John McCarthy (journalist)

John Patrick McCarthy CBE (born 27 November 1956) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis. McCarthy was the United Kingdom's longest-held hostage in Lebanon, being held for more than five years.

He attended Lochinver House School, then Haileybury College, Hertfordshire, and read American Studies at the University of Hull.

McCarthy was a journalist working for United Press International Television News at the time of his kidnap by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Lebanon in April 1986, and was held in captivity until his release on 8 August 1991. He shared a cell with the Irish hostage Brian Keenan for several years.

Following his release, he co-authored, with Jill Morrell, a memoir of his years in captivity, entitled Some Other Rainbow. In 1995 he sailed around the coast of Britain with Sandi Toksvig, making a BBC documentary TV series and a book of the experience. McCarthy attended university with Toksvig's brother, Nick. John McCarthy co-presented the BBC Radio 4 programme Excess Baggage, also with Sandi Toksvig. On 29 March 2014, McCarthy hosted the ceremony for the "I Do To Equal Marriage" event which celebrated the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Toksvig renewed her vows to her civil partner at the event.

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