Natasha Kaplinsky - Biography

In a nutshell

Natasha graduated from Hertford College in Oxford before working in the press office of Labour Party leaders Neil Kinnock and John Smith.

Her first TV was, believe it or not, presenting alongside Sacha Baron Cohen on a youth chat show called F2F. Obviously such magic TV couldn't last forever and she moved to presenting serious news on those early morning bulletins you only watch if you're getting in from a night-shift.

She worked her way up the ranks and moved to ITV's London news, presenting London Today (during the day) and London Tonight (in the evening).

Next up was a role presenting on the Sky News programmes Live at Five and their morning news programme, Sunrise.

After doing ITV and Sky there was one other employer she hadn't been to yet and so she joined the BBC in 2002 to present their breakfast show called, umm, Breakfast. She also ended up presenting BBC Children in Need one year, as well as standing in for Tess Daly's maternity leave on Strictly Come Dancing.

Okay, so we've had ITV, we've had Sky, we've had the BBC ? can you guess Natasha's next move? She joined Five in February 2008 to present their new flagship news programme. Just a few months into her new big-money contact Natasha announced she was pregnant, and we're sure her new employers were absolutely over-the-moon at the news.

Although she stood in on presenting duties for the second series, Natasha actually took part in the first series of Strictly Come Dancing. She was paired with Brendan Cole and they danced their way into the final, eventually winning the competition.

Natasha married investment banker Justin Bower in August 2005. The pair originally met on a blind date. What a lorra, lorra fun that turned out to be.

Did you know?