Aasmah Saira Mir (; born 7 October 1971) is a Scottish television and radio broadcaster and journalist who currently copresents the Monday-Thursday breakfast show on

Times Radio Times Radio is a British digital radio station owned by News UK. It is jointly operated by Wireless Group (which News UK acquired in 2016), ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''. As of September 2022, the station broadcasts to a weekly audienc ...

Early life

Mir was born to first-generation Pakistani immigrants in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Aasmah Mir: Scotland’s not my home any more
Times Online, 22 November 2009 and brought up in the affluent suburb of

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...

from the age of ten, where she attended

Bearsden Academy Bearsden Academy is a non-denominational, state school, state secondary school in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. History Bearsden Cross site (1911–1958) In 1911, the school was situated on the corner of A808 road (Great Britain), R ...

. She graduated from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

with an honours law degree in 1993.

Journalism

In 1995 Mir had a brief stint as a reporter for the '' Daily Record'' and '' Sunday Mail'', then became a radio researcher. In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the ''

Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

''.Aasmah Mir Biography
BBC Press Office, May 2010

Broadcasting career

Television

Mir, whose sister Uzma was already working for BBC Scotland, first appeared in an episode of a 1992 BBC Scotland show called ''The Insiders'' presented by Gordon Kennedy. After graduation she joined

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

aged 21 as a trainee and read the early morning news bulletins and later presented the main news show. She presented a couple of editions of an Asian documentary strand for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

called ''East'' in 1996 and some items on ''

Desi DNA ''Desi DNA'' was a British television show on the BBC covering ''Desi'' (North Indian) art, culture and entertainment that launched in 2003. In 2004 ''Desi DNA'' received the Best Lifestyle Programme award from the Royal Television Society. The ...

''. In 1998 she became a reporter for Central Television in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. Mir also presented episodes ''Just Write'' on Channel 4 and ''Around Scotland'' on BBC Two. In 2010 she was a newspaper reviewer on ''

GMTV with Lorraine The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV. GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Friday ...

'' and ''

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

''.

Radio

In 1999 Mir moved to London as a producer for

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

and started doing freelance news-reading shifts for the national radio station

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

. She joined the station full-time in July 2001. In April 2006 she covered the weekday morning phone-in programme on

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...

for a fortnight between

Sonia Deol Sonia Deol is an English radio and television presenter of Indian descent. Background Deol's media career began before she left school, when at the age of 14 she presented a oneoff programme to raise money for Comic Relief on the BBC Local Radi ...

leaving and

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is an English radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. In an episode of ' ...

becoming presenter. She has presented items on the BBC Asian Network Report. Mir presented the ''Midday News'' on 5 Live, Monday to Friday, until 9 January 2009. In 2009 she presented some Friday editions of ''

Good Morning Scotland ''Good Morning Scotland'' ( gd, Madainn Mhath Alba) is a Scottish breakfast radio news programme. It is broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland weekdays from 06:00 to 09:00. Established in 1973, it is the longest-running radio show broadcast from Scotl ...

''. Also in 2009 she presented a series of programmes for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

on Scotland's Year of Homecoming, as well as ''Colour Me White'' for Radio 4, and ''Gay Life After Saddam'' for Radio 5 Live. In 2010 she replaced

Anita Anand Anita Anand (born May 20, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who serves as the minister of national defence since 2021. She has represented the riding of Oakville in the House of Commons since the 2019 federal election, sitting as ...

as a presenter of Radio 5 Live's ''Drive'' programme. For one week in March 2012 she sat in for

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...

on his

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

programme. On 27 September 2012 Mir announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that she planned to leave BBC 5 Live after 11 years with the station. Mir presented her last 5 Live Drive on 9 November 2012. On 29 October 2012 Mir presented an edition of

's ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'' and for a while replaced

Julia Hartley-Brewer Julia Hartley-Brewer is an English radio presenter, political journalist and newspaper columnist. She hosts the weekday breakfast radio show on Talkradio. Early life Julia Hartley-Brewer's father, Michael John Hartley-Brewer, stood unsuccessfu ...

on the

LBC 97.3 LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed Commercial broadca ...

afternoon programme. From 2012 to 2020 she was a copresenter of BBC Radio 4's '' Saturday Live''. In April 2020 she was announced as a presenter for

when the station launched on 29 June 2020. She copresents Monday to Thursday breakfast with

Stig Abell Stephen "Stig" Paul Abell (born 10 April 1980) is an English journalist, newspaper editor and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the Monday to Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio with Aasmah Mir. Abell was from 2016 to 2020 editor o ...

Personal life

Mir is an avid fan of

Celtic F.C. The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

She was married to Piara Powar, the executive director of

Football Against Racism in Europe The Fare network (formerly Football Against Racism in Europe) is a network set up to counter discrimination in European football. The network was set up in Vienna, Austria, in February 1999 after a meeting of football supporters' groups, footbal ...

. She gave birth to a daughter at the age of 44. In 2021 Mir divorced Powar, stating that "this was my decision so I cannot wallow for too long".https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4zddEbXoAQ6VKP?format=jpg&name=large

References

External sources

Aasmah Mir
Sunday Herald, 7 August 2005
Asian Network Reports Special
BBC Asian Network – Documentary presented by Mir on ''Asian Network Report'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mir, Aasmah 1971 births Living people Mass media people from Glasgow BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC Radio 5 Live presenters BBC Asian Network presenters Alumni of the University of Bristol Scottish people of Indian descent Scottish people of Kashmiri descent