Oli Bell: 'Everyone thinks I got a job because of my dad - but in many ways I got a dad because of my job'

This interview by Jonathan Harding was originally published in April exclusively for Racing Post Members' Club subscribers and has been made free to read for users of the Racing Post app as our Sunday Read. Jonathan spoke to ITV presenter Oli Bell, who was keen to correct some of the misconceptions around his family background in the sport and the influence it has had on his career.

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Those who tuned into ITV Racing's coverage of the Grand National on Saturday would have seen a familiar face in presenter Oli Bell and many will have formed their own theories about how he reached that privileged position, but few know the true story.

It would be easy to assume the 35-year-old had every door held open for him as the son of broadcaster Rupert and nephew of Derby-winning trainer Michael, but things are rarely so straightforward and Bell is ultimately the product of two different worlds: one prominent within the racing industry and another much further removed from it.

As I sit down with him in the Bean & Hop cafe in Earlsfield, which proves to be among the loudest cafes in south-west London, Bell is keen to correct some of the misconceptions around his family background in the sport and the influence it has had on his career.

"I was into racing but I don't consider myself to have grown up in that world," he says. "The passion undoubtedly came from my father's side at first. My grandfather was a big racing man who owned horses and I remember going to his house when I was very young. He would sit in his armchair and have a bet while I did the commentary. If I could go back I'd make it known he probably influenced my life more than anyone.

"My parents split up when I was around three years old and there was a period in the middle of my childhood when I didn't see dad and that side of the family for a few years. I lived with my mum in Somerset, not around horses, nor people who knew anything about racing. My experiences of the sport were going to Wincanton on Boxing Day and getting my mum to take me to the bookies on Grand National day."

Bell is not naive enough to believe the racing connection did not benefit him in later life and, in the end, it was his career that brought him closer to that side of his family.

"When I started there was the Betfair forum and I remember being told never to read that," he says. "I've never been one to be affected by what a random person thinks – it's a public-facing job – but I wanted to prove I deserved to be there on my own merit.

"From the moment I started out, I also felt a responsibility to do well for my mum, and for my brother and sister. I've never really lost that and I'm particularly protective of my mum. Her second marriage was fairly traumatic for her and us. I don't want people to get the violins out but ensuring my family is okay will always be my main motivation.

"I've basically got two families: the one on my mum's side that I grew up with and the racing one, which I'm now very close to. I reconnected with dad in my early teens and when it became clear I was going down a similar route professionally he was a great sounding board. It's difficult for me to say the connection hasn't helped but it was definitely not the conveyor belt situation many might have assumed it was. Everyone thinks I got a job because of my dad but in many ways I got a dad because of my job."

We all quietly hope broadcasters bear some resemblance to the person beamed into our living rooms every weekend and that is definitely the case with Bell. He is authentic and laid-back, wearing Atletico Madrid tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie. He even finds the constant whirring of a nearby blender much funnier than his worried interviewer.

His lifelong love of sport began in the village of Kingsdon, where he moved aged ten. It became an outlet for him and he would play football with a group of older children, many of whom he is still close to today. Bell credits them with helping him to grow up and stay grounded after he gained a drama scholarship to Oundle, a boarding school.

"They have a really good grasp of what's important there - it's not about flash cars and money but being a good person," says Bell. "They taught me really good values. It was far removed from boarding school, where I was around lots of money and entitlement. I'd come home during the holidays and be with people who were the opposite of that. Without knowing it they were my best mates, teammates and at times like therapists."

A far cry from the huge terrestrial viewership of the Grand National, Bell started his broadcasting career as the host of his school's radio breakfast show, available to anyone within a five-mile radius and primarily concerned with news of cancelled assemblies.

Oli Bell on duty for ITV at AintreeCredit: Edward Whitaker

Sadly, there does not appear to be any old recordings online but Bell says he vividly remembers the shows involving a lot of the boy band Busted, a big deal at that time.

When he was not playing family-friendly pop rock down the airwaves, Bell was being mischievous in class. He openly admits lessons were not really for him. He was more concerned with throwing paper, doodling and, at one stage, gambling on horseracing.

"I was nearly suspended," he says. "I was 15 or 16 and making quite a healthy profit. The headmaster explained it was illegal and I tried to justify it as an example of an entrepreneurial spirit. I said you can't knock a man who has made £800 in a week.

"My history teacher said to focus my energy on broadcasting. When everyone was handing in essays at the end of the lesson, I'd hand in tips and he'd let me read the Racing Post at the back of the class. We had a profitable term. When my reports came back they were all terrible apart from history, which my mum was quite suspicious of."

A family arrives at the next-door table and adds to the noise of the blender so we make the tactical decision to continue the interview elsewhere. The snooker hall in Tooting is mooted as an alternative but Bell says it would likely prove too distracting so we settle on talking in his living room, where a framed L'Equipe front page from the day Diego Maradona died catches the eye. Sport is clearly more of an obsession than passion for Bell, who very quickly settled on a career in journalism.

At 16, Bell spent a week with the Western Gazette, writing an expose on the state of the bin collections in Wincanton, and a week with the Racing Post. During his gap year he did more work experience, including as an extra pair of hands with his dad at the Burghley Horse Trials, before getting his first full-time job with Racing UK aged 18.

"I never wanted to go to university," says Bell. "A friend of mine from school worked at Racing UK and gave them my CV, which was not particularly strong. I had done some work experience but it mostly consisted of washing pots at the Kingsdon Inn, making tea in a coffee shop, and I once helped my mate out with some landscape gardening.

"It was only after they offered me the job that they realised I was Michael's nephew, which vindicated the fact I didn't get it because of my family ties. I can see why some people do because racing is so unique and it's in people's blood but I was pleased I didn't just ask someone to get me a job. I feel I worked hard and did it the right way."

Following a screen test with Rishi Persad at Sandown, Bell took the role of editorial assistant, which he suggests roughly translates as the person who makes the tea. He adds he firstly got an off-screen role because he looked like a "genuine 12-year-old".

"I had to wait for a few years before my first reporting shift at Salisbury at 22," he says. "I remember blinking frantically because of nerves. It was an evening meeting after the Derby and I remember getting into the car and thinking I'd absolutely nailed it. I watched it back and realised I'd been terrible and my boss said to try blinking less."

Oli Bell: "It was daunting to move away from my family and my house actually burned down a week before I went"Credit: Edward Whitaker

It was a formative experience but it was Bell's decision to take a job with Sky Racing World in Australia that took his career to a new level. Away from the often critical eyes of viewers in the UK, he was able to hone his broadcasting skills as the host of a new programme covering UK racing. The hours were demanding, thanks in no small part to the time difference, but Bell returned a more competent, and confident, presenter.

"It was a tough decision at a time when I thought I might be on the cusp of breaking through in the UK," says Bell. "It was daunting to move away from my family and my house actually burned down a week before I went. I was moving for three years and just had my passport and a WHSmith bag with a packet of crisps and the Racing Post. I told the person at check-in that I was planning to get clothes there. I had bad taste at the time, which hasn't really improved, so it was an excuse to get a new wardrobe."

Bell spent two and a half years in Australia. He was in a relationship with jockey Kathy O'Hara, played semi-professional football for North Sydney, and had his offer of a new deal come good he might have stayed even longer. He says when he returned to the UK people "believed he was ready" and he was given a staff contract with Racing UK.

Self-deprecation is the default position for Bell. He does not take himself too seriously on air and, away from the cameras, he is much faster to credit others for their role in his success than his own hard work. That said, being offered a position with ITV when it became the sport's mainstream broadcaster in 2017 remains a rare point of pride.

"I was travelling abroad and my boss called to say I'd got the job while a stewardess was ushering me off the plane due to a problem with the engine," says Bell, who must wonder why most of his major career moves took place against the backdrop of one emergency or another. "I don't often reflect on things but it felt like an achievement to be asked to present the Opening Show after watching The Morning Line as a kid.

"I tried to be more detailed when I was starting out with ITV and remind myself how important it was but I wasn't presenting as well as I once had. There are a lot of eyes on it and it took me a few months to feel comfortable being myself. I definitely had a conscious moment of trying to be authentic but struggled during that adjustment."

Bell was trying to find his feet at a time when he was under intense scrutiny. A quick Google search of his name reveals a bizarre interest in his love life by the tabloids. It is the type of thing that would subconsciously prompt anybody to put their guard up.

"It never impacted my work but it was a strange time," adds Bell. "The Sun turned up at my dad's house when I didn't even know his address, which is the bit I found the weirdest. It's difficult to go from just bouncing from racecourse to racecourse smiling to thinking everyone is talking about you, even though they're not. Having that level of scrutiny is really not something you expect but it will always be part of the job."

Oli Bell runs on to the track following the Gold Cup success of his uncle Michael's Big OrangeCredit: Mark Cranham

It is a job that has put him in some unique situations, not least being called a lunatic by the Queen after running on to the track when Big Orange won the Ascot Gold Cup for his uncle, a story he has been made to recount far too many times already. While racing remains his main focus, Bell is keen to prove he is not a "one-trick pony" and has already covered boxing, snooker and, more recently, three FA Cup games for ITV.

He has interviewed Joe Calzaghe and Chris Eubank, who felt holding the pads for a young presenter was a step too far for a two-division world champion. He must not have realised Bell already had experience in the ring after having his "arse handed to him" and nose broken by a more experienced rival in a charity boxing match in 2018.

Fortunately for him, Bell is a better poker player than boxer, which may come as a surprise given his previous propensity to blink when nervous. His family used to play as a livelier alternative to charades and he began taking it seriously in 2008 before he moved to Australia, winning several tournaments and more than his annual salary. He says he only plays recreationally these days but he recently won the European Grand Prix and BHA chair Joe Saumarez Smith has warned our readers against taking him on.

In short, he is no stranger to taking gambles and one of his biggest ones paid off in 2019. After becoming a patron of Ebony Horse Club, Bell had the idea of training a young person from the urban equestrian centre in Brixton to ride racehorses and compete in the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood, all while being followed by a film crew.

That person was Khadijah Mellah, who became the first hijab-wearing jockey to not only ride in a competitive race in Britain but to win one. The story was picked up by media outlets all over the world and the documentary, aired after the Rugby World Cup final, was named Best British Short Film at the British Documentary Film Festival.

"That's probably the thing I'm proudest of," says Bell. "We had a small team and did things back to front because we had a crew before we had a story. We luckily found Khadijah and she has been such a force. I'm so proud of her. She was 18 at the time, had never had any media training and suddenly the eyes of the world were on her.

Khadijah Mellah with Oli Bell and Frankie DettoriCredit: Great British Racing

"The hardest part of the process was to convince her parents it was a sensible thing to do during Ramadan and her A-Levels. We lived it every day. When Khadijah had a setback it was the worst thing in the world, and when she did well it was the best. I've never felt so invested in something. It consumed my life but was incredibly rewarding."

The documentary led to the foundation of the Riding A Dream Academy, which helps young people from diverse backgrounds to get involved in the racing industry, with a number of its graduates now enrolled at the British Racing School or working in yards.

It is too early in his career to ask Bell what he would like his legacy to be but, as our conversation draws to a close, it is clear the academy would be high on the list. At first he was driven to prove to others he had not simply been handed chances on a plate and now he is working to ensure there are no barriers for others to work in the sport.

"I remember going to the races and realising it was not reflective of society," he adds. "There are whole communities who aren't going racing and if we want to sustain the sport it needs to be welcoming for all. We wanted to create something that would help the sport. My career is nonsense compared to that – it's way more important."

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Leonna Mayor: 'People have no idea what my life has been like - I've no reason to be ashamed' 

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