Nick Knowles leaves The One Show viewers stunned with ‘different look’ after he explains why

Nick Knowles left The One Show viewers stunned last night as he sported a ‘different look’, explaining there’s a very key reason for the shake-up.

Knowles, 61, appeared on the BBC show to talk about his new travel programme, The Mighty Mississippi with Nick Knowles, which premieres on Channel 5 later this week.

The two-part documentary sees him follow the famous river from Minneapolis in the north all the way south to New Orleans, diving into local cultures and cuisines while also exploring the sometimes tragic history of the Mississippi.

Knowles discussed his latest project on The One Show, and was joined on the sofa by Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden.

But while he was there to talk telly, it wasn’t long before host Alex Jones decided to address the ‘elephant in the room’.

Channel 5

“Nick Knowles is totally unrecognisable #theoneshow,” one commented as they watched along.

Another asked: “What happened to Nick Knowles he's unrecognisable?”

A third joked: “Nick Knowles, presumably plugging 'Deadpool and Wolverine' on the One Show. Looking forward to the multiverse where Wolverine does people's houses up.”

A fourth added: “Bloody hell, Nick Knowles! I could tell it was him by the voice, but when I looked up, I seriously couldn’t recognise him!”

Indeed, the presenter was rocking a particularly large beard, having previously tended to go for thick stubble or even the clean-shaven look.

"There's an elephant in the room here,” Jones said. “Nobody's talking about it. There's a new look, Nick, going on well."

Knowles went on to reveal there was a key reason behind his new look, stemming from work.

"There's two things with it,” he began.

BBC

“One is I'm not actually doing any filming for a while. I'm doing some writing and things, and so I had the chance to grow a beard and actually, weirdly for men, you get a chance to grow a beard, [and you’re] like, 'I'll grow one.'

"I can't have a beard like this when I'm filming. So that was one thing.

“And the other thing is a friend asked me to do some acting and, years ago - [...] I've been in TV for 40 years now – when I started out, I started doing a bit of acting, and I've been asked in-between.

“Now I've got a bit of space, so I've said yes to play a part."

Jermaine Jenas then told him: “Looks alright, Nick! Looks alright.”