Gillian Porter (born 13 April 1965WebArchive.org: Gillian Porter's profile on u.tv
captured 17 August 2002, accessed 5 April 2009 in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

Belfast Telegraph: "Woman 2 Woman: Gillan Porter's baby joy was shrouded in sadness"
dated 7 July 2003, accessed 16 June 2008) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

television presenter. She is best known for her work at UTV, where she was a long-serving

continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...

and newsreader for 27 years.

Broadcasting career

Before joining UTV, Porter briefly worked as a continuity announcer and playout director at

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

. In 1998, she presented the first series of ''UTV Life'' (originally broadcast weekly on Sundays before becoming a weeknight show). In later years, Porter was one of two out-of-vision announcers at UTV, alongside

Julian Simmons Julian Lynus Simmons (born 20 February 1952) is a Northern Irish broadcaster, best known for his work as a long-serving continuity announcer on UTV.

, voicing pre-recorded links. In April 2020, local continuity was abandoned, initially as a temporary measure, due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

on staff at the Belfast studios. In November 2020, Porter announced she had left UTV, following a decision to switch permanently to ITV network presentation.End of era at UTV as Julian Simmons and Gillian Porter exit
Belfast Telegraph, 26 November 2020 Porter voiced the final local UTV continuity link, broadcast at 5:59am on Thursday 2 April 2020. She is now a freelance broadcaster and voiceover artist.

Personal life

Porter is married to Dee Colbert and has two children Zara and Sam.

References

1965 births Living people Television presenters from Northern Ireland People from Coleraine, County Londonderry Radio and television announcers UTV (TV channel) Broadcasters from County Londonderry {{UK-tv-bio-stub