Trivia

He is the voice of 'The Ugly Stepsister' in Shrek 2 (2004) in the UK version ('Larry King' does the voice in the US version). Although King is still credited in the main credit sequence, an additional screen, acknowledging Jonathan's role appears at the very end of the film.

He maintained a lot of control over the playlist of his BBC Radio 2 show, playing many of his favorite artists. He is a fan of Roxy Music, David Bowie, Scott Walker, John Barry, Morrissey, The Cure, The Feeling, Arctic Monkeys, Neil Hannon, Edwyn Collins, Elvis Presley, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, Elvis Costello, Frank Sinatra, Paul Weller and punk rock in general. All these artists were played on his show.

His interview with Steve Martin on The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1987) (broadcast 9 October 1987) was described by Melody Maker magazine (19th December 1987) as "the year's most embarrassing TV moment, Martin savagely highlighting his host's total lack of spontaneity".

On Russell Brand's Radio 2 show on 18 October 2008, he and Brand left obscene messages on the answerphone of Andrew Sachs, concerning the fact that Brand had slept with Sachs's grand-daughter Georgina Baillie. This programme was later broadcast, provoking widespread complaint from the public and politicians such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron. Brand later resigned from the BBC and Ross was suspended without pay for three months. The controller of Radio 2, Lesley Douglas, also resigned, as did the head of compliance David Barber. The BBC Trust called it a "deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification" and Ofcom fined the BBC £150,000, calling it "gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning".

In 2006, he was one of several BBC star presenters whose salaries were leaked to a national newspaper by a temporary agency worker at the corporation. The same year, he signed a new contract with the BBC which some reports estimated to be worth £6 million annually, a figure the corporation refused to confirm or deny. Following this, the BBC Trust launched a review into whether the BBC was paying its stars above the market rate, which was published in 2008 and vindicated the corporation.

His wife Jane Goldman is an author.

In an article published in the Radio Times in 2005, 70 industry experts from the BBC and commercial radio judged him the most powerful person in British radio.

His all time favorite film is Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965).

Reviewing George Clooney's fact-based Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) on BBC Television, he referred to the villain of the piece (seen in actual news footage in the film) as "the infamous Senator Eugene McCarthy". In fact, as the film repeatedly makes clear, it was the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy (no relation), a Republican demagogue. Eugene McCarthy was a politician of a later era, a widely-admired liberal and Democrat who tried unsuccessfully to gain a Presidential nomination in 1968. Ross never apologized for this ridiculous error, nor did he ever acknowledge it.

He was winner of the Music Industry Trusts' Award in 2009 for his outstanding contribution to the British music industry, joining the likes of acclaimed musicians such as John Barry, Elton John and Peter Gabriel, music industry executive Ahmet Ertegun and promoter Harvey Goldsmith.

He was the original choice to host TFI Friday (1996), which instead went to Chris Evans.

He was voted Sexiest Male Voice in UK Radio in a poll by Trojan condoms.

He revealed in an interview with Christopher Eccleston on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001) in 2005 that he was a fan of the original series of Doctor Who (1963). He also mentioned that his favorite Doctor was Jon Pertwee.

Children: Betty Kitten, Harvey Kirby and Honey Kinney

He was awarded the O.B.E.(Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to broadcasting.

On December 14th 2010, Jonathan Ross joined the UK's French film channel, Cinemoi, in a multi-faceted role as presenter, producer, creative director and shareholder.

Alexander Armstrong called him "the best broadcaster of our age".

He has named The Temptations as his favorite R&B group.

His top ten films of all time are: Duck Soup (1933), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Ikiru (1952), The Wages of Fear (1953) (aka The Wages of Fear), 8½ (1963), Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), The Producers (1967), Blade Runner (1982), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (aka My Neighbour Totoro) and In the Mood for Love (2000) (aka In The Mood for Love) [Source: "Sight and Sound"].

His favorite situation comedy ever is Seinfeld (1989).

He considers David Baddiel one of his closest friends.

He presents his own show on BBC Radio 2 (Saturdays). The show's producer and co-host is Andy Davies.

His favorite music artist is David Bowie and he played a David Bowie song on every edition of his BBC Radio 2 show.

He is brother of Miles Ross, Paul Ross, Simon Ross, Adam Ross, and Liza Ross.

Following his involvement in controversies in 2008 such as his interview with Gwyneth Paltrow on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001), which contained sexually explicit content which the BBC Trust called "gratuitous and unnecessarily offensive", and his suspension following his performance on the Russell Brand radio show, the BBC decided in 2009 that Ross will no longer broadcast live on BBC radio in an attempt to make sure that he does not breach editorial guidelines again.

He was a regular at Soho's Blitz club during the early years of the New Romantic movement.

He was in the audience at Wembley Stadium for the concerts of Wham! in June 1986 and Queen in July 1986.

He paid £3,000 for four tickets to see Barbra Streisand in concert in 2007.

He is the son of Martha Ross.

He was named the showbiz dad most fathers identified with in a poll of fathers for UK retailer Early Learning Centre (2004).