Claudia Winkleman

Claudia Winkleman
Winkleman in February 2008
Born	Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (1972-01-15) 15 January 1972 (age 52) London, England
Occupations	Broadcaster writer journalist
Years active	1991–present
Employer(s)	BBC Channel 4
Spouse	Kris Thykier ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	3
Mother	Eve Pollard
Relatives	Sophie Winkleman (half-sister) Sir Nicholas Lloyd (step-father) Sally Soames (aunt) Lord Frederick Windsor (brother-in-law)

Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing competition show Strictly Come Dancing (2010–present). Winkleman received her fourth BAFTA nomination and first win for presenting the BBC One reality show The Traitors (2022–present). She previously hosted the Saturday mid-mornings show on BBC Radio 2.^[1][2][3]

Early life

Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman^[4] was born into a Jewish family in the Westminster district of London on 15 January 1972,^[5][6] the daughter of author and journalist Eve Pollard and her husband Barry Winkleman. She grew up in the Hampstead area of London. Her parents divorced when she was three,^[7] and both married other people when she was seven.^{[citation needed]} Her mother married newspaper editor Nicholas Lloyd, while her father married children's author Cindy Black.^{[citation needed]}

Her father's marriage to Black gave her a younger half-sister, actress Sophie Winkleman, who married Lord Frederick Windsor. Her mother's marriage to Lloyd gave her a younger half-brother, Oliver.^[8] She was educated at the City of London School for Girls^[9] and New Hall, Cambridge, where she obtained an MA in art history.^[10]

Television career

1991–2000

In 1992, she began appearing frequently in the long-running BBC series Holiday, and this continued throughout the mid-1990s. This culminated in a special documentary in which she travelled around the world for 34 days reporting from Japan, India, Costa Rica and Dubai. Throughout this period, she appeared as a reporter on other shows, particularly This Morning interviewing various celebrities. During the late 1990s, Winkleman presented a number of programmes on smaller digital channels. She had a stint on the cable channel L!VE TV, but soon left to pursue other projects. In 1996, Winkleman hosted Granada programmes God's Gift (taking over from Davina McCall) and Pyjama Party (co-hosted with Katie Puckrik and Michelle Kelly).

Winkleman also presented a number of gameshows including the dating show Three's a Crowd,^[11] LWT show Talking Telephone Numbers, the second series of Granada TV show God's Gift and Fanorama.^[12] In 1997 she was the co-host of children's Saturday morning TV show Tricky. She was also an occasional team captain on a gameshow called HeadJam, hosted by Vernon Kay.

2001–2006

Winkleman's first major television job was in 2001, on the regional discussion programme Central Weekend.^[13] Between 2002 and 2004, Winkleman began her first daily TV role when she hosted the BBC Three Entertainment update show Liquid News, taking over from Christopher Price on the now defunct BBC Choice. She shared the presenting duties with Colin Paterson, and later Paddy O'Connell. The show featured celebrity interviews.

In 2003, Fame Academy appointed Winkleman to present a daily update show on BBC Three, in conjunction with its second series. She repeated the show in 2005 for the much shorter celebrity version Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. Also in 2005, Winkleman co-hosted The House of Tiny Tearaways, a BBC Three reality TV show. She also began hosting Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, a supplementary programme to Strictly Come Dancing, taking over from Justin Lee-Collins.

Winkleman then presented several more reality shows including End of Story^[14] and Art School.^[15]

2007–2012

Winkleman presented many prime time programmes. In 2007, she took over from Cat Deeley as the main host for the third series of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, co-hosting with Patrick Kielty. She co-hosted the inaugural Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 alongside Graham Norton for BBC One in September of that year and again in 2008. She co-presented the UK selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 called Eurovision: Your Decision, this time accompanied by Eurovision stalwart Terry Wogan. In March 2008, Winkleman rekindled her partnership with Kielty when the pair hosted the final leg of Sport Relief 2008.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Winkleman was the face of Sky Movie Premiere's coverage of the 79th Academy Awards, repeating it for the 80th Academy Awards in 2008. The show was broadcast live in conjunction with the ceremony itself, running right through the night into the early hours of the morning. Winkleman has made many guest appearances on panel and talk shows, including: Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Would I Lie to You?, Have I Got News for You, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Lily Allen and Friends. In February 2008, she appeared on the British version of the comedy improvisational show Thank God You're Here, hosted by Paul Merton.^{[citation needed]}

Winkleman narrated the 2008 BBC Three show Glamour Girls,^[16] a documentary series about glamour modelling in Britain.^[17]

In March 2009, Winkleman was announced as the host of the new series of Hell's Kitchen on ITV1. She fronted the nightly show live from the restaurant in East London in its fourth series in the spring.^[18] On 14 November 2009, she appeared on the main show of Strictly Come Dancing to present backstage, due to main presenter Bruce Forsyth being on sick leave. She co-hosted the show with Tess Daly and guest presenter Ronnie Corbett.

On 29 March 2010, she was named as one of the new co-presenters of the Film programme, replacing Jonathan Ross.^[19][20] The Guardian stated, through her recent hosting of Sky Television's coverage of The Oscars, Winkleman had "proved both a passionate and engaging advocate of cinema", while her husband Kris Thykier is a film producer with credits on several mainstream releases.^[21]

Since 2013

Winkleman in 2017

On 2 April 2013, Winkleman began presenting the BBC Two sewing competition The Great British Sewing Bee, until 2016. The show went off air for 2017, but was brought back in 2018, with Joe Lycett replacing Winkleman as presenter.^[22]

In 2015, she appeared on The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz.^[23] In May 2015, she appeared on an episode of Watchdog on BBC One in which she discussed, during a segment on dangerous Halloween costumes, that the previous year her daughter had been badly burned when the costume she was wearing caught fire.^[24] In November 2016, Winkleman presented the one-off BBC special Bublé at the BBC with Michael Bublé.

From 2018, she presented Britain's Best Home Cook and The Makeover Show^[25] for BBC One.^[26] In May 2018, Winkleman co-presented The Biggest Weekend on BBC Two and BBC Radio 2.

In 2022, she assumed the hosting duties for the widely acclaimed BBC reality gameshow 'The Traitors UK,' where contestants navigate challenges testing loyalty and deception in a thrilling competition. A second series was announced in February 2023 with Winkleman returning as host, premiering on 3 January 2024.^[27][28] It was reported that a third series had been commissioned in late 2023.^[29]

In 2022, she presented the Channel 4 game show One Question.

In 2023, Winkleman hosted a five-part Channel 4 competition show The Piano which gave amateur pianists the chance to perform at London's Royal Festival Hall.^[30][31] It was announced that the show had been renewed for a second and third series, a Christmas special, and a documentary focusing on the winner of the first series, Lucy Illingworth.^[32]

Strictly Come Dancing

Main article: Strictly Come Dancing

Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two was devised as a companion show to run conjoined with the second series of Strictly Come Dancing, and continues to run to date. It follows a similar format to the one Winkleman made popular on Fame Academy, and sees the presenter deliberating and dissecting the ins and outs of the main competition, accompanied by an array of dance experts, assorted guests and the competitors themselves. The show is aired every weekday at 6:30 pm on BBC Two throughout the course of the series.

Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two was originally hosted by Winkleman since its inception. In 2011, former contestant Zoe Ball took over as host from Winkleman.^[33]

In 2010, Winkleman became co-host of the Sunday night results show of Strictly Come Dancing, presenting alongside Tess Daly.^[34] In 2014, Winkleman's role on Strictly Come Dancing expanded to presenting the main show, following the departure of Bruce Forsyth.

Writing

Winkleman started her journalism career as a travel writer, writing columns about her various worldwide excursions. She did so in The Sunday Times and The Independent, but also contributed to the free daily London paper Metro in a similar capacity. As her television career and family evolved, she travelled less, and began to write more general work, opinion-led lifestyle journalism about womanhood, sex and relationships. She wrote for Cosmopolitan and Tatler amongst others. Between 2005 and 2008, she wrote a regular weekly column for The Independent called Take It From Me.^[35]

Radio work

In April and May 2008, Winkleman hosted a six-part comedy quiz series taking a humorous look into the week's celebrity gossip, called Hot Gossip.^[36] The show was broadcast on a Saturday afternoon on BBC Radio 2; points were awarded to those who dished out dirt.^[37] The show featured pundits including Will Smith, Phil Nichol, Jo Caulfield, Rufus Hound and Jonathan Ross' brother, Paul.

She hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio 2 every Friday night between 10pm and midnight called Claudia Winkleman's Arts Show consisting of interviews with people from the arts world, as well as reviews and debate. In July 2010, Winkleman sat in for Dermot O'Leary.^[38] She covered for Ken Bruce on several occasions from 2012 until 2014.

In April 2016, she began presenting her own Sunday night show on BBC Radio 2 called Claudia on Sunday from 7 to 9pm. In June 2017, Winkleman covered for Steve Wright in the Afternoon from 2 to 5pm.

In 2020, Claudia on Sunday was displaced from the schedules and subsequently ended due to the COVID pandemic. It was announced on 23 November 2020 that Winkleman had taken over the Saturday mid-morning slot on BBC Radio 2 from Graham Norton. Winkleman's last Saturday morning show was broadcast on 23 March 2024,^[39] with Romesh Ranganathan taking over.^[40]

Charity

Winkleman speaks at the 2016 Adobe Summit

In 2007, Winkleman answered telephones at the BT Tower for the Disasters Emergency Committee in response to humanitarian crisis in Darfur.^[41] In May 2007, she helped relaunch The National Missing Persons Campaign,^[42] and also supported a Christmas campaign by the charity Refuge,^[43] which aimed to stop domestic violence.^[44]

In June 2008, Winkleman was depicted in Heat magazine with no make-up on as part of a stand against the excessive airbrushing of prominent women, which she described as "pretty terrifying".^[45] On 18 March 2011, Winkleman was one of the presenters of BBC's Comic Relief.

In 2012, Winkleman was one of the judges and the host of the FilmNation shorts at the British Film Institute, which (as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the 2012 Summer Olympics) encouraged people aged 14–25 to get involved in filmmaking.^[46]

Personal life

In June 2000, Winkleman married film producer Kris Thykier at Marylebone Town Hall.^[47] They have three children together.^[48]

On 31 October 2014, Winkleman's eight-year-old daughter was taken to hospital after being seriously injured when her Halloween costume caught fire.^[49] Winkleman stated that the costume had brushed against a lit candle in a pumpkin.^[50] The incident prompted the UK government to tighten the flame retardant standards of Halloween costumes.^[51]

Her half-sister, Sophie, married into the British royal family when she married Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

In April 2024, satirical London mayoral candidate Count Binface stated in his manifesto that he would honour Winkleman by declaring her signature fringe Grade 1 listed; however, he was not elected, finishing in 11th place out of 13 candidates with 24,260 votes (1% of the overall votes).^[52][53][54]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
Un­known	L!VE TV	Co-presenter
Un­known	This Morning	Roving reporter
Un­known	Holiday	Co-presenter
1996	Pajama Party		with Katie Puckrick and Michelle Kelly
1997	Tricky	Presenter
	Talking Telephone Numbers	Co-presenter	with Phillip Schofield
1998	God's Gift	Presenter	Series 2
2001	Fanorama
2002–2004	Liquid News
2003–2005, 2007	Comic Relief Does Fame Academy	Co-presenter	BBC Three coverage (2003–2005) BBC One main show (2007)
2004–2010	Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two	Presenter	7 series; spin-off series
2004	HeadJam	Team captain
	Three's A Crowd	Presenter
2005–2007	The House of Tiny Tearaways		4 series
2007–2008	Eurovision Dance Contest	Co-presenter	with Graham Norton
2008	Eurovision: Your Decision		with Sir Terry Wogan
	Glamour Girls	Narrator
2009–2015	Comic Relief	Co-presenter
2009	Hell's Kitchen	Presenter	1 series
2010–2018	Sport Relief	Co-presenter
2010–2016	Film...
2010–present	Strictly Come Dancing		results shows only (2010–2013) main host (2014–present)
2013–2016	The Great British Sewing Bee	Presenter	4 series
2016	Bublé at the BBC		One-off special
2017	The Year in Music 2017	Co-presenter	with Clara Amfo
2018–2021	Britain's Best Home Cook	Presenter	3 series
2018	The Biggest Weekend	Co-presenter
2019	Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century		with Nick Robinson
2020	One World: Together at Home		with Dermot O'Leary and Clara Amfo
2022	Taskmaster	Contestant	1 episode
	One Question[55]	Presenter
2022–present	The Traitors		3 series[56]
2023–present	The Piano		2 series[30]

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Station
2008	Hot Gossip	Presenter	BBC Radio 2
2010	Dermot O'Leary	Stand-in presenter
2008–2013	Claudia Winkleman's Arts Show	Presenter
2012–2014	Ken Bruce	Stand-in presenter
2016–2020	Claudia on Sunday	Presenter
2017	Steve Wright in the Afternoon	Stand-in presenter
2018	The Biggest Weekend	Co-presenter
2021–2024	Saturday mid-mornings	Presenter
2022	'The Voice of Reason' – Gavin Dodds Podcast	Storytime listener and poet

References

1. "Claudia Winkleman quits BBC Radio 2 show". BBC News. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
2. "Claudia Winkleman to quit Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 show | Radio 2 | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
3. "Claudia Winkleman steps down from Saturday show on Radio 2: 'It's been a privilege'". The Independent. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
4. The Cambridge University List of Members of the university (up to 31 December 1991), Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 1491
5. Johns, Victoria (16 January 2022). "Claudia Winkleman fans in shock as she reveals age on her birthday on BBC Radio 2 show". Sunday Mirror. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
6. Take It From Me The Independent. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
7. "Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman in fight to save". Evening Standard. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
8. Shillcock, Francesca (16 September 2023). "Claudia Winkleman's family: meet The Piano star's famous husband, royal sister and kids". Hello!. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
9. "Claudia Winkleman". mydaughter.co.uk. Girls' Schools Association. 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2010.
10. "BBC profile". BBC. Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
11. "Three's a Crowd". Ukgameshows.com. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
12. "Fanorama". Ukgameshows.com. 20 August 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
13. "BBC biography". BBC. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
14. "End of Story". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
15. "Art School". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
16. "Glamour Girls". BBC. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
17. "Glamour Girls (2008)". A.V Club. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
18. "Winkleman to present new Hell's Kitchen" "Digital Spy". 23 March 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
19. "Claudia Winkleman named as presenter of new-look Film 2010" (Press release). BBC. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
20. Film 2010, Bbc.co.uk, Retrieved 9 October 2010.
21. MacInnes, Paul (29 March 2010). "Claudia Winkleman named as Jonathan Ross's successor on Film 2010". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
22. "The Great British Sewing Bee WILL be back – but Claudia Winkleman won't be presenting". RadioTimes. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
23. "The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz (2015)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
24. "Claudia Winkleman relives Halloween fire that injured daughter". BBC News. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
25. "BBC – BBC One announces Britain's Best Cook (w/t), with Mary Berry and Claudia Winkleman". bbc.co.uk.
26. "Claudia Winkleman will host new Changing Rooms-style series The Makeover Show on the BBC". Digitalspy.com. June 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
27. Goldbart, Max (27 February 2023). "'The Traitors' Season 2 Greenlit By BBC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
28. "The Traitors Series 2 – Claudia Winkleman teases "epic" challenges, tense round tables and "an awful lot of tweed"". The BBC. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
29. "The BBC brings The Traitors to the table for series three". The BBC. 3 November 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
30. "Bake Off team whip up fresh keyboard stars in new TV contest – with a secret". the Guardian. 17 September 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
31. TVZone (21 September 2022). "THE PIANO: CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN SET TO HOST NEW CHANNEL 4 COMPETITION". TVZoneUK. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
32. "Claudia, Mika and Lang Lang return to Channel 4 as The Piano is recommissioned for two further series, also commissioned a Christmas Special and documentary on the incredible Lucy". Channel 4. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
33. "Zoe Ball". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
34. "Claudia Winkleman". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
35. "Take It From Me". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
36. Staff (10 May 2008). "Hot Gossip". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
37. "Hot Gossip" page, BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
38. Staff (2 October 2009). "Claudia Winkleman on BBC Radio 2". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
39. "Claudia Winkleman".
40. "Claudia Winkleman quits BBC Radio 2 show". BBC News. 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
41. "DEC work, 24 May 2007". Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
42. Charity re-launches on International Missing Children's Day 24 May 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2009. Archived 4 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
43. "Refuge". Refuge. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
44. "We've raised our hands" Archived 22 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
45. Malkin, Bonnie (17 June 2008). "Celebrity women shun make-up in stand against airbrushing". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008.
46. Studios, Dream (4 July 2012). "Awards". Film Nation. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
47. "Celebrity wedding venue popular with Sir Paul McCartney and Liam Gallagher reopens after £60m renovation". Evening Standard. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
48. "Claudia Winkleman is given a baby ban by her husband" The Daily Telegraph. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
49. Philipson, Alice (5 November 2014). "Friend of Claudia Winkleman's daughter tells of Halloween burns horror". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
50. BBC News (14 May 2015), Claudia Winkleman: 'My daughter was on fire' – BBC News, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 14 November 2016
51. Hughes, Laura (9 December 2015). "Rules on flammability of children's fancy dress costumes to be tightened". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
52. Rufo, Yasmin (19 April 2024). "Who is the mayoral candidate Count Binface?". The BBC. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
53. "COUNT BINFACE'S MAYORAL MANIFESTO 2024: MAKE EARTH GREAT AGAIN". countbinface.com. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
54. "Count Binface: "Here it is: my 2024 manifesto ..." – Mastodon". Mastodon. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
55. "One Question". Channel 4 (Press release). 22 June 2022.
56. "Claudia Winkleman announced as host of BBC One's new competition show The Traitors". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre (Press release). 27 May 2022.

External links

• Claudia Winkleman at IMDb
• Claudia Winkleman on Twitter
• Claudia Winkleman's column for The Independent