Presenters & HostsNatasha Kaplinsky is one of television’s best loved presenters.
Before her role at FIVE, where Natasha presented the news between 2008 – 2010 she was at the BBC for 5 years.
Natasha Kaplinsky joined the BBC in November 2002 to co-present Breakfast and became one of the Corporation’s best-known faces. She co-presented the Six O’clock News for two years finishing in October 2007.
While news remains her first love, Natasha has host the occasional entertainment programme for the BBC including:
- New Year Live
- Making Your Mind Up
- Children In Need
- The Proms Coverage
- The Baftas Coverage
- The VE Day Celebrations
- The Royal Variety Show
- Restoration
- Have I Got News For You
In Spring 2004 Natasha discovered a hidden talent when she took part in a new peak-time Saturday night programme called Strictly Come Dancing … she went on to win it. She took part again in most of the second series – though this time as co-presenter with Bruce Forsyth – and in Summer 2005 hosted a one-off special, Strictly African Dancing, as part of the BBC’s Africa Lives season. As part of the same season, Natasha also returned to her African roots, to present Breakfast from Kenya, her childhood home, and film a special report in South Africa.
Natasha Kaplinsky grew up in Kenya and was six when she first saw a television set. Her family moved to Sussex where she went to school before studying English at Oxford University.
She worked in the press offices of Neil Kinnock and John Smith before spotting an advertisement for a news presenter with Meridian in the South East. She was taken on to present early-morning bulletins but soon found herself anchoring the station’s evening news magazine. She moved to Carlton in London to host news and current affairs programmes including their flagship nightly news show.
In 2000 she joined Sky News and was a leading member of the presenting team when the channel won a Bafta for Best News Channel.
Her job on the Breakfast sofa teamed her up with Dermot Murnaghan in a daily three-hour live show combining news, current affairs and softer items, where she developed a reputation for incisive interviewing with a gentle touch where necessary.
She was delighted to be named the Variety Club’s TV Personality of the Year 2004 and surprised when her victory in the Strictly Come Dancing was named as Top Entertainment Moment 2004 while the 2004 Tric Awards honoured her as Newscaster of the Year.
Natasha Kaplinsky now combines her news commitments with a busy schedule of corporate work and guest appearances. She is a patron of the medical relief agency Merlin and The Willow Foundation, which organises special days for seriously ill young adults.