Rhodri Owen is a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 born and Welsh speaking radio and television presenter.

Biography

Owen was brought up in Gower, Swansea in a Welsh language speaking family, which is his first language. Owen was also a member of the National Youth Theatre of Wales.

Owen started his career in radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 reporting in his native Welsh language for Radio Cymru. After taking over the Saturday breakfast show, Owen transferred to the daily Red Dragon FM

Red Dragon FM

Capital South Wales is a British independent local radio station broadcasting from Cardiff Bay . The station serves Cardiff, Newport and the surrounding areas, broadcasting to a potential audience of around 1 million people...

 breakfast show. Having presented for BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

, Owen has also been the main station voice of BBC Radio Wales

BBC Radio Wales

BBC Radio Wales is the BBC's national radio station broadcasting to Wales in the English language. Operated by BBC Wales, it began broadcasting on 12 November 1978 following the demise of the old "Radio 4 Wales" when BBC Radio 4 became a national network and moved from medium wave to long wave...

.

Owen started his television career with S4C

S4C

S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...

 in 1993 as a continuity announcer during children's programming, before appearing on a variety of programmes including children's magazine shows Noc Noc and Uned 5

Uned 5

Uned 5 was a BAFTA award-winning teenage magazine show, broadcast live every week on Welsh channel S4C. The programme was the channel's flagship youth magazine for over sixteen years....

. After six years with the Welsh channel he moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and joined CBBC

CBBC

CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...

, fronting children's consumer show "Short Change

Short Change

Short Change was a consumer affairs programme for children, broadcast on BBC One and later also the CBBC Channel. It was essentially a version of the prime-time show Watchdog except that it was aimed at children. The show was first aired on 20 February 1994...

." He went on to appear in the BBC Wales

BBC Wales

BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...

 investigative consumer show "X-Ray" and was also the host of 4x4, BBC Three

BBC Three

BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...

's "Liquid Assets," the BBC1 travel programme "Holiday

Holiday (TV series)

Holiday was a long-running UK television programme on BBC One, and was the oldest travel review show on UK television. It was aired on the channel from 1969 until 2007.-Overview:...

". He then spent three years on the rival ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 travel show "Wish You Were Here...?

Wish You Were Here...?

Wish You Were Here...? is a British television show that was first broadcast on 7th January 1974 on ITV. It was a series of 30 minute shows about travel and holidays. The show was broadcast during peak viewing hours and had gained a significant viewing audience in the UK...

," "Holiday in Style" for UK Style and BBC1's "Hard Cash".

Owen is currently hosting "Derek Acorah's

Derek Acorah

Derek Acorah is a British medium. He is best known for his work on Most Haunted, broadcast on Living, between 2002 and 2005. He recently presented the series Derek Acorah on Sky Real Lives...

 Ghost Towns" for Living TV and continues to present BAFTA award winning "X-Ray" for BBC Wales. In 2006, he also co-presented Britain's Dream Homes with Melissa Porter

Melissa Porter

Melissa Porter is an English television presenter, best known for her BBC programmes, To Buy or Not to Buy and Escape to the Country.-Early life:...

 on BBC Two.

Owen had his first book published: "Bwyd bwyd bwyd (food food food)" - about healthy foods aimed at children. In 2009, he became presenter for afternoon magazine show Wedi 3 and studio director for Planed Plant

Planed Plant

Planed Plant was a strand of Welsh-language television programming for children broadcast by S4C.Although it included such imported animated programmes as Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sabrina, dubbed into Welsh, Planed Plant also featured a number of Welsh-produced programmes...

, the current S4C children's continuity strand.

Personal life

Rhodri married fellow Welsh television presenter Lucy Cohen

Lucy Owen

Lucy Owen is a Welsh television news reader.-Early life:Owen attended Howell's School in Llandaff, Cardiff, and graduated from the Royal Holloway, University of London in English.-Career:...

 in June 2004 at St Andrew's Church in St Andrews Major near Dinas Powys

Dinas Powys

Dinas Powys is a large village and a community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales which takes its name from the Dinas Powys hillfort that dates from the Iron Age...

. The couple live in Llangan

Llangan

Llangan is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.It is located approximately 4 miles outside the market town of Cowbridge.-External links:*...

, and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. After trying to conceive

Pregnancy

Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

, the couple undertook treatment via IVF

In vitro fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...

. Son Gabriel was born on March 10, 2008 by Caesarean section

Caesarean section

A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...

, weighing 5 pounds (2.26796185 kg). His brother Geraint

Geraint Owen

-Political career:Owen was a councillor for Plaid Cymru and had stood in assembly and parliamentary elections, contesting the Neath constituency in the 2005 election. Owen came second to Peter Hain in the election.-Personal life:...

died on 11 July 2009.