| Bill Turnbull | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bill Turnbull 25 January 1956 Guildford, Surrey, England, UK |
| Occupation | Journalist & News Presenter |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah McCombie (1988–) |
| Children | 3 |
| Ethnicity | British |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC Breakfast |
William Robert "Bill" Turnbull (born 25 January 1956) is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by the BBC and best known for presenting BBC Breakfast. He is the main male presenter of Breakfast broadcast on BBC One and BBC News, presenting alongside Sian Williams each Monday-Thursday.
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Turnbull was born in Surrey, South East England to an English father of Scottish ancestry and an English mother. He was educated at Eton College in Berkshire, followed by the University of Edinburgh, where he edited the student newspaper.
Bill Turnbull's career 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. His producer for a while was Sian Williams. 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 24, appearing alongside Valerie Sanderson. He also presented regular programmes on 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 Sarah Montague, 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, replacing Dermot Murnaghan. He was also an occasional relief presenter of News at Six and 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 Breakfast and the News at Six live from Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. In the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, Bill anchored Breakfast's coverage live from King's Cross railway station. Bill fronted the programme's coverage of the 2008 US Presidential election live from Washington and New York.
In April and May 2010 Turnbull travelled around the UK presenting and reporting for Breakfast on the General Election campaign trail.[1][2] In June 2010 he presented Breakfast live from Whitehaven in the aftermath of the Cumbria shootings.
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.[3]
In November 2006, Turnbull performed on screen with the BBC News presenters for Children in Need.[4]
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 ITV1 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 28 October 2007 he made a guest appearance on the children's television show SMart. In January 2008 he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind. His specialist subject was Beekeeping.
In 2009, he took part in the BBC series Around the World in 80 Days with Breakfast colleague Louise Minchin for Children in Need, travelling from Mongolia, through Russia and South Korea, before crossing the Pacific on a container ship and landing in California.[5]
In 2011 he also made an appearance on the BBC show Pointless alongside his BBC Breakfast co-presenter Sian Williams, which they won raising money for charity. He also appeared alongside Lee Mack and Louis Spence on the panel quiz show Would I Lie To You?, and made a guest appearence as himself in "The Wedding of River Song", the finale of the sixth series of Doctor Who.
Turnbull married Sarah McCombie in March 1988 in the London Borough of Hackney. The couple have two sons, Henry and Will (born October 1988 and October 1989), and a daughter Flora (born August 1991). The family live in Buckinghamshire.
Turnbull is a fan of Wycombe Wanderers football club[6] where he commentates on home games for online listeners. His hobbies include beekeeping, he also keeps chickens. In addition Bill enjoys long distance running, having competed in the London Marathon on a number of occasions, and the Great North Run on 5 October 2008. On 8 September 2009, Bill was made an honorary doctor at Bucks New University in recognition of his charity work within the Buckinghamshire community.
In May 2010, he published "The Bad Beekeepers Club", a humorous book about the ups and downs of beekeeping.
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by Darren Jordon |
Weekend Presenter of BBC Breakfast 2002–2008 |
Succeeded by Charlie Stayt |
| Preceded by Dermot Murnaghan |
Weekday Presenter of BBC Breakfast 2008–present |
Incumbent |
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