Wendy Turner-Webster (née Turner; 5 June 1967) is an English journalist, television presenter and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

activist.

Early life and education

Born 5 June 1967 in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, Turner-Webster had two sisters, presenter

Anthea Turner Anthea Turner (born 25 May 1960) is an English television presenter. She was a host of ''Blue Peter'' from 1992 until 1994, and of ''GMTV'' from 1994 until 1996. Early life Turner was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and educated at the ...

and Ruth who had

spina bifida Spina bifida (SB; ; Latin for 'split spine') is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the vertebral column, spine and the meninges, membranes around the spinal cord during embryonic development, early development in pregnancy. T ...

and died at the age of 15. Turner-Webster grew up in

Norton le Moors Norton le Moors is in the north-east of the city of Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England, mostly within the city boundary, with the rest in the Staffordshire Moorlands district. Geography The suburb borders Ball Green in the north, Stockto ...

, Staffordshire, and was educated at St Dominic's Independent Junior School at

Hartshill Hartshill is a large village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, contiguous with the much larger town of Nuneaton, the town centre of which is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the south-east. The parish borders the district of Nuneaton a ...

Career

Turner-Webster began her career at Signal Radio, writing, producing and presenting on-air features including film, travel and book reviews. She also wrote for magazines including

OK! ''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...

. A part-time actress, while appearing in the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

,'' she was spotted by a producer from the UK cable channel ''

L!VE TV L!VE TV was a British television station that was operated by Mirror Group Newspapers on cable television from 12 June 1995 until 5 November 1999. It was later revived for Sky from 2003. In 2006, L!VE TV's name was changed to Babeworld to r ...

.'' Moving to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, she became a news reporter covering sports and fashion. She then hosted her own shows ''Videobox'' and the

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

phone-in ''Revelations with Nina.'' Turner-Webster was chosen to take over hosting

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''Absolutely Animals'' from

Dani Behr Dani Behr is an English former singer, actress, voice-over artist and television presenter. Early life Behr was born in Mill Hill, London, of South African Jewish descent. Her father is a partner in London estate agents Behr & Butchoff. Behr ...

; the show was a forerunner to '' Pet Rescue'' which Turner-Webster hosted for 7 years. Turner-Webster's other TV projects include

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 ...

's ''Your Kids Are In Charge'', presented with sister Anthea. She has also presented several episodes of ''The Last Word'' for Central Television, and the BBC documentary about domestic violence, ''Hitting Home.''

Animal rights

Turner-Webster is an advocate of animal rights. In 2018, she controversially claimed that

guide dog Guide dogs (colloquially known in the US as seeing-eye dogs) are assistance dogs trained to lead people who are blind or visually impaired around obstacles. Although dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are red–green c ...

s are "unethical" and should be phased out as they are unable to give consent to work. Turner-Webster does not eat or wear animal products and is a patron of

The Vegan Society The Vegan Society is a registered charity and the oldest vegan organization in the world, founded in the United Kingdom in 1944 by Donald Watson, Elsie Shrigley, George Henderson and his wife Fay Henderson among others. History In Novembe ...

, Viva! and the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British Registered charity in England, registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for Vegetarianism, vegetarian and Veganism, v ...

. In 2001, Turner-Webster wrote on behalf of

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

to the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwa ...

as president of

the Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest organisation in the Scout Movement in the Scouting in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom. Following the rapid development of the Scouting, Scout Movement from 1907, The Scout Association was formed in 1910 ...

, requesting that they retire the angling badge on grounds of cruelty to animals. The proposal was rejected. In 2006, she launched an online footwear company, "Secret Goddess", which specialised in ultra glamorous boots and shoes of non-animal origin. In November 2010, she became the patron of Chancepixies Animal Rescue, a charity dedicated to educating, rescuing and taking action to prevent dogs in the UK from finding themselves unwanted, abused and killed.Chancepixies Animal Rescue
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Personal life

Whilst playing

Maid Marian Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...

in pantomime, Turner-Webster met and began a relationship with actor Gary Webster, who starred in ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

.'' They married in 1999 and have two sons. The family lives in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Filmography

* ''You Do Too'' – 2002, TV series, presenter * ''

Robot Wars Robot Wars may refer to: Film and television * ''Robot Wars'' (film), 1993 ** ''Robot Wars'' (soundtrack) * ''Robot Wars'' (TV series), a British TV competition, 1998–2004 and 2016–2018 ** '' Nickelodeon Robot Wars'', a U.S. TV game show ...

'' – 2000, presenter, contestant on celebrity special as Gemini * ''Your Kids Are In Charge'' – 2000 for BBC, co-presenter with sister Anthea

References

External links

*
Wendy Turner Webster profile at The Speakers Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner-Webster, Wendy 1967 births English veganism activists English animal rights activists English television presenters Living people People associated with the Vegetarian Society People from Stoke-on-Trent