Nicola Shields (born 1 November 1985) is a British television presenter best known as the
Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...
pit lane reporter. A biological sciences graduate of 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 ...
, she got a job for UBS which she left after one year to found the social media company Starcount.com. Shields began her presenting and reporting career in 2012 and her work has included the
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 ...
show ''
Escape to the Country'' and ''Supercharged'' on
CNN International
Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...
, and most recently CNNI's ''Saved by the Future''.
Biography
Shields was born in 1985
and was raised in
Twickenham
Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...
.
She has one brother. Shields spent time at the family's countryside farm in Yorkshire during the holidays.
She was educated at the
Lady Eleanor Holles School. Shields was exposed to motor racing from an early age as she often watched Formula One with her father and competed in go-kart races.
Her childhood dream was to race in the series but realised that this was not feasible as she became older.
Shields studied biological sciences at 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 ...
,
specialising on
environmental science.
The first job she got upon graduating was with the financial services company
UBS in the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
.
Shields left UBS after one year and founded Starcount, a social media data analytics device.
She began presenting and reporting at technology and science shows in 2012 which included
''The Gadget Show Live'', the International Confex and the Intel Solutions Summit.
The following year Shields began acting as one of the presenters of the BBC One property-buying programme ''
Escape to the Country''.
That same year she reported from the Willis Resilience Expedition to Antarctica where she investigated climate change and sustainability.
Shields was also involved in the production of a programme about electric vehicles.
Shields presented for Goodwood TV at the 72nd Members Meeting and ''
Motors TV'' in 2014.
In early 2014 she contacted Aurora Media and was invited for screen tests for the company's television coverage of the electric motor racing series
Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...
. Shields was confirmed as the series pit lane reporter in April of that year.
She later said that she had to get involved upon hearing about the series from a contact at
Renault
Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
as it consisted of two of her main hobbies, cars and science.
Shields is the host of the ''
CNN International
Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...
'' technology and electric racing show ''Supercharged'' which first aired on 13 February 2016, and of ''Saved by the Future''. She was announced as the host of the LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards which took place on 13 September. Shields's other work include hosting the
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hillclimb and other events, held in Goodwood House, West Sussex, in late June or early July. Th ...
on ''
ITV4'' and presented the
Formula Kart Stars on ''
Sky Sports F1''. She has written articles for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', ''
London Evening Standard
The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...
'' and
''CNN.com'',
and commentated on
Esports
Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
events such as the Ferrari eSports series, the
Formula E Race at Home Challenge and the Fordzilla eSports Cup.
In October 2020, she was named an ambassador of the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...
's The Girls on Track UK
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...
and motorsport initiative for school-age girls.
Personal life
In September 2014, she married her partner of four years Mark Sainthill in a ceremony held in
Ibiza
Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
. Her first child, a boy, due to be born in June 2019, was born three weeks early via
caesarean section
Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...
in May.
She has another son and a daughter.
References
External links
*
*
Patron of Educational Wealth Fund(2018)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Nicki
1985 births
Living people
People from Twickenham
Alumni of the University of Bristol
CNN people
Formula E people
English television presenters
English women writers
Television personalities from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames