Georgina Jane Ainslie, Lady Ainslie (born 25 September 1977), better known as Georgie Thompson, is an English television presenter.

Education

Thompson was educated at Queenswood School, an independent boarding school for girls near Hatfield in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, followed by the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, where she studied Broadcast Journalism. She graduated in 1999 with a 2:1.

Career

After graduating, Thompson worked as a production assistant on a research and production scheme for

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

before moving to

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

in January 2001. She has covered major sporting events for the network since then, including the US Open Tennis and has been part of Sky's coverage of the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most f ...

, Grand Prix Masters, Speedway World Cup,

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Ral ...

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one ...

and the

2011 Wimbledon Championships The 2011 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 125th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fro ...

. She was a presenter on Sky Sports News, often presenting ''Afternoon Report'' with her run ending on 29 December 2011. She also presented

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's ''Greatest Sporting Legends'' series with

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

in 2005. She was also a regular panellist on the Sky1 show, ''

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena ...

'' for its first four series from 2010 to 2011. In the May 2007 issue of the British men's magazine ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'', Thompson was voted the 93rd Sexiest Female in the World. Thompson left Sky Sports News on 29 December 2011 to become a presenter on

Sky Sports F1 Sky Sports F1 is a television channel created exclusively for Sky's UK and Ireland coverage of Formula One, with Sky having a package of rights from the 2012 season to the 2029 season. From 2012 to 2029, Sky Sports F1 has the exclusive rights ...

. During the 2012 season, Thompson presented Friday night magazine show '' The F1 Show'' alongside pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz and during race weekends, presented the Sky Pad segment of Sky's F1 coverage, usually alongside

Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vide ...

. Thompson left Sky Sports F1 in 2013. She was replaced as co-host of ''The F1 Show'' by close Sky Sports F1 pit-lane reporter Natalie Pinkham. Thompson moved to

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

in 2013 as a panellist on

Regis Philbin Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest working ma ...

's sports talk show '' Crowd Goes Wild'', which aired its final show on Thursday, 8 May 2014. It was announced on 1 July 2014 that Thompson would be one of the new presenters of

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadcasting of sports events, covering sport in ...

's Saturday Morning comedy show ''

Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 1100 and 1200 and is based on a similar format to the ESPN show '' Around ...

'', sharing duties with comedian Josh Widdicombe. They both left in August 2016, and previous host Colin Murray returned.

Personal life

Thompson was in a relationship with Declan Donnelly, one half of the presenting duo

Ant and Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as child actors on CBBC's ...

, from January 2009 until April 2011. In September 2011, Thompson was banned from driving for 19 months, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £100 in costs after being caught more than twice the legal limit for drunk driving. On 20 December 2014, Thompson married British sailor

Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutiv ...

. The couple have a daughter, Bellatrix, born in 2016.

References

External links

''Fighting Talk''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Georgie 1977 births Alumni of the University of Leeds English expatriates in the United States English reporters and correspondents English television presenters Living people Motorsport announcers People educated at Queenswood School Place of birth missing (living people) Tennis commentators Sky Sports presenters and reporters Wives of knights