Gail Porter

Infobox actor television
name= Gail Porter


birthname=
birth_date= birth date and age|1971|3|23
birth_place= Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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height=
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occupation= TV presenter
alias= Gail Hipgrave
gender= Female
status= divorced
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family= yes
former spouse= Dan Hipgrave
children= Honey Hipgrave (b. 2002)
relatives=
ethnic= Scottish
religion=
salary=
networth=
credits= Presenter of "Fully Booked" and "The Big Breakfast", Host on "The Movie Chart Show"
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Gail Porter (born March 23 1971 at the Simpson's Memorial Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland), sometimes known by her married name Gail Hipgrave, is a British television presenter who became widely known after presenting "Fully Booked" in the late 1990s. Porter has tended to present family-friendly television programmes, or ones aimed directly at children, for example "The Movie Chart Show", "Top of the Pops", and "Live & Kicking", work for "CITV" , and other programmes such as "The Big Breakfast" and "Gail Porter's Big 90s" for VH1 . Recently she presented three series of "Dead Famous".

In the late-'90s she began to pose for photos in men's magazines such as "FHM". Probably the best-known product of her many photo-sessions is one particular still in which she is seen completely nude from behind, but turning her head back to make eye contact with the camera, thus permitting a simultaneous full view of her face, back and bottom, and a glimpse of one of her breasts from the side.

The image became well known due to the events of one night in 1999, when "FHM" along with guerrilla marketing company Cunning Communications, beamed an enormous projection of it onto the exterior of the Houses of Parliament, with an accompanying message urging people to vote for Gail in the FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women Poll. [ [http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/02/0209_guerrilla/source/10.htm Guerrilla Marketing: Pushing the Limits | BusinessWeek ] ] . In her autobiography, Porter claims that she did not know about the stunt until it was reported in the news the following day.Fact|date=March 2008

In 2001, Porter took part in the Reality TV show "Celebrity Blind Man's Bluff" [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-62054/Celebrity-Blind-Mans-Buff.html Celebrity Blind Man's Buff - Mail Online] ] and in 2003, she was a contestant on Channel 4's "The Games", although injury truncated her participation.

She married Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave in August 2001, with whom she had a daughter, Honey, in 2002. They separated in the summer of 2004, and Porter has spoken publicly about her ensuing battles with stress, drugs and post-natal depression. In 2005 her conditions triggered alopecia areata, causing her to lose much of her hair. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1635784,00.html Gail Porter speaks to Emma Brockes | Media | The Guardian ] ] She refused to wear a hat or wig, deciding instead to maintain a public profile and raise awareness of the condition. On an appearance on the "Richard & Judy" show February 15, 2006 she showed that her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were beginning to grow back. [ [http://www.sky.com/showbiz/article/0,,50001-1212491,00.html Sky Showbiz - Gail's Fab Hair News ] ] On 12 April, 2006 Porter said "It is possible that I'm going to get my hair back." [http://www.itv.com/news/index_1063050.html]

Porter's experience with alopecia areata was the subject of the BBC "ONE Life" series documentary "Gail Porter Laid Bare" on May 31 2006 [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/tv_and_radio/onelife_series6prog4.shtml] ] .

Her autobiography, "Laid Bare: My Story Of Love, Fame And Survival", was published in September 2007.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0692118/ IMDb page on Gail Porter]
* [http://www.askmen.com/women/models_60/70_gail_porter.html Gail Porter profile and biography on AskMen.com]