Helen Fospero (née Morton; born 30 August 1966) is an English television presenter and journalist, best known for her presenting roles on shows such as ''

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

'', '' Daybreak'' 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 Gra ...

''. She is currently working as a reporter for ''

Watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watch Dog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet ...

'' and ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...

'' on the BBC.

Early life

Born Helen Jane Morton in

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...

, Lincolnshire, she grew up in nearby

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

, and attended Hereford School (now

Ormiston Maritime Academy Ormiston Maritime Academy (formerly known as Hereford Technology School) is a secondary school with academy status in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. The school has an intake of 1048 pupils, aged 11 to 16. In the last Ofsted repor ...

), Grimsby. Her grandfather George Barker, was one of the

Grimsby Chums The Grimsby Chums was a British First World War Pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in and around the town of Grimsby in Lincolnshire in 1914. When the battalion was taken over by the British Army it was officially named the 10th (Service) ...

. She left school just before her 18th birthday and started her career at the local weekly newspaper. A short time later she joined a national news agency, writing for tabloids and broadsheets in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

Career

Fospero's television career began when she was one of the first journalists to be recruited by Sky Television in 1989. She was a home news editor when the channel launched in 1989, and took on many roles in her nine years there, including reporter and presenter on ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'' and '' Live at Five''. In September 1997, she was poached by Breakfast television station ''

'', where she met John Stapleton, who acts as a mentor to her. Fospero was initially the Showbiz correspondent, then later became the United States correspondent, based in New York City. In November 2002 when the BBC launched the new Yorkshire & Lincolnshire area, Fospero was appointed by

Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist, and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing ' ...

to front the new version of regional news magazine programme '' Look North'' along with Peter Levy. After her daughter was born, Fospero left ''Look North'' to find a position based in London to be closer to her family, and after standing in on

BBC London News ''BBC London News'' (referred to onscreen as ''BBC London'') is the BBC's regional television news programme for Greater London and its surrounding areas. Its local competitor is '' ITV News London'', which is produced by ITN for ITV London. ...

, she joined Channel 5 News and

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

. Fospero gave birth to her second child in mid-2009, after which she became a freelance presenter. In September 2009, Fospero made her return to ''

'' as a newsreader for the first hour of

(News Hour), as well as a relief presenter alongside John Stapleton. In 2010, Fospero shared presenting and newsreading duties with

Penny Smith Penelope Jane Smith (born 21 September 1958) is an English author, television presenter, newsreader and radio presenter. She has presented for Sky News, GMTV, Classic FM, BBC Radio London, TalkRadio and is a regular contributor to TalkTV la ...

until her departure on 4 June 2010. This is when she became the main newsreader on ''

'' and '' GMTV with Lorraine'', as well as the main relief presenter, until the demise of ''

'' on 3 September 2010. Since then she has gone on to present other breakfast programmes for ITV. On 18 June 2011, she guest presented

ITV Breakfast ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited (previously known as GMTV Limited) is the national ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November 2009. The breakfast license ...

programme ''

'' for the first time in place of Fiona Phillips, and has since made regular appearances as the show's stand-in host on Friday mornings and school holidays. Whilst presenting ''

'',

also gave Fospero the opportunity to present its sister show '' Daybreak'' as a stand-in presenter. One of Fospero's best roles for '' Daybreak'' was in 2012 when she interviewed

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

at his home in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

, France, this was Fospero's one and only outside interview that she has done for ''Daybreak'', this interview was broadcast on 20 July 2012. She appeared in an episode of ITV's '' Ten Mile Menu'' which was aired on 20 July 2011 and was recorded in the town of

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenar ...

. In September 2012, Fospero began working as a stand-in newsreader, presenting news bulletins and ''Daybreak's'' newshour from 6–7 am. She occasionally presented the main show from 7–8.30 am and when this happened she also presented the following ''

'' programme. ''Daybreak'' was axed by ITV on 3 March 2014 and she made her last appearance on the show on 23 April 2014, just five days before it was replaced by '' Good Morning Britain''. In 2013, she was a guest presenter for '' This Morning'', presenting the interactive 'Hub' segment of the show. In November 2014, Fospero joined the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

consumer affairs programme ''

'' as a regular reporter. Since 2015, she has been a reporter for the BBC magazine show ''

''. Fospero played Lucinda Towne in " The National Anthem", an episode of the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction ...

''. She played herself in two episodes of ''

Southcliffe ''Southcliffe'' is a British drama series that aired on Channel 4. Set in a fictional town on the North Kent Marshes, it employs a nonlinear narrative structure to tell the story of a series of shootings by a local man portrayed by Sean Harris ...

'' and one episode of the

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 a ...

documentary series '' How TV Ruined Your Life''.

Radio

Fospero is an occasional newsreader on

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 Broadcasting of sports events, covering sport in ...

, and also acts as a stand-in presenter on the station's weekend breakfast programme. She also sits in for regular presenters on

BBC London 94.9 BBC Radio London is the 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 frequency, DAB, Virgin Media channel 937, Sky channel 0152 (in the London a ...

. In 2015, she sat in for

Anne Diamond Anne Margaret Diamond (born 8 September 1954) is a British journalist and broadcaster. She presently hosts the weekend breakfast show on GB News with Stephen Dixon as her co-presenter. She hosted '' Good Morning Britain'' for TV-am and ''Good ...

BBC Radio Berkshire BBC Radio Berkshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Berkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds studios at Thames Valley Park near Reading. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...

Personal life

She married American television producer Carl Fospero in May 2003 in Oxfordshire. The couple live in London with their daughter Francesca (born February 2004) and their son Jack (born early 2009). Fospero is a patron of the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation, where she has been involved in raising £5 million to speed up research for a breakthrough cure for paralysis.

Filmography

;Television

References

External links

Official website

Official Twitter

Helen Fospero
ROAR Global * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fospero, Helen 1966 births Living people People from Cleethorpes People from Grimsby English reporters and correspondents English journalists English television presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists Sky News newsreaders and journalists GMTV presenters and reporters ITV Breakfast presenters and reporters 5 News presenters and reporters English people of Italian descent English people of Sicilian descent