BAFTA 2025 host David Tennant's stage name change surprise, family life and net worth
David Tennant has been a familiar face on our screen for many years. The Scottish actor is a huge name on stage, on our TV and film screens.
On Sunday evening, February 16, the performer will be hosting the BAFTAs for the second year in a row. As is the case every year, the award ceremony will be a star-studded event, with Tennant joined by Jeff Goldblum, Pamela Anderson, Timothee Chalamet, Cynthia Erivo and many more.
The actor's extensive career in film, television, and radio includes iconic roles in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Good Omens, Broadchurch, and Doctor Who. And most recently, he has captivated audiences in the television drama Rivals, which was aired on Disney+. His acclaimed theatre work includes Much Ado About Nothing, Richard II, Hamlet, and his recent portrayal of the titular role in Macbeth. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.
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Away from the stage, the actor is a father-of-five and has been married to his wife, actress Georgia Tennant, since 2011. In the past, the actor has also opened up on a rare health condition he has, family life growing up as well as the surprising way he decided to choose his stage name.
Choosing his stage name
Many fans might not know this, but the 53-year-old actor's real name is David McDonald. From a very young age, the Bathgate-born performer wanted to be an actor and was a huge fan of Doctor Who.
After performing in several school production, he decided to seriously pursue an acting career and attended the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow during his late teens and early twenties.
However, while signing up to the performing arts' trade union, Equity, he found out there was already another David McDonald. While appearing on BBC's The One Show on Friday evening, February 14, the actor revealed he had to find a new stage name in order to join Equity, but found a surprising solution to his dilemma, as reported by the Express.
"I had to change my name, as you do when you join the union," he explained. "And somebody with your name- my name is David McDonald- so at 16 I had to find a new name."
He then went on to explain how he landed the surname Tennant and said: "So I went through a copy of Smash Hits and I found Neil Tennant from Pet Shop Boys and I thought that's a good, strong solid name." He continued: "So I'm named after Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys. Yeah!"
Family life
In some interviews, the actor has spoken very candidly about his family life. Tennant met his future wife, the actress Georgia Moffett, while he acted as the Tenth Doctor of Doctor Who and she appeared in an episode called 'The Doctor's Daughter', which was aired in May 2008.
Moffett's father is Pete Davison played the Fifth Doctor in the 1980s. David and Georgia got married in 2011 and share five children together - Olive, 13, Wilfred, 11, Doris, eight, Birdie, four, and Georgia's eldest child Ty, 22, who Tennant adopted during the same year the couple got married, as reported by Hello!.
In an interview with Candid magazine, David spoke about his life being a father. He said: "Our kids are lovely, and I think that being a dad is one of the most extraordinary and life-affirming things that can ever happen to you, as well as being something you have to keep working at if you're going to be any good at it."
Although David and Georgia Tennant tend to keep their children away from the spotlight, it seems that two of them are following their parents' thespian footsteps. Ty Tennant has appeared in the hit HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon, while Olive Tennant starred in the films Belfast and Avoidance.
Rare genetic condition
In an interview with Metro, the actor confirmed that he lives with a rare genetic condition, which means he has an extra toe on his right foot. The actor added: "It's sort of like a nubbin".
Net worth
Last year, it was reported by the Sun that the actor's 'net worth' was estimated to have reached more than £7 million, while similar figures have been reported elsewhere, reports the Mirror.
Upcoming roles
The actor's upcoming roles include starring as Guardian journalist Nick Davies, who uncovered the truth behind the News of the World phone hacking scandal. The ITV show, which will be a seven-part series now entitled The Hack, has been written by multi award-winner Jack Thorne and produced by the same people who created ITV's Mr Bates v the Post Office series.
According to Variety, David Tennant, who himself accepted damages from NGN over a phone-hacking claim against the now-defunct News of the World, plays Nick Davies, the investigative journalist who uncovered evidence of hacking.
The actor will be joined by Toby Jones, who plays his onscreen former editor-in-chief at The Guardian newspaper, Alan Rusbridger, while Robert Carlyle plays former Met Police detective chief superintendent Dave Cook, who led an investigation into the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan.
