Saira Khan (born 15 May 1970) is an English television personality. She was a contestant on the first series of ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

'' in 2005, in which she finished as the runner-up. From 2012 to 2017, Khan co-presented ''

The Martin Lewis Money Show ''The Martin Lewis Money Show'' is a British current affairs show that has been broadcast on ITV since 25 September 2012, hosted by Martin Lewis. For the first six series the co-presenter was Saira Khan Saira Khan (born 15 May 1970) is ...

,'' and in 2015, she presented the ITV series '' Guess This House''. From 2015 to 2020, she was a regular panelist 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 ...

.'' Khan has also competed in the eighteenth series of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' in 2016, and in 2019, she competed in the eleventh series of ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their prof ...

''.

Early life

Khan was born in

Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and some 8½ miles (13.7 km) south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

to immigrants from

Pakistan Administered Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, Pakistan. She had a difficult childhood; her father was violent and died when she was 28.

Career

In 2005, she was a contestant on the first series of the business-reality show, ''

'', finishing as the runner-up. In 2006, Khan presented ''Temper Your Temper'', a programme dealing with anger management. She has presented several documentaries for the BBC including ''Saira Khan's Pakistan Adventure'' in 2007 and ''Adopting Abroad, Saira's Story'' in 2011, as well as appearing as a guest on a variety of BBC and ITV shows such as ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'' and ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and ev ...

''. She presented the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7–16 ...

show '' Trade Your Way to the USA'' and previously presented ''

Beat the Boss ''Beat the Boss'' is a business gameshow broadcast in the United Kingdom as part of the BBC's children-oriented programming, CBBC. It was presented by Cameron Johnson and originally Saira Khan. The format features two teams, one team of childre ...

''. She presented an edition of the BBC's '' Money Programme'' about entrepreneurial mothers. Khan has also contributed to radio notably to Radio 4's ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented ...

'' and Radio 2's ''The Jeremy Vine Show'' as well as Radio 4's ''Any Questions?''. Khan also runs her own baby-products business called Miamoo. She has also written a self-help book, ''P.U.S.H. For Success''. From 2012 until 2017, she co-hosted ''

'' alongside Martin Lewis but was replaced by Ranvir Singh. In 2015, she appeared with her son on '' Big Star's Little Star'' where they won £14,000 for charity. In 2015, she hosted '' Guess This House'', a daytime game show for ITV. In September 2015, she became a regular panelist on ''

'', in which she appeared until 2020. In 2015, she appeared on an episode of ''

Pointless Celebrities ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers t ...

''. In July 2016, Khan entered the ''

'' house and took part in the show's eighteenth series. On 9 August, she became the second housemate to be voted out of the Big Brother house. Khan took part in a celebrity edition of '' The Chase'', aired in July 2017, being knocked out in the first round by

Mark Labbett Mark Andrew Labbett (born 15 August 1965), also known by his professional nickname The Beast, is an English quizzer and television personality. Since 2009 he has been one of the "chasers" on the ITV game show '' The Chase'' as "The Beast" and ...

. On 6 January 2018, Khan took part in '' And They're Off!'', where she placed fifth. In 2019, Khan took part in the eleventh series of ''

'', and finished in ninth place, alongside her professional partner Mark Hanretty. In January 2021, she announced her imminent departure from ''Loose Women'', so she could "focus on her skincare business, SairaSkin, and other media projects". Khan has stated that she wanted her place on the panel to go to a gay, transgender, or non-binary person. She competed in the third series of '' Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins''.

Personal life

Khan married her husband, fellow business person Steven Hyde, in December 2004, and had son, Zac, in 2008 through

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) f ...

. In 2011, following a miscarriage and difficulties in trying to conceive a second child, Khan traveled to the Edhi Foundation Orphanage in Karachi, Pakistan, where she adopted her daughter Amara when she was 4 days old. Khan described her experience on ''

'' in 2018, and also documented the adoption process in a documentary on

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 ...

, ''Adopting Abroad: Saira’s Story''. In March 2017, Khan appeared on 'This Morning', where she argued for businesses to have the ability to deny people jobs or request their workers to take off religious dress like a headscarf etc. In February 2021, Khan said of her faith in a ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, 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 (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

'' column that "As a 50-year-old educated, independent woman with my own family and life experiences, I now have the courage to say that I’m not practising".

Awards and nominations

In January 2013 and 2015, Khan was nominated for the Services to Media award at the

British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...

References

External links