Born in Surrey and after completing a degree in French and German at the University of Manchester, Sophie spent a year teaching English to teenagers in Toulouse before studying for a postgraduate course in broadcasting and journalism at City University, London. Sophie’s career at the BBC began in 1992, when she joined the regional trainee scheme and went on to become a reporter at Greater Manchester Radio and in 1994, moved to Brussels to become Europe correspondent for the BBC regions.
In May 1995, she moved to BBC Leeds as a reporter and presenter for Look North, where she remained until 1997, when she moved to network TV in London to co-anchor BBC TV’s Breakfast News (1997 – 2000), initially with Justin Webb, then with John Nicholson and in 2000 with Jeremy Bowen (when the programme was rebranded Breakfast). She was a relief BBC TV newsreader in April 2002 and in January 2003, she became one of the main co-presenters on the BBC News at Six. From May 2006, having just returned from maternity leave, she took up the role of presenter of the BBC News at One.
Sophie has presented several BBC specials, including coverage of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and Our Monarchy – the Next 50 Years, both alongside David Dimbleby. In addition, she reported on Tomorrow’s World and in the early 2000s appeared on entertainment programmes such as Dream Lives and the quiz show Judgemental. In 2004, Sophie appeared on the BBC fashion show What Not to Wear, in which she was given a makeover by style advisors Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine. In 2006, she was part of the television coverage of the Children’s Party at the Palace, an event to celebrate the Queen’s 80th birthday. Along with Huw Edwards, she presented some fake news updates for the programme, which led to many complaints from viewers. Sophie had a cameo role as a newsreader in the last series of the BBC comedy My Hero.
At the end of the BBC News at One on 31st January 2008, Sophie announced that she would be leaving the programme until the summer, and confirmed Kate Silverton as the main presenter during her absence. Sophie returned on 25th August 2008, after the birth of her third child, to present the Bank Holiday edition of the BBC News at One, BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten. Since early 2009, Sophie has been the main relief presenter on the BBC News at Six and a regular relief presenter on the BBC News at Ten, often presenting when regular presenters Huw Edwards, Fiona Bruce and George Alagiah are not available. Sophie has guest-presented The Andrew Marr Show (October 2008 – November 2009, July 2011 – August 2011 and January 2013 – July 2013). She has also presented on the BBC News Channel.
In May 2009, Sophie presented The Trouble with Working Women (BBC Two) with reporter and father-of-three Justin Rowlatt. The programme looked at the role of the working woman. In the same year, she presented Crimewatch Roadshow (BBC One) on weekday mornings. In 2013, Sophie had a cameo appearance at the start of the film A Good Day to Die Hard. She presented Watchdog Daily (2012) and Watchdog Test House (2014 – 2015), before landing the role of main presenter on Watchdog in September 2015, when she replaced Anne Robinson. In 2014, she joined the presentation team on the annual Chelsea Flower Show and from February 2016 until March 2016, she replaced Kirsty Young as the main anchor of Crimewatch, having previously guest-presented the programme in 2012.
On 16th July 2013, Sophie was given the award of Doctor of Arts by City University London. She has run a number of marathons, including the Great North Run on 5th October 2008 and the London Mararthon in 2011, despite collapsing two miles from the finish line. By 2017 she had completed all six World Marathon Majors and in April 2018 completed the Marathon Des Sables, a six-day 251km (156 miles) ultra-marathon in the Sahara Desert.
On 10th July 2018, Sophie was lead presenter at Buckingham Palace for BBC One’s coverage of The Centenary of The Royal Air Force including a flypast of 100 aircraft watched by the Royal Family on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Personal Information
Online Presence
Video Clips on the Internet
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Acknowledgements
- 6th April 2019 at 11.52pm
- Complete
- BBC, BBC News Channel, BBC One Network, BBC One Yorkshire, BBC Two Network
- Presenter, Reporter
- News
- Presenters: BBC Network (UK), Presenters: BBC Network News (UK), Presenters: BBC Regional News, Presenters: BBC Yorkshire