Crampton was born in Blackpool[1] in 1964.[2] His family lived in Solihull for a while[3] before moving to Hull in 1970,[4] where he grew up in an affluent suburb.[5] He has an older brother, David, born in 1962. Their parents were active in politics locally;[4]Peter Crampton was a teacher and lecturer in geography[6] and later a United Kingdom member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999,[7][8] representing the Humberside constituency for the Labour Party. Robert's mother came from London and was a geography teacher.[1][3]
He joined The Times as a columnist in 1991.[14] He writes Beta Male, a regular weekly column in The Times Saturday magazine. In 2008 he used the column to advertise his wish to gain practice in public speaking, "not because I was any good, but because I wasn't and wanted to be...At the risk of humiliation
I want to come to talk to your school, business, darts team, whatever. I do not require, nor indeed do I merit, any payment." He received more than 400 requests.[10]
He subsequently described his experiences of speaking at Caistor Grammar School in Lincolnshire, Highbury Grove School in North London, a training day in Bath, a
Rotary Club, a women's group, a prison, a church sermon, as a best man at a wedding and delivering a eulogy at a family funeral.[10]
He also writes features and interviews in the newspaper itself. In February 2008 he exclusively previewed the new Wii Fit computer game.[15]
In 1999 he signed a deal with a publisher to write a book, tracking down his old O-Level classmates. The book was given the working title "Whatever happened to...?" and even issued with an ISBN (ISBN0385601891), but Crampton got bored with the project and never finished it.[26]
Critical reception
The author and journalist Bryan Appleyard described his Beta Male column as "light in tone, insightful but unpretentious, and above all, just the right length. I always enjoy Crampton – a naturally funny, likeable columnist. He's the kind of fellow you'd like to go for beer with, so he'd make a good US President. It's a real drag when he's away and a substitute fills in for him.[27]"
Nigel Williams has praised his interviews: "Robert Crampton's work I really like. Somehow, he combines showmanship with something like self-effacement in a very entertaining way. To me he sounds like he's telling the truth, which is one of the most difficult things to pull off in journalism. His opinions sound hard-won and thought through, and that's to do with his prose style, which puts me in mind of what Orwell said about good prose being like a window[28]".
Winner, "Interviewer of the year", British Press Awards, 2004.[30]
Shortlisted, "Interviewer of the year", British Press Awards, 2007.[31]
Personal life
He met his future wife Nicola Almond when at school aged 12 in 1977, but only started going out with her thirteen years later.[32] They married on 2 May 1998 in the City of London.[33] They live in Hackney, London,[10][34] with their children Sam and Rachel.[35] They own a second home at Kingsdown Park near Deal, Kent.[34]
Weight loss
Crampton has written about reducing his weight from 16 stone at age 50 to 12 stone at age 60, moving him into the NHS normal weight category.[36]
He has written that one weight loss method he has used was to not eat dinner 3 or 4 times per week.[37] or not eat after 7pm at all.[38] He now treats bread as a rare treat.[39]
