Bryans, Lynda

Lynda’s first foray into the world of broadcasting came in 1981, when she took up a role as a copy typist for Ulster Television. In the early days of her television career, Lynda spent a brief period as a television announcer with BBC Northern Ireland (c. 1987). She went on to become one of the regular presenters of the BBC’s local news programme in Northern Ireland, Inside Ulster (1986 – 1994).

She later appeared on national screens: as a reporter on Here and Now (BBC One, 1993 – 1995), Summer Holiday (BBC One, 1995), Holiday Out (BBC One, 1995), Holiday (BBC One, 2006); presenting alongside Rolf Harris on Animal Hospital (1994).

In 1996, Lynda defected to UTV, where she co-presented the regional news programme, UTV Live, with husband Mike Nesbitt until February 2006, when Mike left the station. Lynda continued as a presenter on the programme until 30th June 2010. Though she was suspended from presenting duties for a time in 2010, after her husband announced that he was standing in the 2010 General Election.

Lynda presented a networked ITV programme alongside her husband – Sunday Morning (1999 – 2001) – which was produced by Anglia Television. The pair also presented a local home and garden series, Home Sweet Home (2004 – 2006), for UTV.

In 2004, Lynda was an occasional presenter on the ITV News Channel; she also presented on ITV’s London Tonight. She also spent some time as a presenter with Belfast radio station, U105.8 (November 2005 – 2008).

Since 1999, Lynda has been a media trainer. Since 2012, she has been a lecturer and course co-ordinator at Belfast Metropolitan College.

She is a board trustee of Aware (since 2012) and chairman of Youth Lyric (since 2016).

Lynda married former colleague Mike Nesbitt in 1992. He was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (2012 – 2017) and has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford since 2011.

Personal information

Clips of Lynda on The TV Room

Lynda may be featured in video/audio clips on our other websites. Click the links below to display a listing (a 404 error will appear if no clips are found):

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Online presence

Acknowledgements