Fiona Phillips (born 1 January 1961) is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for her presenting roles with the

ITV Breakfast ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited (previously known as GMTV Limited) is the national ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. The breakfast license ...

programme ''

GMTV Today The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV. GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Friday ...

''.

Early life

Phillips was born in Canterbury Hospital in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the daughter of Phillip (died February 2012) and Amy (died May 2006). Her grandparents ran the Duke's Head pub on Church Street in St Paul's. Phillips attended Kingsmead Primary School. The family later moved to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

where Phillips completed her schooling at

Millbrook Community School Millbrook Community School was a secondary school in Southampton, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest ...

. After leaving school, Phillips worked for a short time at

Mr Kipling Mr Kipling is a brand of cakes, pies and baked goods made in Carlton, South Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and marketed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and North America. It was introduced in May 1967 (at a time when cakes were more of ...

's Bakery in

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

, near Southampton. Phillips graduated from

Birmingham Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

with a BA (Hons) in English; she also undertook a PGCert in journalism.

Career

Early career

Phillips started her career in independent radio working as a reporter for local stations

County Sound County Sound Radio was an analogue commercial radio station covering Surrey and north-east Hampshire in the United Kingdom. One of its closing forms in 2012-2014 formed Eagle Extra occupying 1566 MW following an internal split between older an ...

in Surrey,

Hereward Radio Heart Peterborough (formerly Hereward FM) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Cambridgeshire, south Lincolnshire and west Norfolk. Launched on 10 July 1980 as Hereward Radio 225, the station was the first local service in the area, wi ...

and Radio Mercury in Sussex. Moving from radio to television several years later, she joined

BBC South East BBC South East is the BBC English region serving Kent, East Sussex, most parts of West Sussex and southern parts of Surrey. The BBC region was created in September 2001 by the joining of the Heathfield transmitter (formerly part of the BBC ...

's ''Weekend'' programme as co-presenter, before becoming a reporter with

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

News, later moving on to become the station's entertainment editor, producing, reporting and presenting CNN News' entertainment output.

Television

Phillips has presented other programmes, including the celebrity lifestyle show ''

OK! TV ''OK! TV'' is an early evening magazine programme which was broadcast on Channel 5 between 14 February 2011 and 16 December 2011. It was a brand extension of celebrity title ''OK! Magazine''. It replaced the former magazine and discussion sh ...

'', ''Baby House'' and ''Room to Rent'', Carlton's entertainment guide ''Good Stuff'', LWT's Friday evening entertainment show ''Start the Weekend'', ITV's ''Sunday Night'' and the ''Rich and Famous'' series. Phillips currently writes an opinion column in the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'' on Saturdays and works as an agony aunt in New! magazine Phillips was a regular panellist on '' Loose Women'' in 2002, and was a guest anchor in 2004 and 2005. She returned to '' Loose Women'' as a guest anchor in March 2009 and again in March 2010. In August 2010, she appeared as a panellist on the short-lived ITV chat show ''

3@Three ''3@Three'' was a topical TV live debate show on ITV. In the programme three topics are discussed each day at three o'clock by three rotating panellists. The first series of ten episodes aired on Monday-Friday between 2 and 13 August 2010. The sh ...

''. She took part in the third series of '' Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2005, with professional partner

Brendan Cole Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin American dancing. He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show, ''Strictly Come Dancing''. From 2005 to 2009, he was a j ...

. The pair were voted out on Week 4 following several weeks of low scores. Phillips had also been in the documentary ''The Killer in Me'' on 8 November 2007, a show that saw four celebrities agree to take a groundbreaking test that revealed the secret killers lurking in their genes. Phillips joined former England footballer

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...

, political commentator and presenter

Andrew Neil Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a Scottish former journalist and broadcaster who is chairman of ''The Spectator'' and presenter of '' The Andrew Neil Show'' on Channel 4. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He f ...

, and Heart FM DJ

Toby Anstis Toby Anstis (born 14 December 1970) is an English radio and television presenter. He is a presenter on Heart (radio network), Heart and spin-off station Heart Dance. Early life Originally from Northampton, Anstis was educated at Desborough Co ...

who all found out their risk of developing 11 major diseases, including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. Phillips is a regular reporter for the BBC One consumer affairs programme ''

Watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...

''. On 19 March 2015, Phillips presented ''The Truth About...Sugar'' and on 2 June 2016, she presented ''The Truth About...Healthy Eating''. Both programmes aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

''GMTV''

In 1993, Phillips joined '' GMTV'' as entertainment correspondent and was promoted to ''GMTV''/Reuters Television's LA correspondent in December 1993. For over two years Phillips provided daily and weekly reports and covered a number of big news stories including the Michael Jackson alleged child molestation case, the LA earthquake, the first O.J. Simpson trial and the Oscars. She also interviewed some of the industry's biggest stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt and

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...

among others. From 1997 to 2008, she was the main anchor on '' GMTV'', presenting ''

'' every Monday to Wednesday. On 28 August 2008, Phillips announced that she was to leave her role as main anchor on '' GMTV'' for family reasons. She presented her final show on 18 December 2008. Phillips returned to '' GMTV'' in 2010 in its last series, guest presenting on ''

GMTV with Lorraine The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV. GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Friday ...

''. Since September 2010, she has regularly guest presented the

programme ''

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

'' (successor of ''GMTV with Lorraine'').

Film

She

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer ...

the character of Katie Current in the British release of ''

Shark Tale ''Shark Tale'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, and Rob Letterman (in his feature directorial de ...

''.

Radio

Phillips hosted a show on Smooth Radio in the 2–5 pm slot every Sunday, starting from Easter Sunday, 23 March 2008, until 2009 when she left the station. She also stood in for

Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...

Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

from 30 March to 3 April 2009.

Awards and honours

In 1996, Phillips was nominated for the Royal Television Society Interview of the Year Award. On 7 November 2007, Phillips received an Honorary Master of Arts degree from

Southampton Solent University Solent University (formerly Southampton Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre and th ...

, for "being a person distinguished in eminence and by attainments". On 21 July 2011, Phillips received an Honorary Fellowship from Cardiff University.

Filmography

Television

;

Films

Personal life

Phillips is a supporter of

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

, although she followed her home town club,

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...

when she was younger. Philips has reported to be a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

for over twenty years. However in 2015, she commented "I'm mainly vegetarian, but I have fish maybe once a month if my body feels it needs it."

Politics

Phillips is a supporter of the Labour Party. She said she had been offered a job in November 2007 as public health minister in the administration of Gordon Brown, as well as a peerage. Phillips said she declined due to her responsibilities to her two small children. She attended the 2009 Labour Party Conference in Brighton, where she introduced an address by the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chanc ...

. She was a panellist on BBC One's ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' in June 2009. Phillips is a patron of the anti-racist organisation

Hope Not Hate Hope not Hate (stylized as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-par ...

, who have the slogan "Celebrating Britain's diverse society". In August 2014, Phillips was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.

Charity

Phillips is one of the judges of the '' Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards'', and for presenting the GMTV Emergency Services award. She has also been one of the judges for the Children of Courage awards. From 15 October 2007, she reported from Geita, North Tanzania, for one week to visit Neema, a 13-year-old girl who Phillips has been sponsoring, and her family, friends and local schools. On 13 March 2008, Phillips, while

Age Concern Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of charitable organizations ( NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kin ...

Ambassador, presented the Age Concern Grandparent of the Year 2008, which took place in the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

. She has continued as an Ambassador for the successor charity

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 ...

References

External links

*
Fiona Phillips column
Mirror.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Fiona 1961 births Living people People from Canterbury Alumni of Birmingham City University British reporters and correspondents English journalists English television presenters GMTV presenters and reporters Labour Party (UK) people English republicans