Jonathan Stephen Ross was born on November 17, 1960, in St Pancras, London, the third of six children in a large East London family. He grew up in Leytonstone and studied at Southampton College of Art before attending the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London. He began his television career as a researcher before co-developing his first show, breaking through in 1987 with The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross on Channel 4.

Ross became a household name with Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC One from 2001 to 2010. He also hosted a long-running BBC Radio 2 show from 1999 to 2010. Additionally, he presented the film review program Film… for over a decade. In 2011, he launched The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV, which continues to air as of early 2026.

Beyond his chat show, Ross served as the inaugural host of CW’s magic competition show, Penn & Teller: Fool Us. He has also served as a judge on The Masked Singer UK and its spin-off, The Masked Dancer. In 2025, he joined the inaugural cast of the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors as one of the original three traitors.