Siân Mary Lloyd (born 3 July 1958) is a
Welsh television presenter
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...
and meteorologist from
Maesteg
Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...
. She was the United Kingdom's longest-serving
female
An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...
weather forecaster, having appeared on
ITV Weather
ITV Weather is the national and regional forecast shown on UK terrestrial network ITV, and is provided by the Met Office (except the Channel Islands forecast, which is provided by the Jersey Meteorological Department). Bulletins are usually br ...
for 24 years, from 1990 until 2014.
Biography
Lloyd was born in
Maesteg
Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...
,
Glamorgan
Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...
, the daughter of two teachers. She attended
Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera, and in 1975 performed at the
Urdd National Eisteddfod
The Urdd National Eisteddfod ( or ) is an annual Welsh-language youth festival of literature, music and performing arts organised by Urdd Gobaith Cymru. It is the youth counterpart to the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Arguably Europe's largest yo ...
where she won the Crown. She graduated with first-class honours from University College, Cardiff (now
Cardiff University
Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
), before going on to
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...
where she began work for a post-graduate
B.Litt. BLitt may refer to:
* Bachelor of Letters
Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. Thi ...
degree in
Celtic Studies
Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celts, Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art h ...
, but she left after a year without graduating. She has meteorology qualifications from the
Met Office College and frequently appears in TV documentaries about the weather.
Lloyd started her media career as a researcher for the ''
BBC Wales Today
''BBC Wales Today'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Wales, broadcast on BBC One Wales from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television n ...
'' nightly news programme, having responded to an advert in the media pages of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. She then became an announcer for
S4C
S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
. During a themed premiere for the film ''
The Avengers'' (1998) she dressed in a skin-tight black catsuit, for which she won the prize for best costume.
Whilst working for
Worldwide Television News in London, she was asked to work with the
Met Office
The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
on documentaries about the weather. She then screen tested for the
ITV Weather
ITV Weather is the national and regional forecast shown on UK terrestrial network ITV, and is provided by the Met Office (except the Channel Islands forecast, which is provided by the Jersey Meteorological Department). Bulletins are usually br ...
in 1990 and was appointed to a post which had 200 applicants. Lloyd won the
Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) award for the best TV weather presenter in 2005 and 2007. For a time, she additionally presented ''
ITV News London
''ITV News London'' is a British television news service broadcast on ITV London and ITVX. It is produced by ITN.
History
London News Network
The programme launched on Monday 4 January 1993 as ''London Tonight'', after Carlton Television won ...
'' weather forecasts. In February 2014 she left ITV to "pursue new opportunities".
Proud of being Welsh, she set up SWS (which means "kiss" in Welsh, and standing for "Social, Welsh and Sexy"), a Welsh networking club, in partnership with entertainer
Stifyn Parri in the
Groucho Club.
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel Jones (; born 9 November 1965), is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially primarily associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and ''Don Giovanni,'' but he has subsequ ...
and
Siân Phillips
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips ( ), is a Welsh actress from Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Wales. Her early career consisted primarily of stage roles, including the title roles in Ibsen's '' ...
are now patrons.
In 2007, Lloyd won the UK
Rear of the Year competition, making her the oldest woman to win the title. She also starred as the 'hidden' celebrity in an episode of the
CBBC
CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...
show ''
Hider in the House''. Lloyd also helped support
Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association, and in 2007 attended the launch of the Fill in the Gaps campaign. In March 2008, Lloyd published her autobiography, entitled ''A Funny Kind of Love''. In Spring 2010, Lloyd presented the first series of
Wedding TV's ''The Great Cake Bake''.
Lloyd appeared on ITV's reality television show ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', but was the shock first celebrity to be eliminated by the public vote. She also took part in a celebrity version of the TV show ''
Total Wipeout'' which aired on 18 September 2010.
Lloyd appeared on ''Celebrity
First Dates'' in 2015.
Personal life
While at
Cardiff University
Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
, she met Mark Cavendish, a relative of the
Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and now a businessman. They were together for 14 years, often visiting the family seat at
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family si ...
.
From 2002, Lloyd was in a relationship with
Lembit Öpik, then the
MP for
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire ( ) was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was named after its county town, Montgomery, Powys, Montgomery, which in turn was named after ...
, and was engaged to him from 2004 to October 2006. They lived at a house they bought together in Öpik's constituency outside Newtown,
Powys
Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...
, and were due to marry in 2006. They had met at a
Liberal Democrats conference session where the press meet the MPs, where they talked and she lost a ring. He found it, then lost it himself, then found it again two years later and called her; she had a spare ticket to go to
the Proms
The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...
, and they began a relationship. She appeared on ''Celebrity
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...
'' with Öpik on 15 April 2006, winning £64,000 for charity. In December 2006 it was revealed that the relationship had broken down.
Lloyd met motor racing entrepreneur
Jonathan Ashman
Jonathan may refer to:
*Jonathan (name), a masculine given name
Media
* ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer
* ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski
* ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...
at
Secretary of State for Wales
The secretary of state for Wales (), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Ki ...
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain, (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...
's 2007
St David's Day party at the
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
. Ashman proposed to Lloyd in December 2007, on holiday, at the foot of
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...
in
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
. Lloyd and Ashman married in 2007 and divorced in 2015 after eight years.
Career
*
Cardiff Broadcasting Company (1980–2)
* ''
BBC Wales Today
''BBC Wales Today'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Wales, broadcast on BBC One Wales from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television n ...
'', researcher (1982–84)
* Development Board for Rural Wales, press officer (1984–86)
*
S4C
S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
, continuity announcer (1986–88)
* Worldwide TV News (1988–90)
*
ITV Weather
ITV Weather is the national and regional forecast shown on UK terrestrial network ITV, and is provided by the Met Office (except the Channel Islands forecast, which is provided by the Jersey Meteorological Department). Bulletins are usually br ...
(1990–2014)
* ''
How 2
''How 2'' is an informative educational programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1991, and STV Studios ( Scottish Television) from 1992 to 2006.
The original show ('' How)'' was produced by Southern Television from 1966 up until 1981, when ...
'' presenter (1997)
* ''
The Apprentice UK'' (Brief Appearance, in an ads campaign;
[Renaissance']
"I Love My Tissues" advert
at YouTube 2008)
* Churchill Car Insurance as the lady feeding the dog sausages.
References
External links
Siân Lloyd – TVWeathergirl.com*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Sian
1958 births
Living people
Alumni of Cardiff University
Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
ITV Weather
People from Maesteg
Welsh television presenters
People educated at Ysgol Maesteg School
People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera
Welsh-speaking journalists