Chris Eakin is a journalist who was a newsreader on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's 24-hour rolling news channel,

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 ...

, and a relief presenter on BBC News at One at weekends. He was one of the channel's launch presenters in 1997, and is a published author. He left the BBC on 28 May 2015.

Early life

Eakin was born in Northern Ireland and lived at

Helen's Bay Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot (), between Holywood, County Down, Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor, County Down, Bangor. It is served by a Helen's Bay rai ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, then briefly moved to Spain. His father was a civil engineer. He moved to

Heswall Heswall () is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was historically part of Cheshire and became part of Merseyside in 1974. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 202 ...

when he was 12. He learned to sail with the Fourth Heswall Sea Scouts, sailing at the West Kirby Marine Lake. He left Calday Grange Grammar School in 1979, which he attended with his two brothers, Michael and Clive.

Career

From 1979 to 1983 he was at ''Wirral News''. From 1983 to 1985, he was a freelance journalist in Cheshire. From 1985 to 1989 he was at the ''

Liverpool Daily Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Reach plc, Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, wi ...

'' where he won North West Reporter of the Year. From 1989 to 1990 he worked at Central TV as a journalist. From 1990 to 1997 he was a reporter for Look North at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. He twice won regional journalist of the year.

BBC News

Eakin was most recently a presenter on

. He has anchored outside news broadcasts from locations including Belgrade, Belfast, Beirut,

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, Tavistock Square in London and numerous UK floods including in Cockermouth, Tewkesbury and Boscastle,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. He was the main on-site anchor for BBC News after the Glasgow Airport terror attack in 2007. Eakin left the BBC on 28 May 2015 with his final show running from 11 am until 2pm.

Publishing

Eakin's book ''A Race Too Far'' describes the 1968 sailing race to be the first person to sail non-stop round the world single-handed.

Personal life

Eakin is a qualified

RYA The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom Sports governing body, national governing body for sailing (sport), sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, Rigid inflatable boat, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurf ...

Yachtmaster Offshore. He lives in London with his wife, Deborah, who is a GP. His older brother Michael is Chief Executive of the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...

, and his younger brother Clive works in BBC local radio in Warwickshire.Clive Eakin
/ref> He is a world-class sailor and multiple award-winning skier, and a fan of

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

. He has a 34-foot Hallberg-Rassy yacht.

References

External links

His web page

TV Newsroom

BBC News

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eakin, Chris British reporters and correspondents BBC newsreaders and journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British broadcast news analysts People from Heswall