Annabel Claire Giles (born 20 May 1959) is a British former television and radio presenter. She currently works as a counsellor and psychotherapist, and has also worked as a model, actress and novelist.

Early life and career

Giles was born in

Griffithstown Griffithstown is a large suburb of Pontypool in the borough of Torfaen, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in May 1898, from Llanfrechfa Upper and Panteg, and includes Sebastopol, but, ...

, near Pontypool,

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-w ...

, in Wales, the eldest of three sisters. She was expelled from boarding school aged 16 for going to see Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel play in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, where she was seen smoking in the street.Olivia Lichtenstein
I knew I had one last thing to do
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 2 July 2003.

Career

Between 1977 and 1982, she trained and worked as a secretary, mostly employed in advertising agencies. Whilst attending a shoot for

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...

No. 7 cosmetics, royal make-up artist Barbara Daly suggested taking a shot of her. Giles agreed, and the agency subsequently used the shot for their campaign. Giles was then signed up by top agency

Models 1 A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

, and became the official model for

Max Factor Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz. Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dolla ...

. She started her media career in the 1990s on '' Razzmatazz'' and ''Night Network'', and appeared in the 1993 film '' Riders''. She came to prominence as co-presenter of ITV's ''Posh Frocks and New Trousers'' with

Sarah Greene Elizabeth Sarah Greene (born 24 October 1957) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented ''Blue Peter'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series '' Saturday Superstore'' and ''Going Live!''. E ...

. She was in numerous entertainment shows, and a panelist on game shows ranging from '' Have I Got News for You'' to '' Shooting Stars''; she was a regular panelist on ''

Through the Keyhole ''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter goes around celebrities' houses and ...

'' and BBC Radio 4's '' Loose Ends'' and has also appeared on BBC Radio 4's '' Just a Minute''. On

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

' ''

House Party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

'' she guessed a Gotcha! before it had even started. In 1995, Giles wrote and performed a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Festival, called ''Looking for Mr.Giles'', and a second show the following year, 'Anyone Can be A TV Presenter'. Giles' first novel, ''Birthday Girls'', reached number 6 in the top 10 in the best-seller lists in 2001. She published ''Crossing the Paradise Line'' in 2003 and ''The Defrosting of Charlotte Small'' in 2006. In November 2013, Giles and

Vincent Simone Vincent Simone (born 15 March 1979) is an Italian professional dancer, who has appeared as a professional dancer on '' Strictly Come Dancing'' from 2006 until 2012. He moved to Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom when he was 17. Simone and prof ...

entered the Australian jungle as late arrivals in the 13th season of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. Giles was the first celebrity to leave the jungle, on 1 December. Since early 2014, Giles has regularly guested on the Channel 5 chat show ''

The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...

'' hosted by Matthew Wright. In summer 2018 she appeared on ITV2's "my Shirley Valentine Summer' and is currently the resident agony aunt on the Eleri Sion show for BBC Radio Wales. Since retraining, she now works as a counsellor/psychotherapist in Brighton and London. Giles is a patron of the charity for parents of children with special needs, Amaze Brighton.

Personal life

Giles married the lead singer of Ultravox, Midge Ure, a founder of Band Aid and Live Aid. Their daughter, Molly McQueen, was born in March 1987. Molly became the lead singer of

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

group

The Faders The Faders were a British female pop rock band, formed in January 2004 by Polydor Records. Bassist/keyboardist Toy Valentine and drummer Cherisse Osei were the first members to get through the first audition. Frontwoman and lead guitarist, ...

. Giles and Ure separated in 1989. Giles has a second child, a son named Ted Giles, who was born with

XYY syndrome XYY syndrome, also known as Jacobs syndrome, is an aneuploid genetic condition in which a male has an extra Y chromosome. There are usually few symptoms. These may include being taller than average, acne, and an increased risk of learning disa ...

and

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of beha ...

; in 2011, having written a blog outlining the difficulties in educating a child with these issues, she received help from an anonymous benefactor towards his education.James Orr
"TV presenter Annabel Giles reveals mystery benefactor has paid her son's school fees"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 6 September 2011.

References

External links

Annabel Giles official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, Annabel 1959 births Living people 20th-century Welsh people 20th-century Welsh women 21st-century Welsh novelists 21st-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh writers People from Pontypool Welsh female models Welsh women novelists Welsh television presenters Welsh women television presenters I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants British psychotherapists Secretaries BBC people