Gabby Logan

Infobox Person
name = Gabby Logan

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image_size = 250px
caption = Gabby Logan with Radio1 DJ Chris Moyles
birthname = Gabrielle Nicole Yorath
birth_date = birth date and age|1973|4|24
birth_place = Leeds, England [ [http://www.ynw62.dial.pipex.com/gabby.htm Gabby Logan BBC Sports Presenter ] ]
death_date =
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nationality = flagicon|UK British
other_names =
known_for = TV presenter
education = Cardinal Heenan Roman Catholic High School
Notre Dame Sixth Form College
alma_mater = Hild Bede College, Durham University
employer = BBC Sport
occupation = BBC TV presenter
home_town = Leeds, England
title =
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networth =
height =
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term =
predecessor =
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party =
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religion =
spouse = Kenny Logan
partner =
children = Reuben, Lois
parents = flagicon|Wales Terry Yorath (father) Christine Yorath (mother)
relations =


website =
footnotes = UEFA Champions League
2003 Rugby World Cup

Gabby Logan (born Gabrielle Nicole Yorath on 24 April 1973), is a British television presenter and former Welsh international gymnast. She currently hosts programmes for BBC Sport, mainly focusing on football.

Biography

She is the daughter of former Wales international football player and manager Terry Yorath. Aged 10, she decided she wanted to present the BBC's nightly news programme "Newsnight." After attending Cardinal Heenan High School, and Notre Dame Sixth Form College in Leeds, Logan's university education was at Hild Bede College, Durham University, where she read Law.

Logan played netball for the school and at university, competed at high jump, but the peak of her sporting career was when she gained eighth place in Rhythmic gymnastics representing Wales at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/recorddoctor/story/0,,1395887,00.html The record doctor: Gabby Logan | OMM | The Observer ] ] She had to retire from gymnastics aged 17 due to sciatica. She attended Bishop Ullathorne RC School in Coventry.

Logan married the former Scotland international rugby player Kenny Logan on 19 July 2001.

After undergoing IVF treatment, on 28 July 2005 Logan gave birth to twins - Reuben McKerrow, born at 11.40pm; Lois Maya, born 12 minutes later. McKerrow is the maiden name of Kenny's mother Elizabeth.

In 1992 her 15-year-old brother Daniel collapsed as he was enjoying a kick-about with his father in the back garden of their home. Daniel, who had just signed schoolboy forms with Yorath's former club Leeds United, died in his helpless father's arms from a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Her brother Jordan Yorath (born 1986) played football for England Universities in 2008 whilst in the final year of his planning and development surveying degree at Northumbria University. Jordan was previously at Sheffield Wednesday and Halifax town as a young professional. Like Gabby's mother Christine, Jordan has a successful property business in Leeds. Gabby's youngest brother appeared on All-Star Family Fortunes in 2006. Gabby also has a sister, Louise (born 1974).

She runs and plays golf, and supports Newcastle United. [cite news|url= http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0300entertainment/onthebox/2002/08/22/gabby-has-her-eye-firmly-on-the-ball-50081-12136075/|title= Gabby has her eye firmly on the ball|publisher= Newcastle Evening Chronicle|date= 22 August 2002|accessdate= 2008-08-20]

Early career

After university she presented on Metro Radio in Newcastle, from where she was offered a job as a presenter on Sky Sports.

Logan's career came to notice when she fronted "On the Ball" for ITV. After ITV lost the terrestrial rights to the FA Premier League, she has presented ITV's UEFA Champions League football coverage, including the 2006 final, between Arsenal and Barcelona. She has also presented other programmes including ITV's 2005 Super Bowl coverage.

Logan took part in the celebrity version of "Stars in Their Eyes" as Sharleen Spiteri of Texas - although she lost to Debra Stephenson, Spiteri sent flowers to congratulate her on her performance. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20050501/ai_n14607470 MY PAP PICS: GABBY LOGAN: Im so lucky to be expecting IVF twins this | Sunday Mirror | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] She writes regularly for "The Times" newspaper, and has also done a photo shoot for men's magazine "GQ".

After the birth of her twins and the return of Steve Rider to ITV, she was given a co-host role. This included ITV's coverage of the 2006 World Cup, on which she later commented: "I interviewed David Beckham but I didn't see a single game. It dented my confidence and made me question my abilities. If you've got ambition and you want to do well, it's obviously disappointing." [Citation
title =Gabby Logan quits ITV to join BBC
newspaper =Daily Mail
date =2006-12-19
url =http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=423740&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490
accessdate =2007-10-28 ]

In August 2006 when Champions League returned to ITV, Logan was not present and it was announced that Rider would front with Jim Rosenthal as deputy. Under the ITV team section of the ITV football website, it announced that Logan would front ITV's UEFA cup coverage.

In September 2006, it was announced that ITV had banned Logan from competing in the fourth series of the BBC's "Strictly Come Dancing", which began on 7 October, 2006 (though she did appear in the studio audience at least once). She was told that she would appear in rival ITV series "Dancing on Ice", which returned on 13 January, 2007, but refused to take part [Citation
last =Kerins
first =Suzanne
title =ITV Ban Dancing Queen Gaby
newspaper =Sunday Mirror
date =2006-09-17
url =http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17762131%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26headline=itv%2dban%2ddancing%2dqueen%2dgaby-name_page.html
accessdate = 2007-10-28 ]

Move to BBC

In October 2006, the Daily Mirror reported that the BBC was interested in signing her up for their sports coverage, following her fall from favour at ITV. On 19 December, 2006 it was announced that Logan had quit ITV, in favour of a move to the BBC in a three year deal [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/6195257.stm BBC SPORT | Logan to take BBC presenting role ] ] .

Logan now fronts "Inside Sport" an all new sports news show, and covers live sport events. She also works on BBC Radio 5 Live. She currently presents the Gabby Logan show on Sunday mornings. Logan started presenting on BBC Sport on 27 January, 2007, presenting the FA Cup fourth round tie between Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers.

Logan also made a few appearances on Match of the Day, covering for Gary Lineker. However contrary to popular belief, she was not the first female presenter of Match Of The Day, BBC's flagship football show. This honour went to Celina Hinchcliffe in 2005. However Hinchcliffe is now predominantly seen presenting the sports news during BBC News bulletins, having presented the BBC's women's football coverage for a few years.

Following her switch to the BBC in 2007, she agreed to take part in "Strictly Come Dancing" in the same year. One of her opponents for the competition was her husband, Kenny Logan. Kenny was paired with professional dancer Ola Jordan and Gabby was partnered with Ola's husband James Jordan. Gabby was voted out of the series in week 4. [cite web
title =Strictly Come Dancing - Contestants - Gabby
publisher =BBC
url =http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/contestants/gabby.shtml
accessdate =2007-10-28 ]

In Summer 2008 she was one of the anchor presenters for the BBC's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She was the main presenter for the evening primetime coverage.

References

External links

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