Alexa Chung (born November 5, 1983) is a British model and television presenter who hosted MTV’s It’s On with Alexa Chung in the United States of America, which was cancelled after its last airing on 17 December 2009.
Alexa Chung was raised in Privett, Hampshire, England by her three-quarters Chinese and one-quarter English father, Philip, a graphic designer, and her English mother, Gillian (née Burgess), a housewife. She is the youngest of four children and has two brothers, James “Jamie” and Dominic, and one sister, Natalie Chung.
She attended the local comprehensive school, Perins College, and later the sixth form Peter Symonds College, Winchester (2000–2002). She had been accepted by King’s College London to read English and by Chelsea College of Art and Design to do an art foundation course, with two ‘A’ grades (English and Art) and a ‘B’ (History) at A-level, before being scouted by a modelling agency.
Chung was approached in the comedy tent at Reading Festival at the age of 16 by “Jane Duval, the influential British scout ” and was taken on by the London-based Storm Model Management.
She modelled for teen magazines such as Elle Girl and CosmoGIRL! and appeared in adverts for products including Fanta, Sony Ericsson, Sunsilk and Tampax. She also modelled for Urban Outfitters and Shiatzy Chen. She appeared in music videos for artists including The Streets, Westlife, Delta Goodrem, Reuben and Holly Valance and starred as Jake in a scripted reality show called Shoot Me, broadcast on Fashion TV in 2005.
After four years, Chung quit modelling with the intention of beginning an art foundation or fashion journalism course, having become disillusioned. She had developed a “distorted body image” and “low self-esteem” through modelling.
After becoming a TV personality, Chung made a return to occasional modelling. In 2008, she was the face of both Australian fashion label Antipodium’s SS 2008 collection and Oxfam’s ethical fashion range, Revamped. In September 2008, Chung walked the catwalk as part of the Vivienne Westwood Red Label Spring/Summer 2009 show at London Fashion Week. In early 2009, she became the face of British high street giant New Look. Chung then joined London-based modelling agency, Select, and, in April 2009, she modelled Wren’s Holiday 2009 collection, alongside her friend Tennessee Thomas.
In July 2009, Chung moved to Next Model Management and became the face of DKNY Jeans.
In January 2010, she became the main model of the SS10 Pepe Jeans London campaign.
During February 2010 Chung documented her daily fashion and style choices in the VOGUE.COM feature Today I’m Wearing, which showcases the wardrobes of budding style icons.
Chung appeared on the cover of the May 2009 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK wearing a Giambattista Valli gown, and later on the cover of the March 2010 issue of UK Vogue wearing Ralph Lauren.
In April 2006, then-model Chung was offered the job of co-host on Popworld on Channel 4, a music show known for its irreverent and awkward style of interviews. Chung and co-host Alex Zane also presented a weekly radio show called Popworld Radio in conjunction with the TV programme. The last show aired in July 2007, after Channel 4 decided not to recommission the programme, which had been on air for nearly seven years.
In April 2007, Chung became a co-presenter with Ben Elton on ITV’s “Get a Grip”, described by the production company as “a new weekly observational comedy series which sticks it’s head above the parapet of 21st Century Britain, sticks it’s head straight back down again and screams “Get A Grip”.
Following this, Chung signed a year-long “golden handcuffs” deal with Channel 4 in August 2007, worth £100,000. As part of this deal, she guest presented Big Brother’s Big Mouth and appeared as a panellist on quiz show 8 out of 10 Cats. She hosted a number of T4 Movie Specials, 4Music Specials, T4 Holiday Mornings along with T4′s coverage of many music festivals.
In January 2008, Chung became one of the four anchor T4 presenters. She hosted T4’s Vanity Lair, a reality show investigating the concept of “beauty”. When the show was mentioned in a later interview, “Chung raises her eyebrows, indicating embarrassment”. As well as her work on T4, she became a long-time host of Channel 4’s early morning music programme Freshly Squeezed, beginning in September 2007.
In addition to her Channel 4 commitments, Chung presented the ITV1 series Get a Grip (2007) and BBC Three’s The Wall (2008).
In mid-2008, Chung began to host more fashion-oriented programming. She was the “roving reporter” on Channel 4′s “Gok’s Fashion Fix”. On the programme, Chung roadtested the latest fashion trends with members of the public, and interviewed fashion designers such as Roberto Cavalli, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier, Margherita Missoni and Christian Lacroix. She described it as ‘pretty much my dream job’. Chung also hosted a T4 fashion and music show called Frock Me, with fashion designer Henry Holland.
Chung has also hosted industry events including the Hair Magazine Awards 2007, Diesel U Music Awards 2007 and the Elle Style Awards 2008 and 2009.
She was awarded the Elle Style Award for Best TV Presenter in 2009. Also in 2009, she received Glamour’s award for Best TV Presenter at the magazine’s annual award ceremony.
Chung left Channel 4, and the United Kingdom, in April 2009 in order to pursue a stateside career. She presented It’s On with Alexa Chung for MTV. The live, daily show – billed as TRL’s replacement- featured celebrity talk, live music and online interaction with viewers, ran until December 2009.
She returned to UK TV screens in April 2010 with a second series of the T4 flagship fashion and music series Frock Me alongside fashion designer Henry Holland and style scout Gemma Cairney.
Chung wrote a monthly column for British women’s magazine Company from October 2007 to June 2008.
She wrote a weekly newspaper column for England’s The Independent from November 2008 to June 2009, ‘Girl About Town’ and later ‘New York Doll’.
In June 2009, she was made a contributing editor of British Vogue.
In 2007, Chung came to the attention of the fashion press for her distinctive, quirky style. She frequently appears on Best Dressed Lists, in fashion magazines and on the front row of fashion shows. In December 2009 she came top in Vogue’s Style List. She socialises with many well-known faces but has said the idea of lots of celebrity friends is “so cheesy”. She has dismissed the notion of being an It girl, saying “there’s not much to being an It girl. It’s really quite a depressing title to hold”.
The designer hand-bag company Mulberry created a new bag named after and inspired by Chung, called the “Alexa.”
Chung has dated Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner since July 2007. In August 2008, Chung starred in the video for Turner’s side-project band The Last Shadow Puppets’ song, ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’. In October 2008, it was reported that the couple cohabited in East London. They both relocated to Brooklyn, New York in April 2009.
Previously, Chung had an on-off relationship with Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins from mid-2006 until mid-2007 – this relationship ended soon after Chung was linked with Turner. She dated James Righton, vocalist and keyboard player with the Klaxons for a few months in early 2007. Righton later said of the relationship, “sometimes things don’t work out. We still keep in touch and Alex (Turner) is a friend of mine and there’s no problems at all. They’re a really good couple.” She dated the Horrors frontman Faris Badwan for six months in late 2006/2007 and they have remained friends.
While modelling, Chung met photographer, and singer with 80s pop group Blue Mercedes, David Titlow (born September 10, 1963), who is twenty years her senior. They lived together for three and a half years. Titlow continued to photograph Chung after their break-up.
Chung has supported numerous charities including the Terrence Higgins Trust, World AIDS Day, Friends of the Earth’s The Big Ask, Product Red, Greenpeace and Attitude is Everything
In December 2007, Chung designed a condom tin for Company magazine to help “convince people to carry condoms”. In January 2008, Chung designed a range of jewellery for Made Boutique, a Fair Trade organization, which she is often seen wearing. In May 2008, Chung was announced as the brand ambassador for Oxfam’s ethical fashion boutiques
In November 2008, Chung teamed up with activist movement Ctrl.Alt.Shift and VICE Magazine to launch a photographic initiative encouraging youngsters to get behind the lens. Chung was one of five mentors, including Nan Goldin, Ben Rayner, and Alex Sturrock who worked with artists aged 18–25 to explore the global issues of gender, power and poverty through photography.
Alexa Chung @ Rachel Riley & Other British Babes
