Janet Vera Street-Porter (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' and was later appointed fashion editor of the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' in 1971. In 1973, she co-presented a mid-morning radio show with

Paul Callan Paul Stanley Lester Callan (13 March 1939 – 22 November 2020) was a British journalist and editor. He was known for his flamboyant manner and distinctive attire. Early life Callan was born on 13 March 1939 in Redbridge, London, Redbridge in ...

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

. Street-Porter began working in television at London Weekend Television in 1975, first as a presenter of a series of mainly youth-oriented programmes. She was the editor and producer of the ''

Network 7 ''Network 7'' was a short-lived but influential youth music and current affairs programme screened on Channel 4 over two series in 1987 and 1988. The series was created by Jane Hewland and Janet Street-Porter, who was also editor of the first se ...

'' series on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 1987 and was a

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

executive from 1987 until 1994. She was an editor of ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

'' from 1999 until 2002, but relinquished the job to become

editor-at-large An editor-at-large is a journalist who contributes content to a publication. Sometimes such an editor is called a roving reporter or roving editor. Unlike an editor who works on a publication from day to day and is hands-on, an editor-at-large co ...

. Since 2011, Street-Porter has been a regular panellist on the ITV talk show ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...

''. Her other television appearances include '' Question Time'' (1988–2015), '' Have I Got News for You'' (1996–2022), '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' (2004), ''Deadline'' (2007), ''

Celebrity MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 20 ...

'' (2013, 2020), and ''A Taste of Britain'' (2014–present). Street-Porter was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to journalism and broadcasting.

Early life

Street-Porter was born in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings wh ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

(now in the London Borough of Hounslow). She is the daughter of Stanley W. G. Bull, an electrical engineer who had served as a sergeant in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and Cherry Cuff Ardern (née Jones) who was Welsh and worked as a school dinner lady and in the civil service as a clerical assistant in a tax office. Her mother was still married to her first husband, George Ardern, at the time, and was not to marry Stanley until 1954, hence her name being recorded thus in the birth records. She was later to take her father's surname. Street-Porter grew up in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

and

Perivale Perivale () is an area of Greater London, west of Charing Cross. It is the smallest of the seven towns which make up the London Borough of Ealing. Perivale is mostly residential, with a library, community centre, a number of parks and open ...

, Greater London after the family moved there when she was 14 and the family would stay in her mother's home town of Llanfairfechan in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

for their holidays. She attended Peterborough Primary and Junior Schools in Fulham and Lady Margaret Grammar School for Girls (now Lady Margaret School) in

Parsons Green Parsons Green is a mainly residential district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The Green itself, which is roughly triangular, is bounded on two of its three sides by the New King's Road section of the King's Road, A308 road ...

from 1958 to 1964 where she passed 8 O-levels and 3

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

in English, History and Art. She also took an A-level in pure mathematics but did not pass the exam. Whilst studying A-levels, she had an illegal abortion. She then spent two years at the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

, where she met her first husband, photographer Tim Street-Porter.

Career

Street-Porter began her career as a fashion writer and columnist on the ''

'', and was appointed as the newspaper's deputy fashion editor in 1969 by Shirley Conran. She subsequently became fashion editor of the ''

'' in 1971. When the

London Broadcasting Company LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

(LBC) local radio station began to broadcast in 1973, Street-Porter co-presented a mid-morning show with

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

columnist

. The intention was sharply to contrast the urbane Callan and the urban Street-Porter. Their respective accents became known to the station's studio engineers as "cut-glass" and "cut-froat". Friction between the ill-matched pair involved constant

one-upmanship One-upmanship, also called "one-upsmanship", is the art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor. The term was first used in the title of a book by Stephen Potter, published in 1952 as a follow-up to ''The Theory and Practice of Gamesma ...

. In early 1975, Street-Porter was launch editor of ''Sell Out'', an offshoot of the London listings magazine ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'', with its publisher and her second husband, Tony Elliott. The magazine was not a success.

Television

Street-Porter began to work in television at London Weekend Television (LWT) in 1975, first as a reporter on a series of mainly youth-oriented programmes, including ''The London Weekend Show'' (1975–79), then went on to present the late-night chat show ''Saturday Night People'' (1978–80) with

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Russell Harty Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows. Early life Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of greengrocer Fred Harty, who ran a fruit-and-vege ...

. She later produced ''Twentieth Century Box'' (1980–82), presented by Danny Baker. Street-Porter was editor of the ''

'' series on

from 1987. In the same year,

BBC2 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 ...

controller Alan Yentob appointed her to become head of youth and entertainment features, making her responsible for the twice-weekly ''

DEF II DEF II was a programming strand on BBC2, which aired at 6 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 May 1988 to 23 May 1994, to serve the teenage market. It was produced by Janet Street-Porter, and followed on from her influential youth TV show '' N ...

''. She commissioned '' Rapido'', ''

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. ...

'' and '' Rough Guide''. She was responsible for the cancellation of the long-running music series '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. Her ''

'' show was awarded a BAFTA for its graphics in 1988. In 1992, Street-Porter provided the story for '' The Vampyr: A Soap Opera'', the BBC's adaptation of Heinrich August Marschner's opera ''

Der Vampyr '' Der Vampyr '' (''The Vampire'') is a Romantic opera in two acts by Heinrich Marschner. The German libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück (Marschner's brother-in-law) is based on the play ''Der Vampir oder die Totenbraut'' (1821) by Heinrich Lud ...

'', which featured a new libretto by Charles Hart. Street-Porter's approach did not endear her to critics, who objected to her diction and questioned her suitability as an influence on Britain's youth. In her final year at the BBC, she became head of independent commissioning. She left the BBC for Mirror Group Newspapers in 1994 to become joint-managing director with Kelvin MacKenzie of the ill-fated ''

L!VE TV L!VE TV was a British television station that was operated by Mirror Group Newspapers on cable television from 12 June 1995 until 5 November 1999. It was later revived for Sky from 2003. In 2006, L!VE TV's name was changed to Babeworld to re ...

'' channel. She left after four months. In 1996, Street-Porter established her own production company. Since 1996, Street-Porter has appeared several times on the BBC panel show '' Have I Got News for You'', most recently in May 2020. From 1998 until 2015 (except 2013), Street-Porter appeared annually on BBC's '' Question Time''. In 2000, Street-Porter was nominated for the "Mae West Award for the Most Outspoken Woman in the Industry" at

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

's Women in Film and Television Awards. In 2007, Street-Porter starred in an

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, ...

reality show called '' Deadline'', serving as a tough-talking editor who worked with a team of celebrity "reporters" whose job it was to produce a weekly gossip magazine. The celebrities in question had to endure the Street-Porter tongue as she decided each week which of them to fire. In 2011, Street-Porter became a regular panellist on ITV's chat show ''

''. In 2013, she appeared in ''

'' reaching the final three, and returned again for a Christmas special in 2020, in which she was crowned the winner. She also appeared in the television show '' QI''. Since 1 September 2014, Street-Porter has co-hosted

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, ...

cookery programme ''A Taste of Britain'' with chef Brian Turner and ran for 20 episodes in one series. Street-Porter has appeared on many reality TV shows, including '' Call Me a Cabbie'' and ''So You Think You Can Teach''; the latter saw her trying to work as a primary school teacher. She conducted numerous interviews with business figures and others for Bloomberg TV.

Newspaper work

Street-Porter became editor of ''

'' in 1999. Despite derision from her critics, she took the paper's circulation up to 270,460, an increase of 11.6 per cent. In 2001, Street-Porter became editor-at-large, as well as writing a weekly column and regular features.

Editor-at-large column

Following the death of Ian Tomlinson, Street-Porter dedicated her editor-at-large column in ''The Independent on Sunday'' to painting a picture of Tomlinson as a "troubled man with quite a few problems":

Knowing that he was an alcoholic is critical to understanding his sense of disorientation and his attitude towards the police, which might on first viewing of the video footage, seem a bit stroppy.

Other activities

A rambler, Street-Porter was president of the Ramblers' Association for two years from 1994. She walked across Britain from Dungeness in Kent to Conwy in Wales for the television series ''Coast to Coast'' in 1998. Street-Porter also walked from Edinburgh to London in a straight line in 1998, for a television series and her book, ''As the Crow Flies''. In 1994, for the documentary series ''The Longest Walk'', Street-Porter visited long-distance walker

Ffyona Campbell Ffyona Campbell (born 1967 in Totnes, Devon) is an English long distance walker who walked around the world. She covered over 11 years and raised £180,000 for charity. She wrote about her experience in a series of three books. Early life Born ...

on the last section of her round-the-world walk. In 1966, Street-Porter appeared as an extra in the nightclub scene in '' Blowup'', dancing in a silver coat and striped trousers. In 2003, she wrote and presented a one-woman show at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

titled ''All the Rage''.
She published the autobiographical ''Baggage'' in 2004, about her childhood in working class London. Its sequel is titled ''Fallout''. ''Life's Too F***ing Short'' is a volume which presents, as she puts it, her answer to "getting what you want out of life by the most direct route."

Personal life

While studying architecture, she married fellow student and photographer Tim Street-Porter. They were together until 1975 when she went on to marry '' Time Out (magazine), Time Out'' editor Tony Elliot. Her third marriage was to film director

Frank Cvitanovich Frank Cvitanovich (14 August 1927 – 12 August 1995) was a Canadian documentary film maker, who made much of his best work for British television. Early years Cvitanovich was born in Vancouver, the son of a Croat immigrant. His father founded ...

, who was 19 years her senior, before her final brief wedding in her fifties to the 27-year-old David Sorkin. Before marrying Sorkin, she lived with DEF II presenter Normski for four years. She is now in a relationship with restaurateur Peter Spanton. She has no children. She currently lives in Haddiscoe in Norfolk,

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 ...

and London. She previously had a home in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire. An active member of the Nidderdale community, she contributed her time and energy to a number of local causes. She was the president of the Burley Bridge Association, leading a campaign for a crossing over the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale ...

linking North and West Yorkshire.

Health

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Street-Porter regularly appeared as a guest on '' This Morning'' to review the political decisions taken by the government alongside Matthew Wright, via video call from her home in

. Street-Porter was diagnosed with skin cancer in January 2020. On 23 June 2020, she announced her news on ''

'' from home via video call because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Filmography

Film

Television

Producer

* ''Twentieth Century Box'' (1980–1982) *''Paintbox'' (1985) * ''Bliss'' (1985) *'' Get Fresh'' (1986–1988) *''

'' (1987) *''

'' (1988) *'' Juke Box Jury'' (1990) * ''The Full Wax'' (1991) *''A Word in Your Era'' (1992) *'' The Vampyr: A Soap Opera'' (1992) *'' Great Railway Journeys'' (1994) *

Bibliography

* ''Scandal!'' (1981) *''The British Teapot'' (1983) * ''Coast to Coast with Janet Street-Porter'' (1998) *''As the Crow Flies: A Walk from Edinburgh to London - in a Straight Line'' (1998) *''Baggage: My Childhood'' (2004) *''The Walk of Life'' (2005) *''Fall Out'' (2007) *''Life's Too F***ing Short'' (2008) *''Don't Let the B*****ds Get You Down'' (2009) *

Honours and awards

Street-Porter was appointed

(CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to journalism and broadcasting.

References

External links

* * *
Desert Island Discs episode, BBC Radio 4, November 2008

''Janet Street-Porter 2008 Interview''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Street-Porter, Janet 1946 births Living people Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture BAFTA winners (people) BBC executives British women columnists British women television producers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Daily Mail journalists English fashion journalists English people of Welsh descent English television executives English television presenters English television producers English women journalists GMTV presenters and reporters I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants Journalists from London People educated at Lady Margaret School People from Fulham People from Parsons Green People from South Norfolk (district) Television personalities from London The Independent on Sunday editors Walkers of the United Kingdom Women newspaper editors Women autobiographers