Steve Coogan is one of the UK's most iconic actors and comedians.
The 56-year-old is renowned for his performance of comedy creation, Alan Partridge. He first portrayed the hapless fictional broadcaster for BBC Radio 4's On the Hour.
Alan was first unleashed upon the British public as a sports presenter - and it was this iteration where he made his TV debut on the comedy classic The Day Today. The character went solo and hosted his own talk show spoof in 1995 named Knowing Me, Knowing You.
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Steve next explored his famous character through the sitcom medium in the comedy classic, I'm Alan Partridge. The fictional broadcaster attempted to resurrect his career after his disastrous TV debut across two critically acclaimed seasons.
Alan has since appeared in a film, written a novel and even hosted his own podcast as Steve continues to evolve the character. His next TV adventure is tonight as he will appear in character as the guest announcer on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
The Geordie presenters announced the exciting news on Twitter. They said: "What have we let ourselves in for? Yes that's right, Alan Partridge is this week's Guest Announcer!"
Steve's life away from his comedy counterpart has regularly been in the public eye. He was involved in a high-profile marriage to Caroline Hickman from 2002 - 2005. He dated model China Chow for three years from 2007 and was recently involved in a brief relationship with Mel Sykes.
Steve has also been open with how he struggled with drug addiction issues throughout his career. The comedian spoke about his drug use in his autobiography and said he started taking cocaine in 1992. In an extract in The Guardian, he said he was once rushed to hospital after taking so much cocaine he thought he was going to die.
He added: "I could feel pins and needles in my left arm, and my heart was thundering. I thought I was having a heart attack.
"I cried all the way. I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘I’m going to die. This is it. My headstone will say: Stephen Coogan, born in Middleton in 1965, died in Edinburgh in 1992, aged 26 years.’ What a waste!"
According to the Mirror, the actor was interviewed for the biography Don't Look Back in Anger and said his cocaine use impacted the second season of I'm Alan Partridge.
He said: “I did a lot of cocaine. It made you feel elated and confident, but for several days after you were full of self-loathing. It definitely began to affect my work. The second series of I’m Alan Partridge would have been better if I hadn’t been doing coke.”
Steve has since overcome his struggles but said he "will always be a recovering addict".
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