Susanna Reid



Susanna Reid (born 10 December 1970) is an English journalist and presenter best known as the co-presenter of BBC Breakfast from 2003 until 2014. From late 2014, she will co-present a new ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain alongside Ben Shephard.

Early life
The youngest of three children, Reid was born in Croydon, South London, to an English father of Scottish ancestry, who worked as a management consultant, and an English mother who worked as a nurse. Her parents separated and divorced when she was aged 9.

Reid was educated at the independent Croham Hurst School, Croydon from 1975–81, where comedienne Sue Perkins was amongst her classmates, followed by the independent Croydon High School (1981–87) and St Paul's Girls' School (1987–89) in London. Reid studied Politics, Philosophy and Law at the University of Bristol (1989–92), where she was editor of Epigram, the university's student newspaper, It was short-listed in 1991 as Best Student Newspaper in The Guardian/NUS student journalism awards. She then undertook a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the Cardiff School of Journalism.

Reid appeared as an actress while an adolescent, in a stage production of Agatha Christie's Spider's Web (1982) with Shirley-Anne Field, and then alongside Peter Barkworth and Harriet Walter in The Price (1985) on Channel 4.

Career
Reid began her career at BBC Radio Bristol and then became a reporter for Radio 5 Live, as well as a producer. She then joined BBC News 24, where she spent two years as a reporter. When the 23:00 presenter didn't turn up one night, she became a stand-in presenter for an hour (while three months pregnant with her first child), which turned into a permanent position. Before going on maternity leave, she presented on the BBC's online interactive service. Reid became a reporter for Breakfast News in 1998. After a second maternity break, she became a presenter on the BBC News channel.

Reid is one of the main presenters on BBC Breakfast, presenting alongside Bill Turnbull on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and previously presenting alongside Charlie Stayt on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. She has held her current role since 2012, when she replaced Sian Williams. In 2010 she stepped down from presenting Breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays to take a role on a new programme Sunday Morning Live. As of the final episode of the first series on 21 November 2010, she resumed her weekend presenting duties on BBC Breakfast within 2 weeks. When BBC Breakfast moved to MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester, and the existing Monday to Thursday presenter Sian Williams decided to stay in London on other programmes, in April 2012 Reid took Williams' position as a main weekday presenter, alongside Bill Turnbull.

She was also previously the regular newsreader during the headlines on The Andrew Marr Show, On 16 May 2010 she stood in briefly for Andrew Marr, for the Sunday newspaper review, when he arrived late for the programme after interviewing the new Prime Minister David Cameron. Reid handed back to Marr following the paper review. Reid presented the main show for the first time on 10 March 2013 following Marr's extended absence after suffering a stroke in January 2013. On 22 February 2009 she presented the BBC's live coverage of the 2009 Oscars from Los Angeles. She also presented coverage of the 2010 Oscars on 7 March.

Reid was a runner-up in the eleventh series of ''Strictly Come Dancing. ''Her professional partner was newcomer and ballroom champion, Kevin Clifton. She previously participated in the Children in Need special of the show, pairing with Robin Windsor and eventually winning it in November 2011.

On 31 December 2013, Reid presented the New Year Live programme on BBC One, having replaced Gabby Logan.

In February 2014, it was reported that ITV were attempting to recruit Reid for their new breakfast programme, with a £1 million salary. Reid had previously rejected claims of moving to ITV in December 2013, during her Strictly Come Dancing stint, claiming she would "bleed BBC" if cut open. On 3 March 2014, the BBC confirmed that Reid is moving to ITV to front rival breakfast programme Good Morning Britain, the planned replacement for its current breakfast show Daybreak. She is to co-host the show alongside Ben Shephard.

Charity
Reid is a regular contributor to Media Trust, the charity that links other charities to the media industry, and has hosted events for the Myotubular Trust and Voluntary Arts England. In 1998, just before she became a reporter for Breakfast News, she worked for three months in Sri Lanka as a voluntary media consultant for a charity which counsels victims of the civil war and operates orphanages and social development programmes.

Since 2008 she has also been part of the annual BBC's Children in Need "Newsreaders performance." During the 2011 charity night, she took part in a Strictly Come Dancing competition, along with three other BBC newsreaders. Reid and her professional dance partner, Robin Windsor won the competition.

On 22 April 2012, Reid took part in the London Marathon, raising money for Sport Relief. She completed the course in just over five hours.

Personal life
Reid lives in Lambeth, South London, In February 2014 it was announced that she and her longtime partner, former sports correspondent Dominic Cotton, were separating. The couple had been together since 1998, and they have three sons. Like Cotton, she is a supporter of Crystal Palace, visiting the club's Selhurst Park ground with her dance partner while taking part in the BBC television dance show, Strictly Come Dancing in 2013.

Reid is a pescetarian, something she discusses occasionally in her Saturday morning banter with chef James Martin when commenting on the dishes on his following programme, Saturday Kitchen. Reid has also been voted into Zoo Weekly 's top ten of 'Britain's sexiest mums', and in 2013 was voted 96th in FHM 's '100 sexiest women' list.