Anna Foster (born 1979) is an English journalist, news reporter and presenter. Since 2025, she has presented

the Today programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00 (starting on Saturday at 07:00), it is produced by BB ...

and presents and reports on location for

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. Previously, she presented ''Drive'' and other programming on

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 ...

, was a regular presenter of the News at One, and was the BBC's Middle East correspondent in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Early life and education

The daughter of an engineer father and a mother who worked as a nurse, she and her brother were born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

. Educated in South Shields, she attended South Tyneside College for

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 ...

, and went on to study at Collingwood College at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where she worked on student radio. She then undertook a postgraduate certificate in journalism at

City University London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" and ...

Career

She joined BBC Radio Cleveland as a reporter for three years, before becoming a news presenter, and then presenting the drive-time show. She then joined

as a regional North East reporter, before relocating to London to present ''

Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for young people.

''. Foster joined the BBC Radio 5 Live ''Weekend Breakfast'' show on 23 April 2011, replacing Rachel Burden who moved to the weekday ''5 Live Breakfast'' team alongside

Nicky Campbell Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell OBE (born Nicholas Lackey; 10 April 1961) is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987. Early life Campbell wa ...

on 3 May. On 14 November 2012, Foster became the Wednesday-to-Friday co-presenter of ''5 Live Drive'' (4–7 pm) alongside Peter Allen;

Louise Minchin Louise Mary Minchin (née Grayson; born 8 September 1968) is a British television presenter, journalist and former news presenter who currently works freelance within the BBC. Beginning in 2012, Minchin was a regular anchor on the BBC One pro ...

was the Monday and Tuesday co-host. Foster subsequently became the permanent co-host, alongside

Tony Livesey Anthony Livesey (born 11 January 1964, in Burnley, Lancashire) is a British journalist and broadcaster who presents the weeknight late show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Early life Livesey was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and lived in nearby Nelson dur ...

who replaced Allen in October 2014. Foster left ''Drive'' on 12 August 2021 to take up a new role as BBC Middle East correspondent in

. In May 2024, the BBC announced that Foster was one of six well-known BBC presenters to start presenting the BBC News at One from its new home at Salford studios at the beginning of June 2024. In March 2025, Foster was announced as one of five presenters of

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 ...

's ''Today'' programme, replacing

Mishal Husain Mishal Husain (born 12 March 1973) is a British journalist, broadcaster and author. She is best known for having presented a range of BBC News programmes, most notably BBC Radio 4's ''Today'' programme. She has occasionally appeared as a relief ...

Personal life

She married fellow radio presenter John Foster in October 2009 at Crathorne Hall near

Yarm Yarm-on-Tees, or simply Yarm, is a market town in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a meander of the River Tees, extending south-east to the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven and south to the village of Kirklevington. A civil parish i ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

; they have a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Anna 1979 births Living people Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham BBC Radio 5 Live presenters English journalists English radio personalities People from South Shields