Five News has poached Natasha Kaplinsky from the BBC as part of a plan to relaunch the programme.
Kaplinsky, the regular presenter of BBC One’s Six O’Clock News and a guest presenter on the BBC Ten O’Clock News, will present the main 5.30pm and 7pm news bulletins at Five News, her first broadcast to be in 2008.
Kaplinsky said: “After five incredibly rewarding years at the BBC, I found the chance to work with the team at Five too exciting to pass up. Chris Shaw has an unrivalled track record in reinventing television news and I already know how talented Jay Hunt and David Kermode are, having worked with them at the BBC. Five has changed the face of news before, and now they’re going to do it again. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Chris Shaw, senior programme controller at Five, said: ‘As one of the country’s leading news presenters Natasha has proved she has real authority, and with her BBC One shows she also demonstrated her warmth and star quality. I believe at Five we can bring all those qualities together in a new kind of news programme.”
Jay Hunt, Five’s director of programmes, said: “Natasha is one of the most talented broadcasters on British television. From the Six O’Clock News to Children in Need she has demonstrated her popularity with viewers. I am thrilled she has decided to join Five and become one of the key faces of the channel.”
Five News editor David Kermode said: ‘Natasha is one of the brightest stars in broadcasting and I’m absolutely delighted that she’s joining Five News. She’s a great communicator, and has a really distinctive style that sets her apart.”
Proir to joining the BBC to present BBC Breakfast with Dermot Murnaghan, Kaplinsky was a co-presenter on Sky News’ Live at Five following several months working on their Breakfast programme Sunrise in 2000. Before that she was a presenter on London Today and London Tonight and presented LWT’s Sunday morning current affairs programme Seven Days.
Kaplinsky has also dabbled outside news and current affairs, featuring in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, Who Do You Think You Are and Children in Need.
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