Sonali Gudka was born in Edgware, London to immigrant Indian parents, who run a pharmacy.[1] Shah trained as a dancer for over 10 years, studying Indian classical, Indian folk and Streetdance.[3] She attended Longfield First and Middle School, and went on to Nower Hill High School in Harrow. She studied broadcast journalism at the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism at Nottingham Trent University.[4]
Career
Aiming for a career in medicine, Shah began presenting on the local hospital radio. After university, in early 2002 she joined BBC World Service as a producer, also presenting on World Business Report and The World Today. In 2002, she moved to BBC Radio 5 Live as launch producer for Jeff Randall's Weekend Business, which won a Sony Radio Award. She then began reporting for Weekend Business, as well as Wake Up to Money and 5 live Money.[3]
On 9 November 2011, Shah announced she was leaving Newsround before it moved to its new base at MediaCityUK in Salford.
BBC Sport
In 2010, Shah went to Delhi, to present coverage of the Commonwealth Games for BBC Sport on BBC One and BBC Two.[10] She was one of the main reporters for the events coverage.[11]
She was one of three BBC presenters, along with Manish Bhasin and Rishi Persad, at the 2011 Cricket World Cup in the Indian sub-continent.[12][13] Also in 2011, she reported from the University Boat Race.[14] and Wimbledon.[15] She regularly presents a special programme for BBC One called British Olympic Dreams, broadcast since February 2011, that follows the Britain's potential Olympic hopefuls for 2012. She also anchored shows on BBC Three during the games as well as being stationed at Lords for the archery.
BBC News
In 2009, Shah made a move to the BBC News Channel's Business News on top of Newsround. She can be seen occasionally broadcasting in the afternoon and evening.
In August 2011, Shah moved to BBC World News. She presented the daytime bulletin on the weekend and remains a relief presenter. In December 2011, she stood in for Rhod Sharp on Up All Night. She focuses on BBC News and BBC Sport.
In 2014, Shah became a presenter of house-buying BBC TV show Escape to the Country. She also presented the spin-off to this programme, "Escape to the Perfect Town" and "I Escaped to the Country".
In April 2021, Shah began presenting the Sunday Breakfast show on Magic Radio.[19]
Personal life
Shah resides in London with her husband Adarsh and their children, daughter Ariana (born October 2013),[20] and son Rafi (born October 2016). She is 5ft 1in tall and "needs heels for interviewing tall sportspeople".[21]