Dermot Murnaghan
| Dermot Murnaghan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Dermot John Murnaghan 26 December 1957 Devon, England |
| Education | University of Sussex |
| Occupation | Journalist, television presenter |
| Notable credit(s) |
BBC Breakfast Eggheads Sky News Today Are You an Egghead? Murnaghan |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Keegan (1989–present) |
| Children | 4 |
Dermot Murnaghan (born 26 December 1957) is a News Presenter for Sky News, the 24-hour television news service operated by Sky Television, part of British Sky Broadcasting. He is based at the Sky News Centre in West London. He was formerly a news presenter at CNBC Europe, Independent Television News and BBC News. He has presented news programmes in a variety of time slots since joining Sky News in 2007.
Early life and education
Murnaghan was born in the county of Devon in south-west England. He and his family later moved to Northern Ireland - first to Armagh City, then to Newry, County Down, and then to Holywood.
Murnaghan was educated at two schools in Northern Ireland: St Malachy's Primary School in Armagh City and Sullivan Upper School (a grammar school) in Holywood,[1] followed by the University of Sussex in England, graduating with a master's degree in history in 1980. He then completed a postgraduate course in journalism at City University London.
Career
Murnaghan worked as a trainee reporter on local newspapers before joining Channel 4 as a researcher and later a reporter for The Business Programme.
Murnaghan presented the European Business Channel in Switzerland before being recalled by ITN to present the World News on The Channel 4 Daily between 1991 and 1992 after the departure of original anchor Carol Barnes.
Murnaghan presented programmes on ITV such as the ITV Lunchtime News and News at Ten. In 1997, as an ITN news presenter, Murnaghan broke the news of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales to viewers on ITV.[2] He later presented the ITV Evening News and the ITV Nightly News when ITV relaunched their news output in 1999. He also worked on ITV's general election coverage in 2001.
From September 2002 to December 2007 Murnaghan was a main presenter of BBC Breakfast, replacing Jeremy Bowen. He presented the show alongside Sophie Raworth, Natasha Kaplinsky, Kate Silverton, Sian Williams and Susanna Reid. He was also a regular stand-in on the BBC Six O'Clock News and BBC Ten O'Clock News and co-presented the BBC News at Six on Fridays from September 2003 to summer 2007 allongside Sian Williams. His presenting style was lampooned in the impersonation sketch show Dead Ringers by Jon Culshaw, his widely spaced legs on the presenting couch mocked with the phrase 'I'm Dermot Murnaghan, watch my crotch follow you round the room'.
Whilst at the BBC, he presented BBC One's Treasure Hunt (2002–2003), a revival of an earlier format on Channel 4 Television. He co-presented BBC Breakfast from Monday to Thursday as well as regularly fronting national BBC news bulletins until December 2007.
In October 2007, it was revealed that Murnaghan would be leaving the BBC for Sky News. Murnaghan became the second news presenter to depart the corporation in the same month - Natasha Kaplinsky also left to join Five News, produced by Sky. Since 8 January 2008 Murnaghan has presented Sky News from 10 AM to 1 PM Monday - Wednesday.[3] His last time presenting Breakfast was 20 December 2007.
Murnaghan has presented the BBC Two daytime show Eggheads since 2003, including its short-lived spin-off Are You an Egghead? in 2008. Since his move to Sky News he has shared this role with Jeremy Vine. He also presented the BBC revival of Channel 4's 1980s hit Treasure Hunt alongside Suzi Perry. Murnaghan has guest presented reports for different travel shows including ITV's Wish You Were Here...? and BBC One's rival programme Holiday. He has made cameos as a newsreader in the 2004 film Wimbledon,[4] Absolute Power and Midnight Man.
As of 9 January 2011, Murnaghan started presenting his own show called Murnaghan on Sky News that airs on Sunday mornings from 10.00am to 12.00pm, replacing Sunday Live with Adam Boulton.
Personal life
In August 1989 Murnaghan married Maria Keegan in Camden; they now have four children. They live together in North London. Murnaghan is an Arsenal fan.[5] In September 2012 Murnaghan was pictured being intimate with his make-up artist, Camilla Tew, who is 23 years his junior.[6]
In 2006 Murnaghan became President of the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) and presented the TRIC Awards 2007.
References
- ↑ Interview with Daily Mail newspaper
- ↑ Interview - Dermot Murnaghan's on a Sky High from independent.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ↑ Murnaghan quits BBC, joins Sky News
- ↑ Wimbledon cameo ('Comedy risks' section, 3rd para)
- ↑ Sky News
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2200488/Newsreader-Dermot-Murnaghan-caught-kissing-make-artist-secret-date-park.html
External links
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