| Julie Etchingham | |
|---|---|
| Born | Julie Etchingham 1969 (age 42–43) Leicester, England |
| Education | Bachelor of Arts |
| Occupation | Newsreader |
| Spouse(s) | Nick Gardner (1997-present) |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Ethnicity | White British |
| Nationality | British |
| Notable credit(s) | ITV News at Ten |
Julie Etchingham (born 1969)[1] is an English television newsreader and journalist. She is currently co-presenter of ITV News at Ten and is the presenter of the current affairs programme Tonight, having replaced Sir Trevor McDonald.
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Etchingham was born and grew up in Leicester where her parents were teachers. She was educated at English Martyrs Catholic School, a co-educational state comprehensive school in the city, followed by Newnham College at the University of Cambridge, where she gained a BA (Honours) degree in English.[2][3] She got her first job in journalism with BBC Radio Leicester whilst still at school.[1][4]
While reading English at Cambridge, she co-presented BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's student programme On the Edge, produced by Ian Peacock.
Etchingham joined the BBC as a graduate trainee, and trained as a journalist. Working at BBC Midlands, she became a presenter on Midlands Today,[5] but soon moved on to present national programmes after moving to London. Her credits at the BBC include BBC's Breakfast News, Newsround (where she beat 1,000 other competitors to the job in 1994) and the corporation's long running Holiday programme.[6]
Etchingham joined Sky News in 2002, where she hosted a number of shows for the channel, including Sky News Today. She was also an occasional presenter on Five News after Sky took over as news provider for Five in January 2005.[7]
On 29 October 2007, during a speech by David Cameron, Etchingham's microphone was left open and an aside was accidentally broadcast during live coverage of the Conservative leader's address. Speaking on the issue of immigration, Mr Cameron said: "Let me outline the action that a Conservative government would take. As we have seen, some of the increase in population size results from natural change - birth rates, death rates. Here our policy should be obvious... " At this point, Etchingham was clearly heard to say: "Extermination."[8] Sky News said afterwards that her comment was "regrettable".[8]
On 31 October 2007, ITV confirmed that in January 2008, Etchingham would move to present the relaunched News at Ten with Sir Trevor McDonald.[9][10] The programme returned on 14 January.[11]
In June 2009, it was reported in the media that the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, had stopped a plane from flying out of Pakistan after he heard Etchingham was running late after an interview between the two.[12]
In October 2009, it was announced that Etchingham would present a relaunched Tonight programme from early 2010 - with the show airing once a week on Thursday nights.[13]
Etchingham was voted "Presenter of the Year" at the Royal Television Society journalism Awards in February 2010. She is the first woman ever to win the award.[14]
In 1997, Etchingham married the television producer Nick Gardner in Leicester, the couple met whilst both working on the BBC's Newsround programme.[15] They have two sons, both of whom were born in Hammersmith and Fulham, London: Leo Francis (born late 2002 / early 2003) and James Joseph (born 2006).[16]
| Preceded by Jon Snow |
RTS: Television Journalism Presenter of the Year (2010) |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by None |
Female co-host of ITV News at Ten 14 January 2008 - |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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