Matthew Barbet (born 8 June 1976) is a British television presenter and journalist, best known for his work with Channel 5 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 ...

. In 2003, Barbet joined

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, where he worked on various news programmes. In September 2007, he left BBC News so he could join 5 News. He covered some of the broadcaster's main news events. In September 2012 until April 2014, Barbet co-presented '' Daybreak'' alongside

Ranvir Singh Ranvir Singh (born 11 August 1977) is a British journalist and television presenter. She is the political editor and newsreader/deputy presenter for '' Good Morning Britain''. Early life Singh was born in 1977 in Preston, Lancashire, into a Si ...

, before returning to 5 News for ''5 News Tonight''. Barbet has also presented ''The Cycle Show'' for

ITV4 ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...

and '' The Saturday Show'' for Channel 5.

Early life

Growing up in

Cilcain Cilcain is a village and community, near Mold in Flintshire, north-east Wales. The village has an industrial history and includes the Millennium Woods, a post office, a public house, a parish church, a primary school (Ysgol y Foel) and a village ...

in North

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 ...

, Barbet attended the

Alun School Alun School is a secondary school located in the community of Mold, Flintshire, Wales. It was formed in 1970 as a result of the merger of the Alun Grammar School and the Daniel Owen Secondary Modern School. Some of the school's present buildin ...

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...

, Flintshire and later studied at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

before returning to the Cardiff School of Journalism.

Career

Before joining

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

in 2003, Barbet worked at

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

as a newsreader on the ''

Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer (née Cox; born 13 December 1974) is an English broadcaster. She presented ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 from 3 April 2000 until 19 December 2003. Since January 2019 she now hosts the BBC Radio 2 drivetime show, Monday ...

Breakfast Show''. In 2006 he presented BBC London's Children in Need coverage. He also presented the BBC's '' STORYFix'' programme – a light, upbeat look at the news shown on

BBC News 24 BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...

and the BBC website. In 2007 he was an occasional relief presenter for ''

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is the BBC television Breakfast television, breakfast news programme. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News (TV channel), BBC News channel. The simulcast is presented live, originally from ...

''. In September 2007, Matt Barbet was named as a presenter and correspondent for '' 5 News'' on Channel 5. His position came after

Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter. From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015. Early ...

, the principal anchor, announced her departure from the programme. He took up his new role in November 2007. In June 2008, Matt Barbet and Isla Traquair, were announced as stand-in presenters on ''5 News'' while

Natasha Kaplinsky Natasha Margaret Kaplinsky (born 9 September 1972)The Donor, News and information for blood donors, Winter 2009, National Blood Service, England, page 55 is an English newsreader, TV presenter and journalist, best known for her roles as a st ...

was on maternity leave. Matt visited

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

in January 2010 after the

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and has also been embedded with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in Afghanistan. In February 2011, he was announced as the new presenter of the flagship 17:00 programme, after Kaplinsky left the station. He left on 26 July 2012. On 11 June 2012 it was announced Barbet would leave ''5 News'' to join

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 ...

's '' Daybreak''. He made his debut on 3 September 2012 and presented the show from 6:00 am to 7:00 am with

. Throughout 2012, Matt occasionally reviewed the news on '' This Morning'' with Singh. On 17 August 2013 he made his debut presenting the '' ITV News'' weekend bulletins on

and ''

ITV News London ''ITV News London'' is a British television news service broadcast on both ITV London and the ITV Hub. It is produced by ITN. History London News Network The programme launched on Monday 4 January 1993 as ''London Tonight'', after Carlton T ...

'' on

ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...

. In December 2013, Matt appeared as a contestant in a ''

Text Santa ''Text Santa'' was a charity initiative set up in 2011 by ITV to support UK-based charities during the Christmas period. The appeal to the public is to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise. The telethons have been h ...

'' special of the

game show '' The Chase'', and won £55,000 for ITV's ''

'' appeal. On 3 March 2014, it was announced that ''Daybreak'' had been axed and would be replaced by '' Good Morning Britain'' later in the year. Matt presented his final episode of ''Daybreak'' on 4 April 2014, and it was confirmed by the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' on the same day that he would not be part of the presenting team at ''Good Morning Britain''. During his time at ''Daybreak'', Matt co-presented 330 editions of the show. On 16 April 2014, it was confirmed that Matt would rejoin 5 News to present their '' 5 News Tonight'' programme, weekdays at 6:30 pm. He returned as host of '' 5 News'' on 28 April 2014. Commenting on his return to Channel 5, Matt said "I'm really happy to be returning to Channel 5 at what is a very exciting time for the network". From 2014 until 2015, Barbet has presented ''The Cycle Show'' on

. In October 2015, it was announced that Barbet would co-present '' The Saturday Show'', a Saturday morning programme for Channel 5. He left the show in July 2016, replaced by Matt Allwright. On 4 December 2017, it was confirmed that Barbet would leave 5 News and he presented his last edition of the programme on 15 December 2017.

Personal life

Barbet lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with his wife Katie and their two daughters. Matt is an accomplished runner and road cyclist. He is a patron of the Educate for Life charity and ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

in 2010 and 2016. He rode the first three

Ride London RideLondon is an annual festival of cycling held in London. Intended as an annual legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was first held in 2013. The format consists of a series of cycling events on closed roads around Lond ...

events, and in 2015 was the fastest celebrity to cross the line, completing the 100-mile course in 4 hours 24 minutes.

Filmography

;TV * ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' — Contestant * ''

'' (2003–2007) – Presenter * ''

'' (2007) – Stand-in presenter * '' 5 News'' (2007–2012, 2014–2017) – Anchor * '' Daybreak'' (2012–2014) – Co-presenter, alongside

* '' This Morning'' (2012) – Occasional newspaper reviewer * '' The Chase: Text Santa Special'' (2013) – Contestant * '' ITV News'' (2013–2014) – Stand-in anchor * ''The Cycle Show'' (2014–2015) – Presenter * '' The Saturday Show'' (2015–2016) – Co-presenter, with

Gaby Roslin Gaby Roslin (born 12 July 1964) is an English television and radio presenter who rose to fame co-presenting ''The Big Breakfast'' on Channel 4 between 1992 and 1996. Roslin also presented the '' Children in Need'' charity telethons on the BBC ...

References

External links

Matt Barbet
Twitter
Matt Barbet
YouTube * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbet, Matt BBC newsreaders and journalists 5 News presenters and reporters ITV Breakfast presenters and reporters Living people Alumni of Cardiff University English male journalists English television presenters British reporters and correspondents 1976 births People educated at Alun School, Mold