Kirsty Young

Infobox actor
name = Kirsty Young
caption = Kirsty Young presenting Five News in 2007
birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1968|11|23
birthname = Kirsty Jackson
birthplace = East Kilbride, Scotland
yearsactive = 1989-present

Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968 in East Kilbride) is a Scottish television journalist, presenter, actress and radio presenter. She has recently left her position as head newsreader on Five News, the news programme on British television channel Five, where she had worked for most of the time since its launch in 1997. As of January 2008 she is the main presenter of Crimewatch.

Career

Young's journalistic career began in 1989 when she worked as a continuity announcer for BBC Radio Scotland. In 1992 she moved to Scottish Television where she presented the main evening news programme, "Scotland Today" and also hosted her own chat show, "Kirsty". She left Scottish TV and Scotland itself in 1996.

In 1996 she guest presented "The Time, The Place" and also featured on the "Holiday" programme. She hosted her own consumer show "The Street" on BBC Two.In 1997, she joined the news team of the new terrestrial channel, Channel 5. She left Channel 5 to join ITV in 1999 and hosted a quiz show called "The People Versus" in 2000. Also in 2001, she became the co-presenter of the ITV Evening News with Dermot Murnaghan. In 2001, after giving birth to her first child, she decided to return to Channel 5.In 2002, she returned, with a new look and hosted both the 5.30pm and 7pm editions until her maternity leave began in January 2006, when she was replaced by John Suchet and Helen Fospero.

On 11 September 2001, she was on air to an American reporter with live action footage of the burning first World Trade Center tower, when the second plane struck the second.

In November 2003, she guest-presented an edition of "Have I Got News For You" to critical acclaim, despite not being a comedian. She has, in total, guest-presented seven times. She appeared on "Room 101" in 2004 during which she nominated cowboy boots, Britney Spears and 'baby on board' stickers among her pet hates.

In June 2006, it was announced that Young was to be the new presenter of the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme "Desert Island Discs", replacing Sue Lawley. She began presenting "DID" on 1 October 2006 and returned to Five News on 28 September 2006.

In May 2007, Young announced that she would be leaving Five News in the autumn, after ten years as its head anchor. On 29 August 2007, she presented her last show for Five News.

On 29 September 2007, it was announced that Kirsty Young will replace Fiona Bruce as a presenter on the BBC's, "Crimewatch" programme. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7020328.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Young is new Crimewatch presenter ] ] There were in fact rumours back in 1999 that Young was to host the show after the murder of Jill Dando, before Fiona Bruce took over. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/439714.stm]

Personal life

Young married businessman Nick Jones (owner of Soho House and Babington House [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=408611&in_page_id=1879 Profile of Kirsty Young in the Daily Mail ] ] ) in September 1999. She has two daughters, Freya (born February 2001) and Iona (born April 2006).

She was only the fourth woman to guest-present "Have I Got News For You" (she and Ann Widdecombe are the only two women to have hosted the show more than once).

She admitted to suffering from bulimia as a teenager on the first episode of her first TV show.

She and her husband own a house in Los Angeles, California.She is a supporter of Rangers F.C..

References

External links

* [http://www.kbjmgt.co.uk/clients/kirsty_young/ Kirsty Young] at KBJ Management
* [http://www.skypressoffice.co.uk/FiveNews/biographies/biography.asp?id=82 Kirsty Young] at sky.com
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBDhcOgKv9M Kirsty Young (final Five News bulletin)] on YouTube
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article3343135.ece John Walsh, "Kirsty Young: The presenter is about to take on another national institution," The Independent, 20 January 2008]

Persondata
NAME= Young, Kirsty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Journalist
DATE OF BIRTH=23 November 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=