Background
Kelly was born in Belfast on the 20 September 1948.
Kelly was born in Belfast on the 20 September 1948.
He is the brother of former Down Gaelic Athletic Association goalkeeper Danny Kelly. He went on to work as a teacher and a lecturer at Saint Mary"s College in Belfast. He also worked as a leisure development officer for Belfast City Council, before going into broadcasting and journalism.
Kelly"s broadcasting career began at Ulster Television as a part-time Gaelic Athletic Association reporter, but left the station quickly after being blacklisted by the National Union of Journalists.
Following a year"s work experience at the Down Recorder, he returned to UTV in 1979 as a reporter, and later presenter, of its evening magazine programme, Good Evening Ulster. Kelly also presented the series Lifestyle, Kelly"s People, Kelly on Tour, Kelly on the Road, What Next?, Get lieutenant Right Next Time and Pick of the Six for Ulster Television.
He later went on to host the popular talk and variety show, Kelly, which ran from 1989 until it ended in 2005. After the cancellation of Kelly, a new series, Gerry Meets.. was launched.
The series concentrated on one-to-one interviews with guests.
One 2006 episode, during which Kelly interviewed the DJ Jimmy Savile, received widespread coverage in the national press six years later after the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal first broke. Particular attention was paid to comments Savile made to Kelly that were interpreted as clues to Savile"s history as a predatory sex offender. In January 2008, it was reported that Kelly had left UTV. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Kelly said, "I"m leaving UTV on amicable terms and I have nothing but the highest regard for them.
As far as I"m concerned, they gave me one of the best jobs in the world and I"m grateful to them for that."
In March 2009, it was announced that Kelly would be joining British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Ulster to present a Saturday afternoon programme, commencing in April.
Kelly replaced the Alan Simpson show on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio Ulster he is on air from 15:00 - 17:00 on Friday Afternoons.