Aasmah Saira Mir ( ; born 7 October 1971) is a Scottish television and radio broadcaster and journalist who used to co-present the Monday-Thursday breakfast programme on

Times Radio Times Radio is a British digital radio station owned by News UK, part of the Murdoch family, Murdoch media empire. It is jointly operated by News Broadcasting (which News UK acquired in 2016, when it was known as ''Wireless Group''), ''The Tim ...

Early life

Mir was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

to first-generation

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

immigrants, father Arif Mir and mother Almas, from

Raiwind Raiwind ( Punjabi & ) is a town located within union council 149 (Dholanwal) in Allama Iqbal Town of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The town serves as the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat and hosts the annual Raiwind Markaz Ijtema. Raiwind is also ...

on 7 October 1971Aasmah Mir: Scotland’s not my home any more
Times Online, 22 November 2009 and brought up from the age of ten in the affluent suburb of

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

, where she attended

Bearsden Academy Bearsden Academy is a non-denominational, state secondary school in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. History Bearsden Cross site (1911–1958) In 1911, the school was situated on the corner of Roman Road and Drymen Road north of Bea ...

. She graduated from the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

with an honours law degree in 1993.

Journalism

In 1995 Mir had a brief stint as a reporter for the '' Daily Record'' and '' Sunday Mail'', then became a radio researcher. In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the ''

Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

''.Aasmah Mir Biography
BBC Press Office, May 2010

Broadcasting career

Television

Mir, whose sister Uzma was already working for BBC Scotland, first appeared in an episode of a 1992 BBC Scotland show called ''The Insiders'' presented by Gordon Kennedy. After graduation she joined

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

aged 21 as a trainee and read the early morning news bulletins and later presented the main news show. She presented a couple of editions of an Asian documentary strand for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

called ''East'' in 1996 and some items on '' Desi DNA''. In 1998 she became a reporter for Central Television in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. Mir also presented episodes ''Just Write'' on Channel 4 and ''Around Scotland'' on BBC Two. In 2010 she was a newspaper reviewer on '' GMTV with Lorraine'' and ''

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

''.

Radio

In 1999 Mir moved to London as a producer for

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the BBC Local Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London. It broadcasts on FM broadcasting, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Langham Plac ...

and started doing freelance news-reading shifts for the national radio station

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

. She joined the station full-time in July 2001. In April 2006 she covered the weekday morning phone-in programme on

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

for a fortnight between Sonia Deol leaving and

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is a British radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and grew up in Heaton, West Yorkshire, Heaton and Odsal. Her parents were ...

becoming presenter. She has presented items on the BBC Asian Network Report. Mir presented the ''Midday News'' on 5 Live, Monday to Friday, until 9 January 2009. In 2009 she presented some Friday editions of '' Good Morning Scotland''. Also in 2009 she presented a series of programmes for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

on Scotland's Year of Homecoming, as well as ''Colour Me White'' for Radio 4, and ''Gay Life After Saddam'' for Radio 5 Live. In 2010 she replaced Anita Anand as a presenter of Radio 5 Live's ''Drive'' programme. For one week in March 2012 she sat in for

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio presenter and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guests, consumer issues and popu ...

on his

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

programme. On 27 September 2012 Mir announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

she was leaving BBC 5 Live after 11 years with the station. Mir presented her last 5 Live Drive on 9 November 2012. On 29 October 2012 Mir presented an edition of

'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 The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' and for a while replaced

Julia Hartley-Brewer Julia Hartley-Brewer (born 2 May 1968) is an English political journalist, newspaper columnist and radio presenter. She currently hosts a radio show on Talkradio simulcast on Talk called ''Julia Hartley-Brewer'' on weekdays from 10am. Early ...

on the LBC 97.3 afternoon programme. From 2012 to 2020 she was a copresenter of BBC Radio 4's '' Saturday Live''. In April 2020 she was announced as a presenter for

when the station launched on 29 June 2020. She copresents Monday to Thursday breakfast with

Stig Abell Stephen "Stig" Paul Abell (born 10 April 1980) is an English journalist, newspaper editor and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the Monday to Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio with Kate McCann. Abell was from 2016 to 2020 edi ...

. In November 2024 she announced she was to leave ''Times Radio Breakfast'' in two months and presented her last show on 30th January 2025. From June 9th to 13th 2025, Mir stood in for

Shelagh Fogarty Shelagh Fogarty (born 13 January 1966) is a British radio presenter, journalist and former television presenter. She presents the afternoon programme on LBC, having previously co-hosted the BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast show with Nicky Campbel ...

as presenter of the 1pm to 4pm slot on LBC.

Bibliography

In 2023, she released her

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

''A Pebble in the Throat''.

Personal life

Mir is a fan of

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish ...

She was married to Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe. She gave birth to a daughter at the age of 43. In 2021 Mir divorced Powar, stating that "this was my decision so I cannot wallow for too long".I want fairytale ending that allows me to sing
Retrieved 13 March 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mir, Aasmah 1971 births Living people Mass media people from Glasgow BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC Radio 5 Live presenters BBC Asian Network presenters Alumni of the University of Bristol Scottish people of Pakistani descent Scottish people of Kashmiri descent