Melissa Porter (born Didsbury, Manchester on 18 December 1972) is an English television presenter, best known for her BBC programmes, To Buy or Not to Buy and Escape to the Country.
Contents |
Melissa Jayne Porter was born in Didsbury, the middle of three sisters of Italian-Czech parentage. Her father was an importer of luxury Italian motorcars.[1] Porter got the property bug from her parents, as they moved from one house renovation project to the next in Cheshire.
After graduating with a degree in Retail Marketing from Manchester Metropolitan University, Porter worked as a marketing manager for Marks & Spencer and a brand manager for Playtex. She then worked as a professional relocator for a company based in Knightsbridge.
While on a team building exercise, her colleagues suggested she ought to consider a career in television. Porter put a show reel together and CV, and got her first break in 2002 on Granada TV's Men and Motors. Porter then moved to the BBC, presenting a number of shows including Put Your Money Where Your House Is and Get a New Life.[2] Porter has written on property for the Mail on Sunday and Yahoo.
In 2008 Porter filmed two new series: Escape to the Country and Countryfile: The Summer Diaries; and presented new segments on travel, relocation and buying property for Barclaycard on GMTV. She also presents Live the Dream: As Seen on TV with Nick Barratt
Together with Charlie Smurfit she was the co-founder of property design and renovation company Porter & Smurfit. She has renovated and sold several homes and sold her former Wandsworth house without using an estate agent. In 2009 Porter joined Uber Interiors, a bespoke property design services & resource centre.
Formerly married to a Midlands business man,[1] Porter has a son Pierce (born 2010), from a relationship with American businessman Peter Rinfret, the son of former White House aide Pierre Rinfret.[3]
Porter suffers from hypothyroidism[4] She is a patron of the British Thyroid Foundation.[5]
Porter enjoys sport, particularly tennis, motoring, sailing and skiing, and both water-skiing and black runs on snow.