Mark Pilgrim
Mark Pilgrim (born September 20, 1969) is one of the most recognisable personalities in South Africa. He has hosted numerous radio and television shows over the years, most notably as a DJ on 5FM, 94.7 Highveld Stereo and 94.5 Kfm as well as the host of Big Brother (South Africa) and the Power of 10.
Popular Radio DJ / TV Presenter / Voice Artist / Motivational Speaker Mark Pilgrim has quickly become a favourite personality in South Africa’s entertainment circles. With his distinctively charismatic personality and easy-going demeanour, he was a big hit in 2001 with over one million viewers and fans as he co-hosted SA’s first local reality TV show Big Brother on MNET. In fact, he was such a hit, that for Big Brother II, he anchored the live shows on his own.
In 2003 Mark was back at the helm of Big Brother Africa, the biggest Big Brother venture embarked on anywhere in the world. An estimated 32 million viewers in 52 countries, watching on 14 television networks, saw him in action every week.
Some of Mark’s appearances include working at the following corporate events:
Glaxo Smith Kline African Continent Conference
Johnson & Johnson Annual sales Conference
BP Africa Conference.
Mark has also been involved in numerous TV shows and commercials. Perhaps best known as the host of three Big Brother reality TV shows, he has also hosted New Moves on ETV, Face 2 Face on SABC2 as well as Retail Therapy and Sex Etc. on MNET.
His true passion though is radio, and the SA public are very familiar with Mark’s voice as radio deejay.
After obtaining his B.Com and working in market research for 10 years, he decided to follow his heart and joined 5FM back in 1995. After 8 years they parted ways and he now freelances for 94.7 Highveld Stereo, hosting Johannesburg’s only independent chart show TAKE40SA.
In addition, he is a regular DJ at nightclubs around the country and also co-owns Nitefever, one of Johannesburg’s top nightclubs. As a voice artist, Mark also spends a lot of his working day in post production studios, narrating numerous radio and TV commercials.
Mark is a motivational speaker, sharing his story on testicular cancer, how he overcame it and how it pushed him to follow his dreams.
Mark is also a lecturer at Damelin in Johannesburg and Centurion, presenting the Television Course. Furthermore he is also a tomato farmer (he is part of a consortium that has constructed the biggest hydroponics tomato greenhouse in the country, situated close to East London airport).