Natasha Kaplinsky
Natasha Margaret Kaplinsky OBE is an English newsreader, TV presenter and journalist, best known for her roles as a studio anchor on Sky News, BBC News, Channel 5 and ITV News.
After two years at Sky News, Kaplinsky joined BBC News in 2002 where she co-hosted Breakfast until 2005, when she became the host of the Six O'Clock News. In October 2007, Kaplinsky was recruited to help relaunch Five, reportedly for the highest fee ever paid to a UK newsreader, where she presented a new look, retitled Five News with Natasha Kaplinsky for three years. After leaving Channel 5, she went on to join ITV News as a presenter.
Kaplinsky has hosted a series of light entertainment and factual programmes in her career, notably Children in Need and Born to Shine. She was also the subject of the most highly rated Who Do You Think You Are. She is perhaps most famous for being the first ever winner of the first series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2004. Kaplinsky has co-founded a mother and baby company, Mum & You.
In 2014 the then PM David Cameron asked Kaplinsky to become a Holocaust Commissioner leading a project to interview 112 survivors. She was awarded an OBE in 2017 for her services to the Holocaust Commission.
Early life
Kaplinsky was born to Raphael Kaplinsky, a South African political refugee, Professor of International Development at the Open University, and his wife, Catherine Kaplinsky, a psychotherapist.Kaplinsky's paternal grandparents were a Jewish family who originated from the town of Slonim, and immigrated to South Africa in 1929. Kaplinsky was born in Brighton, but spent her early life in Kenya, where she stated that she was fluent in Swahili. The family immigrated to the United Kingdom and Kaplinsky was brought up in Barcombe, East Sussex. She attended Ringmer Community College, until the age of sixteen when she moved to Varndean College in Brighton.
After graduating with a degree in English from Hertford College, Oxford in 1995, one of Kaplinsky's first jobs was working in the press offices of Labour leaders Neil Kinnock and John Smith.
Kaplinsky was the subject of an episode of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, in which well-known people trace their family trees. Kaplinsky's programme was broadcast on 6 September 2007. She followed her paternal line to Slonim and was shown official documentation relating to her cousin's family. This included the death of family members during the "liquidation" – massacre – of the Słonim Ghetto by the Nazis and another's escape to the partisans and eventual immigration to Australia. Her maternal line included an apothecary to King George III.
Career
Early career
Kaplinsky started out presenting on F2F, a youth chat show, for Granada Talk TV in 1996 with co-host Sacha Baron Cohen. She then moved to presenting early morning news bulletins at Meridian. Within six months, she was co-presenting their evening news programme Meridian Tonight. In 1999, Kaplinsky moved to ITV's London News Network where she hosted London Today and London Tonight as well as a political programme called Seven Days.In November 2000, Kaplinsky joined Sky News, where she initially co-presented breakfast news programme Sunrise; she later moved to early evening bulletin Live at Five, which she presented alongside Jeremy Thompson.
BBC News
Kaplinsky joined the BBC in November 2002 to present BBC Breakfast from Monday to Thursday with Dermot Murnaghan, before moving on the host the BBC News at Six.In 2006, Kaplinsky became only the third woman to present the BBC's Ten O'Clock News.
Kaplinsky was recruited from the corporation to join Five to help relaunch the channel. In a highly publicised move it was widely reported that her salary was upwards of £1,000,000 per annum.
Five News
On 18 February 2008, Kaplinsky relaunched Five, doubling viewing figures overnight.On 21 August 2008, Kaplinsky began her first maternity leave from Five, followed by a second period after the birth of her daughter.
On 14 October 2010, Kaplinsky announced that she was leaving her job at Channel 5 at the end of 2010, having spent most of her three years at the network on maternity leave. On 23 December 2010, she presented her final bulletin for Five News.
ITV
Kaplinsky's first presenting role with ITV was in the summer of 2011, when she hosted a new Sunday entertainment series Born to Shine, which raised awareness for the charity Save the Children, of which Natasha is an ambassador.On 19 August 2013, Kaplinsky presented The People's Medal, a documentary about The Queen's Birthday Honours List.
On 29 October 2013, Kaplinsky hosted the documentary On the Run, alongside journalist Mark Williams-Thomas. The pair then presented a second documentary, , on 12 November 2013.
Other television work
Kaplinsky has appeared on a number of light entertainment and factual programmes over the years. She hosted Children in Need with Terry Wogan, Have I Got News for You, and the BBC's New Year Live for many years and later the equivalent for ITV.She continues to work extensively for ITN Productions, recently re-signing another two year contract, and is committed to various filming projects.
''Strictly Come Dancing''
In 2004, Kaplinsky participated in the first series of the celebrity ballroom dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing and went on to win the competition with partner Brendan Cole. Kaplinsky then co-presented the first half of the second series in 2004 with Bruce Forsyth, when regular presenter Tess Daly went on maternity leave. Kaplinsky returned to the show in 2012, taking part in the Christmas Special and in 2018 as part of the BAFTA tribute to Sir Bruce Forsyth.| Week | Dance | Judges' scores | Total | Result |
| 1 | Cha-cha-cha / "Chain of Fools" | 7,7,8,5 | 27 | Safe |
| 2 | Quickstep / "The Lady is a Tramp" | 7,8,8,8 | 31 | Safe |
| 3 | Jive / "Jump, Jive and Wail" | 7,7,5,7 | 26 | Bottom two, saved by judges |
| 4 | Foxtrot / "The Girl from Ipanema" | 8,9,9,9 | 35 | Safe |
| 5 | Samba / "Love Is in the Air" | 9,10,9,9 | 37 | Safe |
| 6 | Tango / "Libertango" | 8,7,8,8 | 31 | N/A |
| 6 | Rumba / "Endless Love" | 9,9,9,9 | 36 | Safe |
| 7 | Waltz / "With You I'm Born Again" | 9,9,9,9 | 36 | N/A |
| 7 | Paso Doble / "O Fortuna" | 8,9,9,9 | 35 | Safe |
| 8 | Quickstep / "The Lady is a Tramp" | 9,9,9,9 | 36 | N/A |
| 8 | Samba / "Love Is in the Air" | 7,7,9,8 | 31 | N/A |
| 8 | Showdance / " The Time of My Life" | 8,9,9,9 | 35 | Won |
Personal life
On 21 August 2005, Kaplinsky married Justin Bower. In April 2008, Kaplinsky announced she was pregnant with their first child, six weeks after her debut on Five News. On 25 September 2008, Five News revealed that Kaplinsky had given birth to a son, whom she and Bower later named Arlo, over two weeks after he was born.On 9 April 2010 Kaplinksy gave birth to a daughter, Angelica Pearl Bower.
On 8 February 2011, Kaplinsky commented in a BBC radio interview on Steve Wright in the Afternoon that she and Bower had performed as disguised extras for the English National Ballet although she "had insisted that her name was not used in the programme". In the production of Romeo and Juliet, she had performed as "Wench number 7" at the London Coliseum.
Charity
Kaplinsky became a celebrity ambassador for the UK charity Save the Children in 2010. For over a decade she has been an active ambassador and fundraiser for Save the Children, travelling extensively for them around the world.She is a patron of the Bevern Trust and she is an ambassador for Wellbeing of Women. Kaplinsky is also Patron for the National Maternity Support Foundation and The Willow Foundation.
Kaplinsky volunteered to record 112 testimonies of Holocaust survivors who had never spoken before. She continues to serve as a board member for the Holocaust Memorial Foundation.
She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the Holocaust Commission.
In October 2018 Kaplinsky and Michael Sheen became vice presidents of the Royal Society for Public Health.
In July 2019, it was announced that Kaplinsky had taken on the role as Barnardo’s president. Kaplinsky was welcomed into this position at the annual Parliamentary reception by Javed Khan, CEO of Barnardo’s, as well as other celebrity champions. Kaplinsky said “I’m delighted to be joining Barnardo’s as the charity’s new President.
“There are so many challenges for children these days. It must be frightening growing up now. They have so many concerns, environmental changes, the internet, difficulties breaking into jobs, and believing they’ll never affording a house. It’s even harder for the most vulnerable children Barnardo’s supports – like children growing up in the care system.
“My aim is to visit as many services as I can and meet as many young people as possible to learn more about the challenges they face and how the charity is helping them.”