Kate Silverton

Kate Silverton is an English journalist, newsreader and broadcaster working for the BBC.[1] Generally a main and relief presenter for the BBC, Silverton can be seen regularly presenting the BBC News at One, BBC News at Six, BBC News at Ten, and BBC Weekend News, and is the current Deputy Presenter of the BBC News at One as well as making occasional appearances on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. In 2018 she participated in the series 16 of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, paired with professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec finishing in 8th place.

Kate Silverton
Silverton at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2018
Born
Kate Silverton

(1970-08-04) 4 August 1970
Waltham Abbey, Essex, England
NationalityBritish
Education St Cuthbert's Society, Durham
OccupationJournalist, broadcaster, newsreader
Years active1992–present
Notable credit(s)
BBC Breakfast
BBC News at One
BBC News at Six
BBC News at Ten
BBC News Summary
BBC Weekend News
BBC News Channel
BBC World News
GMT
Spouse(s)
Mike Heron
​
(m. 2010)​
Children2

Biography

Early life and education

Silverton was born in Waltham Abbey in Essex, England, the daughter of Terry Silverton, a black-cab driver-turned-registered hypnotherapist[2] and Patricia Silverton. Silverton has two sisters, Claire and Amy. Silverton attended West Hatch High School in Chigwell, Essex, where she was a junior swimming champion. She also competed in the triathlon.[3] She was a Girl Guide and gained the Queen's Guide Award.[4]

Silverton graduated from St. Cuthbert's Society, a college at Durham University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, having previously studied Arabic and Middle Eastern history for a year.[5]

Early career

Silverton worked for a London-based bank before becoming a journalist. She trained with the BBC, working on Look North news before becoming a reporter and presenter at Tyne Tees Television.

She was a panellist on Channel 5's The Wright Stuff. She also featured on The Heaven and Earth Show, Big Strong Boys,[6] and Weekend Breakfast on BBC Radio 5 Live, before joining BBC News.

In 2003, Silverton allegedly hit Rod Liddle, the former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, during a pilot for a new political show. Liddle said: "I made a stupid comment about the disabled which Kate rightly took exception to."[7]

BBC News
Main article: BBC News

From 2005 until December 2007, Silverton was a presenter on BBC News 24 and also a regular relief presenter for BBC Breakfast.

In December 2007, she was named as the presenter of the BBC News 8 p.m. summary, a 90-second round-up of the news shown on BBC One, which she presented for two months. She presented the BBC News at One from February to August 2008, whilst main presenter Sophie Raworth was on maternity leave.[8]

BBC Scotland apologised to viewers in August 2010, after Silverton swore at the end of a news bulletin on live television. Viewers in Scotland were the only ones who heard the words. A spokesman for BBC Scotland said: "Kate thought she was off-air at the time. The microphones hadn't been faded down and the mistake only went out in Scotland."[9]

Silverton took maternity leave in October 2011, and returned to the News at One in April 2012. Until May 2012, she was the deputy presenter of the BBC News at One,[10] presenting on Mondays and when main presenter Sophie Raworth was unavailable. Sian Williams later took over this role. Silverton returned to the deputy role in October 2013 to cover for Williams' leave. However, Williams later left the BBC so Silverton regained her role.

Silverton returned to the BBC News in July 2015 after maternity leave, and was seconded to BBC Radio 4. She returned from her secondment in April 2016.

Other BBC projects

On 1 April 2008, alongside the historian Dan Snow, she presented live coverage of the celebrations held at RAF Fairford for the 90th Birthday of the Royal Air Force.[11] In 2008, Silverton joined the presenting team for Big Cat Diary on BBC One.[12] She co-presented coverage of New Year Live aboard HMS Belfast in London on 31 December 2008 on BBC One with Nick Knowles.[13]

In April 2009, she appeared as a mentor in the BBC Two series The Speaker, offering her advice on good storytelling and public speaking.[14]

In May 2009, she presented a documentary called 10 Things You Need to Know About Sleep, which looked at different ways to deal with insomnia.[15]

From 2010, she presented the Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 5 Live, running from 09:30 to 11:00.[16]

In June 2012, Silverton interviewed Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, who called for a halt to the killing of rhinos for their horns in Africa.[17] Silverton has also acted as a stand-in presenter for the Radio Four series Last Word.

Strictly Come Dancing

Between 8 September and 18 November 2018, Silverton participated in the sixteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing[18] with professional dance partner Aljaž Škorjanec. The couple were eliminated in Week 9 (Blackpool), losing a dance-off against Graeme Swann and his partner Oti Mabuse.

Notes
  • Red number indicates Kate & Aljaž were at the bottom of the leaderboard
^A Alfonso Ribeiro filled in for Tonioli

Philip Hayton incident

In September 2005, Silverton drew media attention when her BBC News 24 co-newsreader Philip Hayton, who had worked for the BBC for 37 years, resigned his position six months into a year's contract, citing issues of "incompatibility" with Silverton.[19] The Daily Telegraph, without substantiation and quoting an unnamed 'insider', reported that Hayton turned to Silverton during a break and said "I don't like you".[20]

The Daily Mirror quoted another BBC 'insider' as saying that Silverton is "...pushy beyond belief. Behind her big superficial smile she can be a really aggressive, manipulative monster who always gets what she wants."[3] Hayton merely cited "incompatibility" with Silverton as his reason and when his managers refused to move Silverton to another time slot, he left. Silverton was in the peculiar position of having to go through the morning's paper review live on air the morning the story broke, avoiding any discussion of the story and chiding her new co-anchor when he looked to refer to it.[20] Hayton said that he left the BBC "without bitterness or rancour".[20]

However, several figures spoke up for Silverton. Jon Sopel, a fellow BBC News 24 presenter, who was Silverton's co-anchor at News 24 for several months, commented on the incident saying: "She's warm and friendly. With Kate, what you see is what you get – she's bright, lively, talented and vivacious. I like and trust her. Yes, she's ambitious... but aren't we all?"[3]

Rod Liddle, who was allegedly hit by Silverton in 2003,[7] nevertheless defended his former co-presenter. Liddle said: "Kate is intelligent, attractive and has strong opinions. She was absolutely lovely, good fun, professional, intelligent and devoid of the usual afflictions of TV presenters – narcissism and greed."[21]

Personal life

Silverton married Mike Heron in 2010. On 5 November 2011, Silverton gave birth to a baby girl. Her baby daughter was eventually conceived naturally, after four unsuccessful cycles of IVF. After losing an ovary during an operation to remove a cyst at the age of 29, Silverton had been told that she was unlikely to get pregnant naturally.[22]

On 25 January 2014, at the age of 43, Silverton announced that she was pregnant with her second child. She used her Twitter account to break the news, stating: "Mike and I are very happy to share that Clemency is set to become a big sister this summer."[22] Their second child, a son, was born on 26 June 2014.[23]

Silverton is 5 ft 10in tall. In August 2018, she said the producers of Strictly Come Dancing had custom-made shoes created for her because none in the Strictly wardrobe were big enough for her above-average size nine feet.[24]

Cosmetic surgery lawsuit

In January 2008, Silverton sued a clinic after an allegedly botched cosmetic surgery procedure for treatment of acne scars. Silverton said that the procedure caused a severe skin reaction and she had to take two weeks off work after the treatment. The lawsuit filed for unspecified monetary damages.[25]

References
  1. "Newsroom spat forces BBC anchor to quit". The Daily Telegraph. London. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  2. Walden, Celia (8 May 2009). "Kate Silverton: now it's her turn to make the news". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  3. Webster, Nick (3 October 2005). "Attractive, ambitious and very scary". Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  4. "The Centenary of Guiding". Woman's Hour. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  5. "Kate Silverton joins the Big Cat team". BBC. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  6. Jury, Louise (2 June 2006). "Viewers put off their breakfast by BBC presenter's psychedelic blouse". The Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  7. Macgregor, Fiona (27 September 2005). "Here is the news ... I cannot work with that woman, so I quit". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  8. "Kate Silverton to present news bulletin - Silverton's official website". Katesilverton.com. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  9. Stewart, Stephen (15 August 2010). "BBC presenter Kate Silverton's 'bloody' big gaffe - heard only in Scotland". Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  10. Kate Silverton - BBC Press Office profile
  11. "DOCUMENTARY: Royal Air Force: Celebrating 90 Years". Daily Express. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  12. "BBC: Big Cat Live 2008". BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  13. "BBC One: New Year Live". BBC. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  14. "BBC: The Speaker". BBC. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  15. "BBC One - 10 Things You Need to Know About Sleep". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  16. "Radio 5 Live's new-look weekend line-up revealed". BBC Press Office. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  17. "Prince William hits out at rhino poachers". BBC News. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  18. "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing, Series 16, Launch". BBC One. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  19. "BBC newsreader quits over 'clash'". BBC News. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  20. Alleyne, Richard (28 September 2005). "Chemistry as Silverton clicks with new partner". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  21. Adam Sherwin "Personality clash drives newsman from BBC", The Times, 27 September 2005.
  22. Sawer, Patrick (25 January 2014). "Kate Silverton announces second pregnancy with 'thumbs up' scan". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  23. Silverton, Kate (28 June 2014). "Twitter". London. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  24. "BBC's Kate Silverton: 'Strictly had to make special shoes for my big feet'". The Daily Telegraph. 18 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  25. Raby, Mark (28 January 2008). "BBC anchor sues over facial surgery for HDTV makeover". Tgdaily.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
Media offices
Preceded by
Natasha Kaplinsky		 Main Presenter of BBC News 8pm summary
2007 – 2008		 Succeeded by
Ellie Crisell
Preceded by
Ben Brown		 Main Saturday Presenter of BBC Weekend News
2009 - present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Louise Minchin		 Deputy Presenter of BBC News at One
2009 – 2012		 Succeeded by
Sian Williams
Preceded by
Sian Williams		 Deputy Presenter of BBC News at One
2013 - present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
New Post		 Main Relief Presenter of BBC News at One
2012 – 2013		 Succeeded by
Simon McCoy
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