Bill Turnbull
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bill Turnbull | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | Bill Turnbull 1956 Surrey, England |
|
| Circumstances | ||
| Occupation | Journalist | |
| Spouse | Sarah McCombie (1988-present) | |
| Ethnicity | English | |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC Breakfast | |
William Turnbull (born 1956) is an English journalist and presenter.
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[edit] Early life
He was educated at Eton[citation needed] and the University of Edinburgh, where he edited the student newspaper. He is the main male presenter of the early morning news programme BBC Breakfast broadcast on BBC One and BBC News, presenting alongside Sian Williams each Monday-Thursday. He first joined the programme as a weekend presenter in 2001.
[edit] Career history
Bill Turnbull's career in journalism began at Scottish local station Radio Clyde in 1978, and later he freelanced for a number of years in the USA.
He joined the BBC as a reporter for the Today programme in 1986 and Breakfast as a reporter in 1988, before becoming a correspondent for BBC News in 1990. He covered a wide range of domestic and international stories, reporting from over thirty countries including a four-year stint as Washington Correspondent, based in the USA. In this role he reported on a whole swathe of major American stories, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the Monica Lewinsky scandal that rocked Bill Clinton's presidency.
In 1997 Turnbull moved back to the UK and into the studio to become one of the main presenters on BBC News, appearing alongside Valerie Sanderson. He also presented regular programmes on BBC Radio 5 Live, including a stint as a presenter on Weekend Breakfast.
He joined the BBC Breakfast team in 2001 as a weekend presenter, presenting alongside Sian Williams initially and then later Mishal Husain and Susanna Reid. He also regularly appeared as a relief presenter on the weekday programme with Sophie Raworth, Natasha Kaplinsky, Kate Silverton and Louise Minchin. In 2008 he became the main weekday presenter of Breakfast rejoining Williams. He was also an occasional relief presenter of the BBC News at Six and the BBC News at One.
As well as anchoring programmes in the studio, he regularly presents on location. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he was sent to New Orleans to report for BBC News, presenting both BBC Breakfast and the BBC News at Six live from Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. In the aftermath of the July 7 bombings in Central London, Bill anchored Breakfast's coverage live from King's Cross railway station.
[edit] Other TV appearances
In 2005, he was a contestant in the third series of the BBC dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing, paired with Karen Hardy. In spite of a serious ankle injury in the second week (which then flared up at various points in the series), he stayed in the competition seven weeks, finishing sixth out of twelve contestants.
In August 2006, he agreed to take part in a polyphasic sleep experiment presented on BBC One's The One Show programme. In this experiment he slept for a total of three hours per day, in six thirty-minute bursts, for ten consecutive days. The effect of this sleep pattern on his health was plain to see as he presented Breakfast almost every weekday during the duration of the exercise and became increasingly sleep deprived. [1]
Turnbull also appeared in, and won, an episode of the BBC celebrity game show School's Out broadcast on BBC One, Saturday 11 August 2007.
In September 2007, Bill appeared on the celebrity version of ITV gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? alongside his BBC Breakfast co-presenter Sian Williams. The pair played to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
On October 28, 2007, he made a guest appearance on the children's television show SMart.
Aired on January 1, 2008, he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind. His specialist subject was Beekeeping.
[edit] Personal
Turnbull is a fan of Wycombe Wanderers football club. His hobbies include beekeeping. In addition Bill enjoys long distance running, having competed in the London Marathon on a number of occasions. He he also keeps chickens in his back garden at his house in Buckinghamshire. He is 5ft 8 in height, is married and has two sons, Henry and Will (born October 1988 and December 1989), and a daughter who is actress Flora Turnbull (born August 1991). He married Sarah McCombie in March 1988 in the London Borough of Hackney.
