David Gest (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

David Alan Gest (born May 11, 1953) is an American concert promoter and media personality, perhaps best known for his turbulent marriage to Liza Minnelli, friendship with The Jackson 5 and appearance on the 2006 series of the British reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

Personal life

Gest was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Southern California where he counted Tito Jackson and his brothers as childhood friends. He currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee and the United Kingdom.

Gest has admitted that in the 1980s he had multiple plastic surgery operations from the same plastic surgeon used by Michael Jackson. He has stated he regrets the operations but no one could have stopped him at the time.

Gest and Liza Minnelli were married on March 16, 2002, and separated less than a year and a half later in July 2003. In October 2003 he sued her for $10 million claiming that she had been violent and physically abusive during their marriage, behavior the affidavit blamed on Minnelli's persistent alcoholism. Minnelli denied the accusations, claiming Gest was simply after money. The suit was dismissed in September 2006 for lack of triable issue of fact.

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!

Gest finished in 4th place on the 2006 series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here! on ITV in the UK and proved to be popular, with his stories and "Get me outta here song" with fellow contestant Toby Anstis. He was "evicted" from the show on November 30, 2006.

Other work

In January 2007, Gest appeared as a judge on ITV1's Soapstar Superstar, for one night replacing Michael Ball who was coaching the singers.

Later that month it was announced that Gest had signed a one year deal by ITV to appear in his own reality series entitled This Is David Gest. The show began on April 22, 2007. Viewers were treated to hairdressers covering David's baldness with black make-up and various shots of David in bed. He also took cameras for a rare glimpse of the Jackson family house in Encino, California, where he met Tito and his children as well as matriarch Katherine Jackson. He was one of the four judges on ITV1's entertainment series Grease Is the Word.

Gest was released from his ITV contract in July because they had no idea what to do with him and both shows he appeared in with the network did not do well in terms of ratings. Gest was quick to come out and say that he wanted to be released: "My lawyers negotiated an early release so I could host The Friday Night Project on Channel 4," Gest told The Sun.

In April 2007, his autobiography, titled Simply The Gest, was released. The book is a mixture of memoirs, and Gest's personal views on life.

In June 2008, Gest contributed a monologue to the song 'Bring You Down' by Attic Lights in which he delved into his split from Liza Minnelli. In one line, Gest says: "I never knew a woman could be so cold."

On 12 December 2010 Gest appeared on UK TV's Channel 4 in a Christmas special edition of Come Dine With Me alongside Diarmuid Gavin, Hannah Waterman and Sherrie Hewson.

Gest will star in a new comedy play by British writer Fred Lawless at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool from 23 November 2012 to 12 January 2013

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