Natasha Kaplinsky (born September 9, 1972, Brighton, England) is a BBC News presenter currently working predominantly as a co-anchor on their Breakfast programme (with Dermot Murnaghan). The daughter of exiled South African economics professor Raphael Kaplinsky and his psychotherapist wife Catherine, Natasha's early life was spent in Kenya, and apparently she didn't see her first television set until she was six. She was brought up in Barcombe, Sussex where she went to a comprehensive school. After graduating in English from Hertford College, Oxford, one of her first jobs was working in the press offices of Labour leaders Neil Kinnock and the late John Smith. In 1997, during her time there she applied for a job presenting early morning news bulletins at the ITV station Meridian. Within six months she was anchoring their evening news programme and would later move to nearby Carlton Television where she hosted London Today and London Tonight and a political programme called Seven Days. In November 2000 she progressed up to the nationals, working on Sky News co-presenting Live At Five with Jeremy Thompson and their morning programme Sunrise. She was part of the team which would win the BAFTA award for Best News Channel of the Year. Kaplinsky joined Breakfast in November 2002 as a replacement for Sophie Raworth who left to become co-presenter of the BBC's Six O'Clock News. In October 2005, she moved to the Six O'Clock News, to cover Raworth's maternity. From here Natasha has branched out into other non-news areas of the channel. She was a co-winner of the first series of the pro-celebrity ballroom dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing, and co-presented the second series - both in 2004. She has also appeared in a number of episodes of the sitcom My Hero, reading the news, mainly reports of character Thermoman's heroic deeds. On August 21, 2005, she married Justin Bower, an investment banker from London whom she met on a blind date . On November 18, 2005, Kaplinsky hosted BBC Children In Need, alongside Fearne Cotton and Sir Terry Wogan. Children In Need is a UK Registered charity, and has a annual BBC Programme, where celebrities entertain the watching audience, and pledge for the audience (Home and in studio) to give money). BBC Children in Need raised around £18 Million ($30 million USD) Kaplinsky presented the BBC's New Year Live, celebrating the arrival of the year 2006. |