Kate Bottley (' Stevenson) is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

North Nottinghamshire North Nottinghamshire, formally the "Northern Division of Nottinghamshire" was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the block vote ...

, a role which she combines with her other roles of journalist, media presenter and reality television star. She appears frequently on British radio and television as well as in newspapers.

Early life and education

Kate Stevenson was born in 1975 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. She was educated at Walkley Primary School, Myers Grove School, where she was head girl and at

Tapton School Tapton School is a secondary school with academy status located in Crosspool, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is sited next to another secondary, King Edward VII School in Sheffield, and near to Lydgate Junior School in Crosspo ...

(sixth form), both state schools in Sheffield. She fell in love at a young age with the son of a local vicar and this led to her interest in the Church of England. Bottley studied secondary religious education with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) from 1993 to 1997 at Leeds Trinity & All Saints and then trained to be a religious education teacher in secondary schools. From 1997 to 2000 she worked as an RE teacher at Ecclesfield Secondary School. From 2000 to 2005 she was head of religious education at Yewlands Technology College in Grenoside. She trained for ordination by being a vicar's personal assistant at

St Mark's Church, Grenoside St. Mark's Church is an Anglican parish church in Grenoside, South Yorkshire, England. It is in the Deanery of Ecclesfield Ecclesfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, about 4 miles (6&nbs ...

and then studying at St John's College, Nottingham.

Ordained ministry

Bottley was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

in the

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 2008 by George Cassidy and as a

in 2009. She served her

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

St Andrew's Church, Skegby St. Andrew's Church is a parish church in the Church of England in Skegby, Nottinghamshire. The church is Grade II listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as it is a building of special architectural or historic intere ...

in the

Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham The Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, headed by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham. It covers all the English county of Nottinghamshire and a few parishes in South Yorkshire. It is b ...

between 2008 and 2011. From 2011 to 2016, she was

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to North Nottinghamshire College, a

further education college Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from ...

, Nottinghamshire. She also ministered at

St Mary and St Martin's Church, Blyth St. Mary and St. Martin's Church, Blyth, is a Grade I listed parish church in Blyth, Nottinghamshire, England. Priory The priory of St. Mary and St. Martin is one of the oldest examples of Norman architecture in the country. It was part of a ...

, where she was priest-in-charge from 2011 to 2013 and

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

from 2013 to 2016. From 2016, she was a non-stipendiary associate priest in the

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfie ...

Area Team Ministry (now dissolved). On 16 May 2021 she became an Honorary Canon of

Southwell Minster Southwell Minster () is a minster and cathedral in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated miles from Newark-on-Trent and from Mansfield. It is the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and the Diocese of Southwell and N ...

Media career

Reality television

Bottley has appeared on Channel 4's '' Gogglebox'' with her family, as well as '' Celebrity Mastermind'' and '' Celebrity MasterChef''. Channel 4 approached her to appear on ''Gogglebox'' following her involvement in a viral video recorded at a wedding in 2013, where she officiated and danced to Kool & the Gang's "

Celebration Celebration or Celebrations may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Celebration'' (musical), by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, 1969 * ''Celebration'' (play), by Harold Pinter, 2000 * ''Celebration'' (TV series), a Canadian music TV serie ...

". The video garnered more than 8 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. Bottley appeared on Gogglebox from 2014 to 2016, over five series.

Newspapers

Bottley has written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'', '' The Times Educational Supplement'' and ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', on topics of religious faith, television and education.

Radio

Bottley has been a guest contributor on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

's "Pause for Thought" on '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' and presented the station's '' The Sunday Hour'' programme from 2017 to 2018. Since February 2018, with

Jason Mohammad Jason Mohammad (born 17 September 1973) is a Welsh radio and television presenter currently working for the BBC. He is the current host of ''Final Score'' on BBC One on Saturday afternoons. Personal life Mohammad was born and brought up in C ...

, she presents ''Good Morning Sunday''. She has presented "Prayer for the Day" on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

Religious television

Bottley has appeared on BBC One's '' Songs of Praise''. In 2016, she presented BBC One's main Easter programme. She presents the

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

series "Sunday Morning Stories".

Gameshows

Bottley has appeared on Channel 4's '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'' quiz show as a panellist and on BBC1's '' Impossible'' celebrity version. In November 2019 she appeared on and won '' Richard Osman's House of Games'' and she also appeared as a celebrity expert on the 2020 Christmas special of Michael McIntyre's ''The Wheel''. In February 2021, Bottley appeared on S14 E05 of ''Would I Lie To You?''. She has appeared on '' Celebrity Mastermind''.

Other appearances

In November 2021 Bottley was featured in the BBC series ''

Winter Walks ''Walking with...'' is a BBC English Regions television series where presenters take solitary walks along scenic paths, filming themselves and their surroundings with a 360-degree camera on a selfie stick. It is produced by Cy Chadwick. The seri ...

'', walking in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York ...

of Wensleydale and Coverdale, from Jervaulx Abbey to

Middleham Castle Middleham Castle is a ruined castle in Middleham in Wensleydale, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It was built by Robert Fitzrandolph, 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne, commencing in 1190. The castle was the childhood home ...

. Kate won the 2021 edition of The Weakest Link Christmas Special, answering every question correctly and displaying an impressive deviousness in the penultimate round by her choice of voting, ultimately winning £9000 for her chosen charity Baby Basics UK, a grassroots organisation dedicated to providing essentials for parents in poverty.

Personal life

She married Graham Bottley in May 1998 in Sheffield. Together they have two children: one son and one daughter.

References

External links

*
''Good Morning Sunday''
(BBC Radio 2) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottley, Kate Living people 1975 births 21st-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Leeds Trinity University Alumni of St John's College, Nottingham BBC Radio 2 presenters English chaplains English journalists English radio presenters English women journalists People educated at Tapton School People from Bassetlaw District Clergy from Sheffield Television personalities from South Yorkshire British women radio presenters Schoolteachers from Yorkshire