Ruth Wendy Holmes (née; Langsford; born 17 March 1960)
is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows, including ''
This Morning'' (1999–present) in which she is the longest serving presenter, ''
Gift Wrapped'' (2014), ''
How the Other Half Lives
''How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York'' (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis ...
'' (2015–present), and
''Ruth Langsford’s Fashion Edit'' (2017–present). Since 1999, Langsford has been a regular panellist on the
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 ...
talk show ''
Loose Women
''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...
'', becoming a presenter in 2013. In 2017, she took part in the
fifteenth series of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
'', in which she finished in ninth place.
Early life
Ruth Langsford was born in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, to Dennis and Joan Langsford. She lived in five countries before the age of ten, including
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and four countries in North Africa. Langsford attended
Saltash School in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
from 1977 to 1978.
Career
Television
Langsford began her career as a
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
newscaster
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
with ITV regional station
Television South West
Television South West (TSW) was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, Devon.
History
Origins and Launch
On 28 Decembe ...
(TSW) in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. She left TSW when Westcountry Television took over the franchise on 1 January 1993, closing down the station with fellow announcer,
Ian Stirling.
From 1999 until 2002, Langsford was a regular panellist on
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 ...
's daytime chat show ''
Loose Women
''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...
''. In 2010, she returned to the show as a stand-in anchor until 2013. Langsford rejoined ''Loose Women'' on 8 January 2014 as a regular anchor. She anchors the show in rotation with
Jane Moore
Jane Moore (born 17 May 1962) is an English journalist, author and television presenter, best known as a columnist for '' The Sun'' newspaper and as a panellist and anchor on the ITV lunchtime chat show ''Loose Women'' between 1999 and 2002, re ...
,
Charlene White
Charlene Denise White (born 22 June 1980) is a British television broadcaster, journalist and presenter, best known for presenting ''ITV News'' programmes. She has been an anchor on ''Loose Women'' since 2021[Christine Lampard
Christine Louise Lampard (''née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish broadcaster. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as ''The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–11), while w ...]
and
Kaye Adams
Kaye Adams (born 28 December 1962) is a United Kingdom, Scottish television presenter and journalist. She was an anchor on ITV (TV network), ITV topical discussion show ''Loose Women'' from 1999 to 2006 and again from 2013 and was a regular pa ...
.
In 2000, Langsford became a guest presenter on ''
This Morning'', and was made a regular presenter in 2006 where she co-hosted alongside
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 ...
, making her the longest serving presenter of the programme. Later that year, the show introduced
to co-host with Langsford every Friday.
Langsford was one of the main presenters on the now defunct ''
TV Travel Shop
TV Travel Shop was a British television channel that sold holidays.
It launched in April 1998, primarily on satellite and cable, broadcasting between 6am and 5pm, sharing space with Challenge. In 1999, the channel began broadcasting 24 hours a ...
'' which was on air from April 1998 until March 2005. She also hosted ''The Answer Lies in the Soil'' (1999), ''The Great British Garden Show'', ''Langsford Late'' (1999), ''The Really Useful Show'' (1997), ''Mysterious West'' (1995) and ''Gardens of the Millennium'' (1999).
In 2004, Langsford narrated the television series ''Zoo Story''. She guest presented five episodes of ''
GMTV with Lorraine
The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV.
GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Friday ...
'' in 2010. Langsford was a contestant on ''
Marco's Kitchen Burnout'' in 2010 and competed in ''
Born to Shine
''Born to Shine'' is an ITV entertainment programme which featured celebrities who learn a new skill taught to them by talented teenagers, live on Sunday evenings. The show was presented by Natasha Kaplinsky and won by Jason Manford.
Format
Teen ...
'' in 2011.
In 2014, Langsford and
co-hosted ten episodes of the
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 ...
teatime quiz show ''
Gift Wrapped''.
Since 2015, Langsford and Holmes have presented
Channel 5 series ''
How the Other Half Lives
''How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York'' (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis ...
'', and a third in 2017.
In February 2017, Langsford began co-presenting ''Ruth Langsford's Fashion Edit'' alongside
Jackie Kabler
Jackie Kabler (born 1966) is a British freelance television presenter and reporter with QVC.
Kabler was born in Coventry, Warwickshire. She worked as a presenter and reporter for Channel Television and then ITV West. She then joined breakfast T ...
for
QVC
QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pen ...
.
On 9 August 2017, Langsford was the third celebrity announced to be taking part in the
fifteenth series of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
''. Her professional partner was
Anton du Beke
Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dancer, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the BBC One cele ...
. She was the seventh celebrity to be eliminated, and left the show on 12 November.
From March 2018, Langsford co-presented ''Do the Right Thing'' with
on
Channel 5.
In 2019 and again in 2020, Langsford co-presented the
Channel 5 dieting series ''Lose a Stone in Four Weeks for Summer'', alongside GP Amir Khan.
Other work
In September 2010, Langsford co-hosted the breakfast show 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 Lond ...
alongside
Paul Ross
Paul Ross (born 31 December 1956) is an English television and radio presenter, journalist and media personality.
He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross.
Early life
Growing up in outer east London, Ross was educa ...
.
In 2011, Langsford became the brand ambassador for
Playtex.
In 2013, Langsford became brand ambassador for Clarivu refractive lens exchange procedure sold by Optegra.
Langsford has written columns for Woman Magazine and
Tesco Magazine. She was an ambassador for two
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
food campaigns.
She was on the judging panel for the
Pride of Britain Awards
The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000.
The awards honour British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challen ...
in 2016.
Personal life
![Eamon Holmes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Eamon_Holmes.jpg)
In 1996, Langsford began dating
, though the two kept their relationship secret for years out of respect for Holmes' first wife, Gabrielle, from whom he was separated at the time. In 2002, Langsford gave birth to their son, Jack Alexander Holmes.
They were married on 26 June 2010.
Filmography
Television
See also
*
List of Strictly Come Dancing contestants
The following is a list of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' contestants to date along with their age at the time of competing, professional partners, competition finish, number of dances, highest and lowest scores, total scores and average scores. This ...
References
External links
Official website*
Ruth Langsford at James Grant Media*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langsford, Ruth
1960 births
Living people
English television presenters
English game show hosts