15]

Bibliography
  • Riyadh Khalaf (2019). Yay! You're Gay! Now What? A Gay Boy's Guide to Life. Frances Lincoln Children's Books. ISBN 978-1786031914.[19]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Growing Up Gay Participant
Young, Dumb and Living Off Mum Irish version
2012 Two Tube Reporter
2017 Queer Britain Presenter
2019 Celebrity Mastermind Contestant Series 17, Episode 2[20]
2020 Celebrity MasterChef Winner (series 15)
2020 The One Show Guest presenter With Alex Jones; 1 episode[21]

Audio
Year Title Role
2018–19 Unexpected Fluids Co-presenter
2020 Obsessed with... Normal People
2022 Obsessed with... Conversations with Friends

References
  1. Crummy, Colin (22 June 2019). "My gay son: 'The family said we should send him to Syria for conversion therapy'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  2. O'Connor, Amy (27 April 2019). "Riyadh Khalaf: 'Homophobia begins from a lack of education'". Irish Times. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. Lapowski, Issie (30 October 2013). "YouTube's Push to Counter Toxic Videos With 'Good' Creators". Wired. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  4. O Neill, Bronwyn (25 July 2020). "Who is Irish YouTube star Riyadh Khalaf going on Celebrity Masterchef?". EVOKE.ie. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  5. Anderson, Aoife (14 April 2010). "Telling dad I'm gay was really tough, but he's fine now, says teenage star of new RTE series". The Herald. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  6. "Young, Dumb and Living off Mum". 11 November 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. O'Keeffe, Niall (9 June 2015). "Spin Star's family cars targeted in Shameful Acid Attack". Radio Today. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  8. "I will always be Irish, but now where I roam has become my new home". The Irish Times. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  9. Smith, Siobhan (5 May 2017). "'You're born into a world where you're different': Riyadh Khalaf gets under the skin of 'Queer Britain'". INews. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  10. "Pride in London launches exclusive LGBT+ miniseries". Pride in London. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. "Growing up gay illegally: Riyadh Khalaf talks his hard-hitting new documentary". Attitude. 2 October 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  12. Quirke, Antonia (22 May 2019). "Unexpected Fluids is a frank and loveable podcast about sex". New Statesman. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  13. "Fighting For Pride: Swaziland". FilmFreeway. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  14. Milan, Aidan (28 December 2019). "When is Celebrity Mastermind on tonight and who are the celeb contestants?". Metro. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  15. Milton, Josh (30 April 2020). "Gay YouTuber Riyadh Khalaf on the vital lessons he's learned form lockdown and his top tips for keeping sane during coronavirus". PinkNews. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  16. Kavanagh, Clara (16 May 2020). "Normal People Fans Have Got To Listen To Riyadh Khalaf's Podcast". Today FM. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  17. Hill, Rose (31 July 2020). "Riyadh Khalaf wins Celebrity MasterChef 2020 after touching menu dedicated to dad". Mirror. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  18. "Celebrity MasterChef winner Riyadh Khalaf says he "almost slipped up" before his victory". Radio Times. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  19. "Here's everything you need to know about Celebrity Masterchef contestant Riyadh Khalaf". inews.co.uk. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  20. "Episode 2". Celebrity Mastermind. BBC. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  21. "18/09/2020". The One Show. BBC. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
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