Keith's hosting duties on Sky Star Search in the early days of Sky One will probably mostly be remembered for some of the terrible acts featuring within Denis Norden's Laughter File, but it seemed like the majority of the acts were terrible, much to Keith's amusement.
For all its uneven quality, Cheggers remained incredibly proud of Star Search because apparently it broke the record for the largest number of programmes recorded in one day for British TV, they recorded five hour-long shows in a single session. They were all done as-live and Cheggers prided himself on never having to do a retake or stop filming, he would always be able to fill gaps or change plan on the hoof, and paid tribute to the immense professionalism of the crew.
10 seconds before they went live for the first insert, Keith shouted to everyone "don't be nervous, it's only television".
After all the OB segments had finished he stayed behind, signing autographs, having photos taken, and spending time as much time with the invited children as they wanted with him, talking and answering questions. Other presenters would have sprinted away to the safety of the broadcast compound, once 'clear' was given.
I can well imagine that, he clearly just loved broadcasting and being on the telly. It felt like you could plonk him anywhere in Britain with a camera and microphone and nothing else and just ask him to broadcast for ten minutes, and he would happily do it, he would talk to anyone.
In his autobiography he talks about going on The Word, which was a familiar spot for a fading star in the early nineties, just going on to be laughed at. But he charmed everyone with his self-deprecating humour and professionalism, and Mark Lamarr told him that he'd prepared a load of scripted jokes at his expense but couldn't use any of them because he was going down so well with the audience and getting so many laughs himself. And from that he got offered the Big Breakfast job. It is testament to his skill that he was still a popular and relevant TV personality twenty years on, so many don't manage to do that.
