Dermot O’Leary net worth: X Factor host’s wealth revealed 

Dermot O’Leary has had a lot to say about the new X Factor judges.

Speaking on This Morning, The X Factor host said that while Ayda Field has brought her experience in the entertainment industry to her new role, she has a lot of prove because being an X Factor judge is a different kettle of fish.

Dermot said: ‘I’ve just got back from one of the judges’ houses… and I don’t know what I’m allowed to say. The new line up is terrific. It feels like you’re walking into a creche with all the kids now which is lovely. Robbie is just a born judge!’

He added that Louis Tomlinson has ‘been terrific – there’s no substitute with someone who’s been there and done it. Up to this point they are all pally-pally… and then we get to the studio and all that teamwork goes out of the window!’

However, in exclusive conversation with The Sun’s Fabulous magazine, Dermot said that he and his director wife Dee Koppang could not work together in the same way that Robbie Williams and Ayda Field do.

Who is Dermot O’Leary?

Born May 23, 1973 in Colchester, Essex, Dermot O’Leary was raised there after his parents moved to England from Ireland before he was born, resulting in the television presenter now having dual British and Irish citizenship, according to The Sun.

He attended St Benedict’s Catholic College and went on to study at Colchester Sixth Form College and while he was not overly academic in nature, Dermot managed to secure a 2:2 from Middlesex University in Media and Television with Politics, as revealed on the Lifetime TV website.

During his youth, he also spent a lot of time working for charitable causes, such as CAFOD (the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development Agency) and in an interview with Just One World Blog in 2011, he discussed how the 1980s Ethiopian famine had affected him.

‘There was Live Aid coming up and CAFOD was appealing in the school at the same time. I just remember feeling terribly guilty when I saw the CAFOD posters in the school corridors showing what was happening in Ethiopia.

‘For a safe suburban lower middle class white boy, it was quite a striking thing to look at, and it made me start thinking about what was happening out there, but also what we could do to help.’ 

Dermot’s other interests included supporting Arsenal FC, Celtic FC and London Irish RFC.

Starting out as a DJ on BBC Essex, he was given an opportunity as a show runner on Channel 4’s Light Lunch, which featured Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. After this, he presented No Balls Allowed, Inside Rugby and The Bigger Breakfast.

Dermot gradually became a star on television as one of the first ever hosts of Channel 4’s T4 with the likes of Fran Lee and Omar Gurnah.

He was then seen on The Barfly Sessions, RE:COVERED and Dermot’s Sporting Buddies before he became the host of the original Big Brother spin-off show, Big Brother’s Little Brother from 2001 to 2008, also becoming a household name.

Dermot then took over from Kate Thornton as The X Factor host in 2007 and has held the post since then. He is also known to be a bird lover, with his contributions to BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Week being about birds that he has spotted on that day.

2018 has been a big year for Dermot after presenting the BAFTAs with Edith Bowman to co-presenting the BBC coverage of the Royal Wedding with Kirsty Young.

Dermot O’Leary wife

Dermot tied the knot with Dee Koppang in 2012 and she is best-known for her directorial work on The Crown and Justin Bieber: All Around the World, but also The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and reality show Ladies of London, as reported by The Sun.

Dee and Dermot met while they were both working on Big Brother and the presenter proposed when they visited New York back in November 2011. They were married 10 years after they first met in St Mary’s Church in Chiddingstone.

In conversation with Fabulous, Dermot admitted that while he is ready to start a family, they are not in a rush: ‘I definitely want kids, but I’ve got a very busy wife with a very busy life. It’s not fair for me to say: “I want kids now”. I do want kids with my wife, but I want them when we both think it’s the right thing to happen.’

Dermot O’Leary net worth

Dermot O’Leary’s net worth has accumulated to approximately $4 million (£3m), according to Celebrity Net Worth, however, OK Magazine reports it as being around £12 million.

The Richest revealed that his X Factor earnings total around $9.7 million (£7.4m), while Spear’s said that it was around £1 million per series, so the numbers are a little off in his case.

However, OK revealed that Dermot had signed a four-year contract worth £8 million, with a source saying that: ‘Just one year after Cowell axed him, he’s signing the contract of a lifetime. It’s completely unheard of for one presenter to be paid £8million to host one show.’

He is also a partner in FishyFishy restaurant in Brighton and lives with his wife Dee in their £3.5 million Primrose Hill home. 

Dermot has also teamed up with Marks and Spencer to launch a male cosmetics line.