Mark Thomas Rhodes (born 11 September 1981) is an English singer and television presenter, best known as one half of Sam & Mark, the other being Sam Nixon.
Career Born in Wolverhampton, England, Rhodes finished in second place in the second series of Pop Idol in the United Kingdom, as runner-up to Michelle McManus. After Pop Idol, he teamed up with third-place Sam Nixon, releasing two singles under the name Sam & Mark. In February 2004, their cover of the song "With a Little Help from My Friends" reached number 1 in the UK singles chart, remaining there for one week. Their second single 'The Sun Has Come Your Way" reached 19 in the singles chart. The pair were subsequently encouraged by manager Simon Fuller to pursue a career in TV.
Rhodes went on to co-present Top of the Pops Reloaded with Nixon and Fearne Cotton in 2004. From April 2006, Rhodes co-hosted the weekday children's breakfast show Level Up on BBC Two alongside Nixon and Ayesha Asantewaa. Level Up finished its first series in September 2006.
In September 2006, Rhodes began presenting BBC Two's Saturday morning show TMi alongside Nixon and Caroline Flack. He had his own short segment on the show called "Question Mark", a feature where he tried to answer viewers' questions, but Flack and Nixon talked through it. In later series, Flack left and the show moved to Fridays. The show's final episode aired on 17 December 2010. He also co-presented Do Something Different with Nixon and Ayesha Asantewaa. Nixon and Rhodes produced a children's reality series, Who Wants to Be a Superhero? and Sam and Mark's Guide to Dodging Disaster.
In 2009, Rhodes co-presented the show Skate Nation on BBC Two. He presented a Total Wipeout Celebrity Special, which aired on 2 January 2010. Rhodes fell at the quarter-final stage, losing out to eventual winner Danielle Lloyd. They subsequently took part in two episodes of Hole in the Wall, airing on 11 October 2008 and 14 November 2009.
Rhodes competed in the 2012 series of Dancing on Ice. He was eliminated by the judges on 22 January after a skate-off with Dallas actress Charlene Tilton.
Sam & Mark were the hosts of CBBC family game show Copycats.
In 2024 Rhodes began presenting a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio WM.
Awards and nominations
BAFTA Best Children’s Presenter
Winner:
2013 (Sam and Mark's Big Friday Wind Up)
2015 (Sam and Mark's Big Friday Wind Up)
Nominations:
2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019
BAFTA Best Children's Entertainment Show
Winner:
2016 (Sam and Mark's Big Friday Wind Up)
Nominations:
2014, 2015 and 2016
RTS North West Awards Best Entertainment Show
Winner:
2015 (Sam and Mark’s Big Friday Wind Up)
2021 (Crackerjack)
Nominations:
2013, 2015 and 2021
Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards Best Newcomer:
Nomination:
2011
Personal life
Rhodes attended Darlaston Comprehensive High School in Darlaston in the West Midlands. Rhodes splits his time between his house in St Margarets, London, and his family house in Wolverhampton, where he is regularly seen socialising in the village of Wombourne.
He got engaged in March 2011 and married his girlfriend Harriet Wilson on 2 June 2012. They now have a daughter, Scarlett and a son, Teddy, born at the end of April 2016.
Rhodes is a Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and played on the All Stars side at Matt Murray's testimonial match in 2011. He also played in Jody Craddock's testimonial match as part of a Wolves XI at Molineux in 2014.
Pop Idol 2 performances Week Theme Song Choice Original Artist Result Top 50 "She's Like The Wind" Patrick Swayze20.3% (2/10) Top 12 Your Pop Idol "With Or Without You" U2 Bottom 3 Top 10 Birthyear Songs "Imagine" John Lennon Safe Top 8 Elton John Songs "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" Elton John Safe Top 7 Disco "More Than A Woman" Bee Gees Bottom 3 Top 6 The Beatles "Help!" The Beatles Bottom 3 Top 5 Big Band "Have You Met Miss Jones?" Frank Sinatra Safe Top 4 Christmas Songs "Merry Christmas Everybody" Slade Bottom 2 "Blue Christmas" Elvis Presley Top 3 Judges' Choice "Back For Good" Take That Safe "If You Don't Know Me By Now" Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Final Contestant's Choice "She's Like The Wind" Patrick Swayze Runner-up B Side "Measure of a Man" Clay Aiken Winner's Single "All This Time" To be released by the winner. The eventual winner was Michelle McManus
Filmography YearTitleNotes2003Pop IdolContestant2004–2006Top of the Pops ReloadedCo-presenter2006Level UpMain presenter with Sam Nixon2006–2010TMiMain presenter with Sam Nixon and Caroline Flack2007Do Something DifferentMain presenter2008SMartGuest presenter2008Sam and Mark's Guide to Dodging DisasterMain presenter with Sam Nixon2009Who Wants to Be a Superhero?Main presenter2009Skate NationMain presenter with Sam Nixon2010Jump NationMain presenter with Sam Nixon2010–2016CopycatsMain presenter with Sam Nixon2011–2014Comic Relief Does Glee ClubMain presenter with Sam Nixon2011–2019Sam & Mark's Big Friday Wind-UpMain presenter with Sam Nixon2012Dancing on IceContestant2013Hacker TimeGuest2014–2015,2018The Dog Ate My HomeworkContestant; 3 episodes2015–2016Junior Bake OffMain presenter with Sam Nixon2016-2017Match of the Day: Can You Kick It Main presenter with Sam Nixon2017Ready or NotMain presenter with Sam Nixon2020-2021Crackerjack Main presenter with Sam Nixon2022The One ShowVT Presenter2022The All Star Games for Sport ReliefContestant
Discography Singles as Sam & Mark "With a Little Help from My Friends" (February 2004) "The Sun Has Come Your Way" (May 2004)
See also Sam & Mark Sam Nixon Wombourne
References
External links