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Selina Mary Scott (born 13 May 1951) is an English television presenter who co-hosted the first dedicated breakfast television programme in the UK before crossing the Atlantic to join '' West 57th'', a prime-time current-affairs show broadcast from New York. Scott continues to write, and run her lifestyle brand ''Naturally Selina Scott''.


Early life and education

Scott was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1951. Her secondary education was at Laurence Jackson School in
Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmar ...
, North Yorkshire where she became Head Girl. She read English and American studies at the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
.


Journalism

Scott trained in
Dundee, Scotland Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
on D. C. Thomson's ''
The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, N ...
'' newspaper, once lauded in ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' as having the "highest per capita readership in the world", before becoming press officer for the
Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1 ...
Tourist board on the
Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...
. She made her television debut on the weeknightly news programme for the regional ITV station
Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
, ''
North Tonight ''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television). History During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...
'' in
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
at the height of the
North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Se ...
boom.


British television

Several months after ''North Tonight'' began, Scott, aged 29, was headhunted by ITN, appearing as a newsreader on ITN's '' News at Ten''. In 1982, at the outbreak of the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...
, Scott became the Forces' pin-up. Eighteen months after she first anchored ITV's ''News at Ten'', she was poached by the BBC to launch '' Breakfast Time'' in January 1983. In contrast to
Alastair Burnet Sir James William Alexander Burnet (12 July 192820 July 2012), known as Alastair Burnet, was a British journalist and broadcaster, best known for his work in news and current affairs programmes, including a long career with ITN as chief presente ...
and
Sandy Gall Henderson Alexander Gall, (born 1 October 1927) is a Scottish journalist, author, and former ITN news presenter whose career as a journalist has spanned more than 50 years. Life and career Gall was born in Penang, Straits Settlements (prese ...
, who had welcomed her at ITN, she presented the new show with
Frank Bough Francis Joseph Bough (; 15 January 1933 – 21 October 2020) was an English television presenter. He was best known as the former host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including ''Grandstand'', '' Nationwide'' and '' Breakfast Time'', wh ...
. In a 2020 interview Scott said that Bough would deliberately undermine her by interrupting mid-question and in other ways; when she attempted to complain she said that senior management simply wasn't interested: "they seemed to have no emotional intelligence, and they let men like Frank Bough roam the BBC without any check on them". She said that there was a very sexist atmosphere at the BBC, "this malevolence". When she left ''Breakfast Time'', she accepted the role as presenter of the BBC's ''
The Clothes Show ''The Clothes Show'' is a British television show about fashion that was broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000, and from 2006 on UKTV Style and Really. At its height, ''The Clothes Show'' had around 9 million viewers every Sunday night. It al ...
'' (1986–1988), and was guest host on the chat show ''
Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcast ...
''. Here she interviewed, amongst many others,
Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
and
Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince ...
. In connection with interviewing Andrew, she says he asked her out, but she managed to ignore it. It was at this time that
Albert Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at ...
, the producer of the James Bond films, auditioned Scott for the role of
Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
in ''
The Living Daylights ''The Living Daylights'' is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's ...
''. "He sat me on a high stool so he and his producer could get a good eyeful," Scott told '' The Lady'' in 2013. Scott appeared on Britain's first government-authorised satellite service, BSB, before
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
's Sky headhunted her when the two companies merged. There she co-anchored its 1992 election-night coverage with
David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...
. Scott has also produced independent documentaries on the Royals in Europe including '' A Prince Among Islands'', a profile of
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
which achieved 14 million viewers, the first in depth interview with King Juan Carlos of Spain, ''The Year of Spain'' (which also achieved record viewing figures for a documentary in Spain) and ''The Return of the King'', returning to Greece with King Constantine and his family after 25 years of exile to which the Greek government reacted, menacing their journey by boat through the Greek islands with gunboats and aircraft. This dramatic intervention led not only to national headlines in the UK and Greece but ultimately to King Constantine appealing to the European Court of Human Rights to stop the Greek Government confiscating his passport and his Athens property. A settlement was eventually reached. In 2007, she took part in the
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...
series: ''
The Underdog Show ''The Underdog Show'' was a six-week television series presented by Julian Clary and his dog, Valerie. The series was produced by the independent production company Splash Medi Format The show on BBC2 featured celebrities Julia Sawalha, Anton du B ...
'' to highlight the Dogs Trust Charity for rescued animals. After six weeks of intensive training she was voted the winner with an abandoned wolfhound cross Chump, beating singer Huey Morgan and actress Julia Sawalha in the final. In October 2008, Scott presented a four-part series for the
Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...
channel and ITV,
Edward Seago Edward Brian Seago, RBA, ARWS, RWS (31 March 1910 – 19 January 1974) was an English artist who painted in both oils and watercolours. Early life The son of a coal merchant, Seago was born in Norwich and attended Norwich School. He was a se ...
— ''The Forgotten Painter'', and included interviews with
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
; who described how he and Seago explored a pristine Antarctic abroad soon after the first official royal tour to Australia. In 2018 Scott appeared in 4 episodes of the BBC's ''
The Real Marigold Hotel ''The Real Marigold Hotel'' (known in Australia as ''The Indian Dream Hotel'') is a British travel documentary series created by Twofour productions, directed by Aparna Sanyal and broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two. The show, whose name is based ...
'', shot in
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
, which she had always wanted to visit as her great-great-grandfather (a soldier surgeon) survived the
Siege of Lucknow The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British The Residency, Lucknow, Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel Sepoy, sepoys (Indian soldiers in the East India Company, British East India Company's Army) during the Indian ...
. In December 2021, Scott was one of the four walkers travelling with the BBC's 360 degree camera, in the first series of BBC Four's Winter Walks. Scott's episode featured a walk through Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales.


United States and Donald Trump

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
hired her for their news show '' West 57th'', which on one assignment took her to Kenya. For CBS, Scott gained exclusive access and revealing interviews with, amongst others,
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
,
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
, Bono of U2 and the world chess champion
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
. Whilst in America, Scott interviewed
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. Her 1995 documentary for ITV about Trump was the first investigation into his honesty. Owing to a technical issue with the camera, Scott interviewed Trump twice. the programme intercut them. When it aired on ITV, Trump was shocked by its critical tone and threatened Scott with legal action and sent her numerous angry threatening letters, an issue which partly became public knowledge at the time. Trump warned ITV that if they sold the rights to any of the American television stations that were bidding for it, he would tie them up in the courts. ITV complied, meaning the US press and public were unable to see the documentary. It also started a long-running feud between Trump and Scott. Shortly after the interview with Trump, Scott signed a deal reportedly worth $200,000 to host her own talk show, ''The Selina Scott Show'' for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
Super Channel. By 1997, she was back in the UK, signing a contract with Sky reputedly for £1,000,000. She anchored the breakfast programme, later switching to the 5pm news.


Personal life

Scott lives on a farm in a designated
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...
in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
where she has created a "nature haven" for threatened species. She has established a natural fibres business, ''Naturally Selina Scott'', sourcing sustainable cashmere from the
Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast a ...
in
Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gain ...
(a journey she made in 2016 to see for herself how the fibre is produced, and animals raised). Scott lived with the nomads in their Gers and traced the entire process from the rearing of the cashmere goats to the making of the finished garment in Ulan Batar before launching to the public. She is the eldest of five children: her brother Robin is editor of Britain's best-selling shooting magazine, '' Sporting Gun'' and her sisters are Angela, Vanessa, and Fiona, the last a fine art portrait artist, who regularly exhibits at the ''Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition'' in London. In April 2007 Fiona exhibited a long-awaited portrait of her eldest sister. Selina purchased her portrait. At the time when
Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
was, like Scott, having problems with the press, Michael Shea, press secretary to the Queen, asked Scott if she would befriend the princess. He thought that Scott might be able to advise her on dealing with the press; Scott commented "the trouble was I was going through just the same as she was". Scott did befriend Diana, but they did not discuss the press. In a departure from broadcasting, Scott wrote her first autobiographical book, ''A Long Walk in the High Hills: The Story of a House, a Dog and a Spanish Island'', published in 2010. This book describes how Kendi, her rescued German Shepherd, came to live with her. Scott also has another dog, Nip, a female Border collie cross. With her continuing interest in literature, Scott became Patron of the Charles Dickens Society, based in
Malton, North Yorkshire Malton is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 13,000 ...
, raising a public appeal to buy a rare signed edition of ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...
'' at auction in New York. The story of the rescue of the book found in a refuse bin in New York, and its homecoming to the market town of Malton (where the character of Scrooge and his Counting House was reputedly based) made national headlines. In March 2012, Scott was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Journalism degree from the
University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...
.


Activism

Scott is an active campaigner for causes such as animal welfare and wildlife conservation, spearheading a campaign to ban the live transportation of animals in Europe after
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...
, which achieved over 100,000 signatures to initiate a debate in Parliament. She supported Brexit because of this issue. In August 2008, Scott announced her intention to sue Channel 5, a UK television station, for age discrimination. She claimed Five reneged on an agreement for her to return to News because she was "too old". Scott hired Simon Smith of
Schillings Schillings (originally Schilling & Lom) is an international reputation and privacy consultancy staffed by reputation, privacy and family lawyers, risk consulting, cyber security and intelligence specialists. The company is an Alternative Busin ...
, and Five denied the claim. A preliminary hearing began on 24 September 2008 with a full five-day hearing scheduled for December 2008. On 5 December 2008 she won, with Five issuing a public apology and making a confidential out-of-court financial settlement. It was later reported that she accepted the offer, despite publicly declaring she would have her day in court, as her father had become seriously ill in December. He died on Christmas Eve and she wanted to be at his side and felt unable to continue the action as planned. Following her claim against ageism,
Age UK Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest ch ...
and Equal Justice, a legal firm, commissioned Scott to compile a report investigating the employment of women over 50 years old at the BBC. The report was delivered to Sir Michael Lyons, Chairman of the BBC Trust and
Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...
, the shadow Culture and Media Secretary in April 2010. The report accused the BBC of institutional ageism against older women. In 2014 ''
the Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' newspaper reported that Scott was considering standing for election to Parliament as a Conservative MP; Scott commented that this was nonsense, she was not even a Tory.


Charitable patronage

*President: Malton Food Lovers Festival *Patron:
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
(Malton) Society *Patron: Animals Worldwide *Patron:
National Star College The National Star College (previously known as the Star Centre) is an independent specialist further education college for people with physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries and associated learning difficulties. It is based at Ullenwood ...


References


External links

* ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' (Tim Adams
TV go home
27 August 2006 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Selina 1951 births Alumni of the University of East Anglia BBC newsreaders and journalists British radio journalists British reporters and correspondents British television newsreaders and news presenters English radio personalities English television journalists English women journalists ITN newsreaders and journalists ITV regional newsreaders and journalists Living people People from Guisborough People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Reality show winners STV News newsreaders and journalists Scottish television talk show hosts British women television journalists Scottish women radio presenters Scottish women television presenters