Ricky Wilson swaps the stage for the art studio, as he is named celebrity artist for BBC Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey
Kaiser Chiefs’ frontman and former art teacher Ricky Wilson joins Bill Bailey’s family of artists at the easel as BBC Arts’ Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey returns for an emotionally charged fifth series this spring.
The news coincides with a special BBC event in Bradford, celebrating its partnership with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and highlighting the exciting activity and programmes still to come this year. Following a sold-out exhibition in Bradford in 2025, the artworks produced in this new series will again be going on public view, celebrating a new generation of British heroes and their inspiring stories.
Extraordinary Portraits sees musician, comedian and art-lover Bill Bailey matching ordinary people who have extraordinary backstories with some of the country’s most talented portrait artists, shining a light on modern Britain.
This year’s sitters have been chosen by Bill for their exceptionally inspiring stories: from the civil servant who fought off a terrorist using a narwhal tusk to the sisters who made medical history when one gave birth from the other’s womb; the grandmother still competing in Iron Man competitions in her 80s; a survivor of the Post Office scandal who was imprisoned while she was pregnant, and the young brothers with early-onset frontotemporal dementia choosing to live to the fullest.
Making up Bill’s family of artists are award-winning painters Caroline Pool and Karen Turner; sculptor Nick Elphick, multi-media artist Jack Dickson, newcomer Unza Saleem and celebrity artist Ricky Wilson, who taught art at Leeds College of Art and Design. Their task is not only to recreate their sitters’ likeness but to dig deeper to capture the emotional depth and significance of their stories.
Ricky Wilson says: “I was delighted to get the call from Bill and jumped at the chance to join the Extraordinary Portraits family. Art has always been close to my heart, and it’s now great to be putting my experience to the test. I’m also really pleased that we’re announcing the new series in Bradford. Growing up in West Yorkshire gave me a love of creativity, humour and community, and seeing the city buzzing with culture over the past year has made me prouder than ever. I can’t wait for people to see the incredible talent on display.”
Bill Bailey says: “It’s wonderful to be back on the show and to see our crack team of artists pouring everything they have into the work, and the sitters putting their trust in them and really opening up. The results are extraordinarily powerful and incredibly moving and in this series I think we see what portraiture is really capable of.”
Suzy Klein, Head of BBC Arts and Classical Music TV: “Uplifting and moving stories are the beating heart of Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey and this series yet again foregrounds the incredible tenacity, bravery and generosity which make our sitters everyday heroes. It’s wonderful that their achievements will also now be recognised through portraiture. For this series we are delighted to welcome Ricky Wilson as our very accomplished celebrity artist, and we yet again have the perfect host in Bill, who has assembled a family of artists from across the UK who connect perfectly with the people they’re painting and sculpting, while also providing creative support to one another.”
Nav Raman, Creative Director Chatterbox Media and Executive Producer of Extraordinary Portraits says: “We are extremely proud of this popular BBC One format which enables us to give voice to the many untold stories across the UK and brings the talent and skills of incredible artists to a broad diverse audience. Last year’s exhibition was a wonderful opportunity for people to see the work up close”
Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey is a Chatterbox Media production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. the Executive Producers for Chatterbox are Nav Raman and Ali Quirk and the Commissioning Editor for BBC Arts is Stephen James-Yeoman.
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