Who is Dion Dublin on Homes Under The Hammer?

DION Dublin had a great career as a footballer, playing for England and turning out for several clubs including Manchester United, Coventry and Aston Villa.

But in recent years he has turned his attention to property, hosting Homes Under The Hammer on BBC One with Martin Roberts and Martel Maxwell.

Who is Dion Dublin?

Dion Dublin is one of the few people who can claim to be a successful footballer and a regular presence on daytime television.

Born in Leicester and of Nigerian descent, he was capped four times for England during his playing days.

An amateur percussionist, he invented a percussion instrument called The Dube – a form of cajon, while coming to the end of his football career at Norwich.

In 2011, he accompanied Ocean Colour Scene during a gig at the University of East Anglia.

Isn’t Dion Dublin meant to be a footballer?

He is! Well, he was anyway until 2008 when he retired – he is 51 now.

In a superb career at the top level of English football, he earned a move to Manchester United in 1992 from lowly Cambridge United.

A broken leg meant a scuppered time under Sir Alex Ferguson during which time the club signed the one and only Eric Cantona, so a move to Coventry followed in 1994.

A prolific spell there followed, and then he moved to Aston Villa in 1998 in a year he won four England caps under Glenn Hoddle.

In 2004 he moved to Leicester, by which time he was often playing in defence rather than attack – and spells at Celtic and Norwich followed before his career finished having scored 111 Premier League goals.

So why is he presenting Homes Under the Hammer?

After playing football, Dublin worked in the media as a pundit, commentator and football phone-in presenter on Sky and the BBC.

But in 2015, he became the beneficiary of a BBC Diversity Creative Talent Fund grant for training up promising future TV presenters and began presenting Homes Under the Hammer that year, alongside Martin Roberts and then-host Lucy Alexander.

Alexander was replaced in May 2017 by former Sun journalist Martel Maxwell.

Dublin received training for his new role, worth up to £50,000, from a BBC fund to boost ethnic minorities — despite his big-money football career.

Has he encountered any criticism for his performances on the property show?

He began his presenting career in 2015 to mixed reviews.

Many viewers were just confused that he was fronting the show – which sees investors buy homes at auction before renovating them.

While he did receive some strong reviews, one woman even wrote to the BBC to complain, while Dublin himself tweeted at the time that he will “try and do better”.

But two years on, it seems Dublin is right at home now on Homes Under the Hammer.

Doesn’t he also play an instrument?

He did not just play one, he invented one called The Dube.

The likes of Stevie Wonder, One Direction’s drummer and the Official England Supporters Band all have one of the ex-Premier League player’s percussion instruments.

Dublin said he was always a percussionist, which inspired him to create the wooden box which comes in all different shapes and sizes.

He said: “One day I decided to go to a hardware store – I picked up six pieces of wood, a hammer and nails, and built a box.

“It probably sounded useless at the time but it’s taken me to where I am today.”