Frances Donovan is a journalist and presenter who has anchored television and radio programmes across major events for both the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, including the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

, the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and the

BAFTAS The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

Personal life

Donovan was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and is one of four siblings, the rest of whom are brothers. She went to school in Chepstow and at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. She read English and History at University College, Cardiff, and later obtained a postgraduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism 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 ...

. She is married to the Director of Photography and Lighting Director Andrew Cottey. She has two rescue dogs and is an active supporter of a number of animal welfare charities.

Career

Donovan began her career as a radio reporter and presenter at 210FM in Reading before moving to Severn Sound Radio in Gloucester. Her first television role was a reporter at HTV West in Bristol, from where she went on to work for ITN, Sky, Channel 5 and Meridian Television. She was also a regular sports presenter on what was then News24 for the BBC. She returned to Wales to become one of BBC Wales Sport's main anchors, where she hosted Wales on Saturday - the weekend results show - for four years, as well as BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Wales Open Golf, Welsh Open Snooker, International Bowls and Welsh Amateur Boxing. She was the first female presenter of

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

' iconic rugby programme, Scrum Five. She has reported for Match of the Day and Football Focus as well as The Open Championship for the BBC and has also fronted the sports news on BBC Breakfast. She is also the host of ITV Wales' sport chat show In Touch, where her easy, conversational style has drawn major sports figures like Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Chris Coleman, Gareth Edwards, Craig Bellamy,

Matthew Maynard Matthew Peter Maynard, (born 21 March 1966) is an English cricket coach and former cricketer. He played in four Tests and fourteen ODIs for England. Maynard was a batsman (and, later in his career, wicketkeeper) known for his aggressive and da ...

, Garry Monk and Malky Mackay into the guest's chair. Donovan is also a regular reporter for Premier League Productions, the television arm of the Barclays

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. She hosted ITV Sport's LV Cup programming for the first time in 2015 and will be part of the ITV network team covering the 2015 Rugby World Cup. She anchored ITV Wales' coverage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and will reprise that role for the 2015 tournament. Away from sport, Donovan is an authoritative news presenter, having co-anchored both Wales Tonight and The West Tonight for ITV. She tackled the business world for ITV Wales in The Secrets of My Success and indulged her love of history and the outdoors fronting History Hunters for the BBC. She conceived and helped develop the idea of 'Give a Dog a Home' - a formatted show looking to pair rescue dogs with new families - and co-presented the BBC Wales series with Benji Webbe, lead singer of Skindred. She was one of the main presenters of Children in Need for BBC Wales for seven years and also hosted a seven-hour long Outside Broadcast from Cardiff Castle to mark the Queen's Jubilee. Donovan presented ITV's popular arts and entertainment programme The Wales Show for several years, interviewing

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

Catherine Zeta Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed C ...

and Rhys Ifans amongst others. She climbed a 100 ft telegraph pole and took part in the Pony Club mounted games during her time as one of the faces of the BBC's coverage of the Royal Welsh Show. She is also the host of the lively sports quiz 'Extra Time' for BBC Radio Wales and is a regular guest anchor for the mid-morning phone-in show as well as the afternoon magazine programme.

Charity

Donovan is a passionate advocate for animal rights and works with a number of charities to promote this. In March 2012, she took on the gruelling First Nation Home challenge for Sport Relief as the only female competing member of Team Wales. Captained by

Gethin Jones Gethin Clifford Jones (born 12 February 1978) is a Welsh television presenter. He was an active rugby union player while at Manchester Metropolitan University and, after graduation, he began his television career on Welsh language channel S4C a ...

, they raced teams from Ireland, Scotland and England around the UK, cycling, running, sailing and rowing in the quest to be the First Nation Home. She is also an ambassador for the Welsh Football Trust and St John Cymru.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Frances Living people British television presenters British women television presenters Welsh television presenters Welsh women television presenters Year of birth missing (living people)