Davidson has entertained the British Armed Forces, and is currently chairman of the British Forces Foundation charity, which aims to promote the wellbeing and esprit de corps of service personnel. Davidson was awarded the OBE in the 2001 New Year Honours List for his services to charity. [12]

On 2 January 2013, as Davidson was set to become a housemate in the 11th series of Celebrity Big Brother, he was arrested at Heathrow Airport by police officers working on Operation Yewtree. [7] On 20 March 2013 he was arrested again over new allegations of sexual offences; [29] however, on 21 August 2013, it was announced that no further action would be taken in relation to the allegations of historic sex abuse, due to insufficient evidence. [30] [31] In the new show, this takes the form of Pinocchio’s slow-dawning realisation that society disapproves of his love for a dishy footballer. “You can be more grownup about that than you could in a family panto,” says Bradfield. “It’s not standup. You’ve got the audience there for over two hours, so you’ve got to tell a story, and it’s important that at the end people still go, ‘Ahhh.’” Davidson became known for Big Break (1991–2002) and as the third host of The Generation Game (1995–2002), as the successor to Bruce Forsyth and Larry Grayson. In September 2007, Davidson appeared in the third series of Hell's Kitchen (2007) in the UK, and in May 2008 he appeared in the BBC's Comedy Map of Britain. Davidson is a supporter of Charlton Athletic, the local club in the area where he grew up. [41] In the 1980s, he was a director at AFC Bournemouth. [42] [43] He starred in TV sitcoms Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983–1985) and Home James! (1987–1990). His one-man show for Thames Television, Stand Up Jim Davidson (1990), [5] was recorded at London's Royalty Theatre. [6]In 2011, Davidson toured with a play, Stand Up...And Be Counted. The play was about the failing career of a washed-up racist comic. Media commentators drew comparisons between the play's main character and Davidson's own career. [48] Most of the plum details, he says, were there for the seizing – such as Austen’s mention of two locations that are now renowned as gaybourhoods. “Mr Bennet goes to find Lydia in Brighton of all places,” says Quinn. “And then he goes to make inquiries in Clapham. It’s all in the book!” The wet-shirt scene invented for Andrew Davies’s TV adaptation also features in Quinn’s version, though now Mr Darcy’s garment is drenched in something other than water.

James Cameron Davidson OBE (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He hosted the television shows Big Break and The Generation Game. He also developed two adult pantomime shows, Boobs in the Wood and Sinderella. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.142. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7. Davidson has written two autobiographies, The Full Monty (1993) [35] and Close to the Edge (2001). [2]Jim Davidson thrown out of Hell's Kitchen". The Daily Telegraph. 11 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.