Samantha Rose Simmonds (born ) is an English newsreader, television presenter and journalist. She was a

news anchor 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. ...

for Sky News until July 2016. She returned to presenting for

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 broad ...

in March 2017.

Early life

Simmonds was born to an Iranian mother and a Yorkshire-born father. Her mother moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Simmonds grew up in the

Alwoodley Alwoodley is a civil parish and suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the city. Alwoodley lies in Leeds 17 which was reported to contain the most expensive housing a ...

area of

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

and attended Leeds Girls' High School. She studied for a BA at

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

. Whilst a student in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, she appeared as a contestant on the ITV television show ''

Blind Date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

''.

Journalism career

After gaining a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism from City University in London in 1995, Simmonds worked as a reporter for local radio in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

before moving to London for a job as a producer on Channel Five News. She was later a presenter on

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is the BBC television breakfast news programme. Produced by BBC News, the programme is broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. The simulcast is presented live, originally from the BBC Television Centre, London before ...

and spent two years reporting and presenting BBC London's news programmes before joining Sky News in 2005. While presenting that channel, she was the first British journalist to break the story of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. Simmonds left Sky News in 2016, along with several other anchors, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. She can now be seen presenting on

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 (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

BBC World News BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media an ...

and the

BBC News Channel 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 ...

, which she joined in March 2017.

Personal life

Simmonds is married to Phillip Davies, a business consultant, with whom she has three children. She lives in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It h ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

References

External links

* * 1972 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool English journalists English television presenters English reporters and correspondents Sky News newsreaders and journalists People educated at Leeds Girls' High School {{UK-tv-journalist-stub