Jenni Falconer (born 12 February 1976) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. She appears on the ITV daytime show '' This Morning'' as a regular travel reporter and was a regular presenter of the National Lottery Draws on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. Falconer was also a

radio presenter A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

on Heart FM until December 2019, and since 2020 has been host for Smooth London breakfast and Saturday mid-mornings.

Early life

Falconer spent her early years in

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs (; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

and

Milngavie Milngavie ( ; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter t ...

, two towns on the northern outskirts of

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 ...

. She has a younger brother. After her family relocated to

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

when she was seven, she was educated at the independent

Abbey School The Abbey School is a private selective day school for girls, in Reading, Berkshire, England. Overview The Abbey School provides education for girls aged 3 to 18 years. The school is based in the centre of Reading, on Kendrick Road. The curren ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and attended the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1994 to study Spanish and Italian with minors in Latin, Geography and Management Studies. Whilst studying at university, she also launched her television career. She was offered a contract by ITV to make a documentary and a consumer show on the proviso that she left her studies.

Career

Television

Falconer made her television debut in 1994 as a contestant on '' Blind Date'', and later presented

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

's ''Big Country'', ITV's documentary series ''3D'' and consumer show ''We Can Work It Out'' alongside Judy Finnigan and Jane Harvey. She hosted travel shows, ''

Holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

'' and ''How to Holiday''. She was the main co-host of '' Entertainment Today'' from its launch in 2000 until its end in July 2008 on ''

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

''. Falconer's other work includes reporting on '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' in Australia for ''

'' in 2003, 2004 and 2006, hosting '' The National Lottery Draws'' in September 2006 and hosting '' Cirque de Celebrité'' in October 2007. She also worked on a show about ''24'' for Sky1 ''24 in 24''. In 2006, Falconer won the

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

showjumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are l ...

competition '' Only Fools on Horses'' riding an 8-year old 16 hands

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

called J-Lo. She hosted three series of ''Fantasy Homes By the Sea''. In 2009, Falconer was the host of the daytime quiz show '' Wordplay'' on Channel 5 (previously called ''Brainteaser''). Between 17 and 21 August 2009, Falconer was a guest presenter on STV's '' The Hour'', with main anchor Stephen Jardine. Falconer works as a travel reporter for '' This Morning''. She also guest presented the show during Holly Willoughby's maternity leave from May to July 2011, sharing duties with

Ruth Langsford Ruth Wendy Langsford (born 17 March 1960) formerly known as Ruth Holmes is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including ''This Morning (TV programme), This Morning'' (1999–2022), of which she is the ...

and returned in 2013. In January 2013, Falconer participated in the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the ITV's diving show '' Splash!'', but was voted off by the judges. In August 2015, Falconer guest presented five episodes of ''

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 ...

'', standing in for regular host

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003–2005, ...

Radio

On 14 March 2013,

Global Radio Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysal ...

announced that Falconer would join

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

to host the Sunday morning show from 6am to 8am, replacing

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 millio ...

who took a break from the network to tour in the musical '' Priscilla: Queen of the Desert''. In June 2019, her early breakfast show was extended 4–6:30am due to Heart Breakfast (usually 6am-10am) becoming national with the new Scheduled of 6.30am-10am. As a result, she decided to step down from her Sunday show. In December 2019, It was announced that Falconer had decided to leave Heart and would be replaced on her Early Breakfast slot by James Stewart. In January 2020, it was announced that Falconer would be the new host for Smooth London breakfast & hosting on Saturday mid-mornings, the latter being broadcast across the UK. In February 2025, it was announced that Falconer would be the presenter of the new national Smooth Breakfast show broadcast across England and Wales on FM, AM, digital radio and online.

Other work

In June 2009, Falconer was unveiled as the face and body of Adore Moi underwear range by Ultimo. Falconer has also posed for photographs in '' Arena Magazine'' and '' FHM''. In 2016, she starred in the

Very Very may refer to: * English's prevailing intensifier Businesses * The Very Group The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the ...

television advertisements. In March 2019 Falconer, a dedicated runner, announced the launch of her new podcast, ''RunPod'', in which she meets celebrities and former sports stars who also love running for pleasure. In July 2020 Falconer became the new running coach in the Start 2 Run app. Her book, ''Runner's High'', is scheduled to be published by Orion Spring on 14 March 2024.

Personal life

Falconer married actor James Midgley at Babington House in June 2010. She gave birth to a daughter, Ella, in September 2011. She lives in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a suburb of southwest London, England, southwest of Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,189 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimb ...

. Since 2002, Falconer has been a celebrity patron of the charity Breast Cancer 2000. In 2012, Falconer took part in the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

, raising money for CLIC Sargent. She finished with a time of 3 hours and 53 minutes. In the following two years, Falconer took part in the London Marathon, where she raised money for

The Children's Trust The Children's Trust is the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury. The Children's Trust is a UK registered charity, number 288018. The Children's Trust runs a range of specialist care, education and therapy services for children ...

a charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. In 2014, she completed the marathon in 3 hours and 57 minutes. Falconer took part in the 2015

, raising money for

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

. In January 2019 Falconer became an Ambassador of The Children's Trust, having been a supporter since 2009. She has run three marathons for the charity in 2009, 2014 and 2019 and hosted gala fundraising events in London.

Filmography

;Television ;Guest appearances *'' Blind Date'' (1994) *''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'' (2001, 2006) *'' Celebrities Under Pressure'' (2004) *'' The Paul O'Grady Show'' (2005, 2007) *'' Hider in the House'' (2007) *'' All Star Family Fortunes'' (2007) *'' School's Out'' (2007) *'' Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong'' (2008) *'' Daily Cooks Challenge'' (2008) *'' All Star Mr & Mrs'' (2010) *'' Countdown'' (2010) *'' Ten Mile Menu'' (2010) *'' The Cube Celebrity Special'' (2010) *''Live with Gabby'' (2012) *'' What's Cooking?'' (2013) *'' The Chase: Celebrity Special'' (2013) *'' Sport Relief's Top Dog'' (2014) *'' Tipping Point: Lucky Stars'' (2014) *'' Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'' (2016) *'' Pointless Celebrities'' (2016) *'' The Saturday Show'' (2016) *'' Celebrity Ninja Warrior'' (2017/2018) *'' James Martin's Saturday Morning'' (2021) *'' The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special'' (2021) *''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Website

Smooth Breakfast on Smooth Radio

Jenni Falconer on Smooth Radio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falconer, Jenni 1976 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds Scottish television presenters Scottish women television presenters Scottish radio presenters Scottish women radio presenters Reality show winners Mass media people from Glasgow People educated at The Abbey School Heart (radio network) presenters