Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since con ...

. A graduate of

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millic ...

, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on to present the children's news programme ''

Newsround ''Newsround'' (stylised as ''newsround'', and originally called ''John Craven's Newsround'' before his departure in 1989) is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972. It was one of the world's first tele ...

'' in 1994. She joined

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 ...

in 2002, and also presented editions of ''

Five News ''5 News at 5'', also known as ''Channel 5 News'', is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by ITN from its main newsroom on Gray's Inn Road, London. History ''5 News'' was one of the new station's flagship programme ...

'' when Sky won the contract to produce news programming for Channel 5 in 2005. Etchingham is currently a newscaster on '' ITV News at Ten'' and has been since 2008. She also presented the current affairs programme ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' from 2010 until 2022 when she announced that she would still occasionally be reporting for the show. She was voted "Presenter of the Year" at the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

journalism awards in 2010 and 2016.

Life and career

Etchingham was born and raised in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

, where both her parents were teachers. She was raised as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, and educated at the city's English Martyrs Catholic School. After school she attended

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where she gained a BA (Honours) degree in English. She was the first girl from her school to attend Cambridge, and while reading English there was taught by

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literat ...

. She also co-presented

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire BBC Radio Cambridgeshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cambridgeshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the Cambridge Business Park on Cowley Road in Cambridge. According to ...

's student programme ''On the Edge'', produced by Ian Peacock. She got her first job in journalism with

BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Nicholas Place in Leicester. According to RAJAR, the station ...

while still at school, and joined the BBC graduate programme from university. Working at

BBC Midlands BBC Midlands may refer to: *BBC East Midlands, the BBC English Region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland, headquartered in Nottingham *BBC West Midlands BBC Midlands (known as the Midland Region from 1927 until c. 1 ...

, Etchingham became a presenter on '' Midlands Today'', but soon moved on to present national programmes after moving to London. Her credits at the BBC include BBC's ''

Breakfast News ''Breakfast News'' was a breakfast news programme which first aired on BBC1 on 2 October 1989. The programme was previously known as '' Breakfast Time''. It was planned to launch on 18 September 1989 but was held back by two weeks due to tech ...

'', ''

'' (where she beat 1,000 other competitors to the job in 1994) and the corporation's long running ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

'' programme. Etchingham joined Sky News in 2002, where she hosted a number of shows for the channel, including Sky News Today. She was also an occasional presenter on

after Sky took over as news provider for

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

in January 2005. On 29 October 2007, during a speech by

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, Etchingham's microphone was left open and an aside was accidentally broadcast during live coverage of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

leader's address. Speaking on the issue of immigration, Cameron said: "Let me outline the action that a Conservative government would take. As we have seen, some of the increase in population size results from natural change – birth rates, death rates. Here our policy should be obvious ..." At this point, Etchingham was clearly heard to say: "Extermination". Sky News said afterwards that her comment was "regrettable". Etchingham later described the incident as "not my finest hour. I apologised to Cameron personally". Cameron took the incident in good jest, recorded a parody of the incident for Etchingham's 40th birthday and had a toy

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

delivered to her home. Julie Etchingham, June 2007

On 31 October 2007, ITV confirmed that in January 2008 Etchingham would move to present the relaunched ''News at Ten'' with Sir

Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian- British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. McDonald was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism. Career ...

. The programme returned on 14 January. In June 2009, it was reported in the media that the President of Pakistan,

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

, had stopped a plane from flying out of Pakistan after he heard Etchingham was running late after an interview between the two. In October 2009, it was announced that Etchingham would present a relaunched ''

'' programme from early 2010 – with the show airing once a week on Thursday nights. In April 2011, Etchingham and

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holl ...

co-hosted ITV's coverage of the

wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship sinc ...

. It was announced in April 2012 that she and Schofield would present the broadcaster's coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June. In March 2013, she travelled to Rome to provide coverage of the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

for ITV News. In March 2015 it was announced that Etchingham would chair a televised leaders debate for ITV ahead of the 2015 general election, the only leaders debate featuring Prime Minister David Cameron to be held that year. The programme was called '' The ITV Leaders' Debate''. The debate took place on 2 April. Andrew Pettie of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' described Etchingham's presenting style as "composure itself", adding that it was "a bit robotic but this was no bad thing: it was refreshing to see a TV interviewer resolutely refusing to hog the limelight." She later co-presented the ITV coverage of the general election with

Tom Bradby Thomas Matthew Bradby (born 13 January 1967) is a British journalist and novelist who currently presents the ''ITV News at Ten''. He was previously political editor for ITV News from 2005 to 2015, and presented '' The Agenda with Tom Bradby'', ...

. In October 2015, ''News at Ten'' relaunched and returned to the single newscaster format, with former political editor

becoming the programme's new main presenter. Etchingham continues on the programme as Deputy Anchor, sharing the role with

Rageh Omaar Rageh Omaar (; so, Raage Oomaar; ar, راجح أومار; born 19 July 1967) is a Somali-born British journalist and writer. He was a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to ...

. Etchingham also files special reports for the programme. In June 2016, she chaired ''Cameron and Farage Live: The EU Referendum'' and ''The ITV Referendum Debate'' for

. In May 2017, Etchingham returned to chair '' The ITV Leaders' Debate'' ahead of the 2017 General Election. On 5 June 2017, Etchingham conducted an interview with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

, in which she talked about running through fields of wheat, which became a

meme A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ...

. On 3 July 2017, Etchingham presented a special edition of '' News at Ten'' celebrating 50 years of the programme. She interviewed Sir

, a former presenter of the programme. On 19 May 2018, Etchingham co-presented ITV's coverage of the

wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on Saturday 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The groom is a member of the British royal family; the bride is American and previously worked as an ...

with

. On 9 July 2019, Etchingham presented ''Britain’s Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate''. The programme was broadcast live from Dock 10,

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by Peel Media; its principal tenants are media organisations and the Quayside Media ...

. On 17 April 2021, Etchingham co-presented ITV's coverage of the

funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect t ...

with

Awards

Etchingham was voted "Presenter of the Year" at the

journalism awards in February 2010. She was the first woman to win the award. She won it again in February 2016. In April 2016, Etchingham was named "Broadcast Journalist of the Year" by the London Press Club.

Personal life

In 1997, Etchingham married the television producer Nick Gardner. The couple have two sons, both of whom were born in Hammersmith and Fulham, London.

Charity

Etchingham is vice president of the stillbirth charity

Abigail's Footsteps Abigail's Footsteps is a stillbirth charity organisation in the United Kingdom founded in 2010. They have donated material to several hospitals in England where stillbirths have occurred. By 2013 they had also raised over 15 thousand pounds for th ...

. She is also a patron of the London homeless charity, Caritas Anchor House. Since 2018, Etchingham has also taken on the role of president at the Women of the Year Lunch and awards.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Etchingham, Julie 1969 births Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC radio presenters BBC television presenters English journalists English reporters and correspondents English Roman Catholics English television presenters ITN newsreaders and journalists Living people Newsround presenters People from Leicester Sky News newsreaders and journalists Television personalities from Leicestershire