BBC Breakfast hosts now – co-star affair rumours, cancer death and losing out on £300k

Mornings just wouldn’t be the same without BBC Breakfast – but do you know where some of the former presenters are now?

The popular morning news programme turns 40 years old today (January 17) and has been hosted by some of the biggest names in showbusiness since its launch in 1983.

After changing its name from BBC Breakfast Time to simply, BBC Breakfast, the programme has made household stars of celebrities including Louise Minchin, Dan Walker and Natasha Kaplinsky – to name a few.

READ MORE: BBC Breakfast hosts’ Christmas confessions – co-star dig, backstage secret and fan fury

To celebrate BBC Breakfast’s birthday, Daily Star takes a look at where some of the former presenters are now.

Natasha Kaplinsky

The early noughties saw a number of familiar faces sitting on the big red sofa in the BBC Studios, including Natasha Kaplinsky, between 2002 to 2005.

However, she first got her big break opposite Hollywood star Sacha Baron Cohen, after the pair presented Granada TV’s youth chat show F2F in 1996.

From there she presented the evening news for London Tonight, before joining Sky in 2000 and the BBC two years later.

However, the star left the BBC to relaunch Five News in 2008, before joining ITV News as a presenter in 2011.

She also made a memorable Strictly Come Dancing stint in 2004, and became the first star to win the series alongside professional dance partner Brendan Cole.

Along with her journalism career, Natasha has presented programmes including Born To Shine, The People’s Medal and Missing Without A Trace.

Since then, she has also been awarded an OBE for her services to the Holocaust Commission.

In her personal life, Natasha has been married to Justin Bower since 2005 and they have two children together.

Natasha also famously faced the first ‘Strictly curse’ affair rumours, as she and professional dancer Brendan Cole were reported to be seeing each other behind the back of his co-star partner Camilla Dallerup.

Both Brendan and Natasha denied the affair, he told the Daily Mail: “I’ve never talked about what relationship Natasha and I had on the show. What I did learn is that Strictly is not reality. It’s a television show where emotions are very much heightened.”

“I didn’t cross any lines with Natasha. I was single. Camilla had ended the relationship very early on in the series so what happened happened after that.

“It was a harrowing time – winning the show as much as my friendship with Natasha. On the other hand it was like, Holy Moses. It can ruin a marriage so easily.”

But Camilla said in 2015: “To this day I have no idea whether it was her fame and celebrity that swept him away or if he really did feel a strong connection with her.

“I’m guessing it was probably a bit of both. It felt as if the fact that we’d just got engaged meant nothing to either of them.

“What was really hurtful was not just that Brendan appeared to have forgotten he was engaged, the entire nation seem to have forgotten he was engaged.”

Susanna Reid

Long before Susanna Reid was a presenter for Good Morning Britain, the star was a long-term presenter on BBC Breakfast between 2006 to 2014.

However, her career could have taken a completely different path, as Susanna was a child actress and appeared in a stage production of Agatha Christie’s Spiders Web, as well as starring in 1985’s The Price on Channel 4.

Susanna later moved into journalism, where she began her career on radio at BBC Radio Bristol in the early nineties, before joining BBC News 24 and later read headlines on The Andrew Marr Show.

Like her BBC Breakfast co-star Natasha Kaplinsky, Susanna also strutted her stuff on the Strictly dancefloor in 2013, and came runner up alongside dance partner Kevin Clifton.

However in 2014, Susanna made the move to front ITV’s Good Morning Britain, where she can regularly be seen alongside Ben Shepherd.

Another of her former co-hosts was Piers Morgan, who departed GMB in 2021 following comments he made about Meghan Markle.

Following Piers’ departure from GMB, Susanna opened up about her close friendship with the presenter, telling Fabulous Magazine: “We stay in touch and he’s a really important person in my life. We had such an amazing time and that was an incredible dynamic.”

She added: “All presenting gigs come to an end at some point, don’t they? As they will for all of us. He’s a friend of mine and that won’t change.”

In her personal life, Susanna was in a relationship with sport correspondent Dominic Reid for more than 16 years, before the couple decided to part ways in 2014.

Together they have three children.

That’s not all, as Susanna also has a close bond with TV icon Judge Robert Rinder in real life, and have regularly been seen together on Celebrity Gogglebox.

They also revealed that they regularly go on holiday together – although they keep the locations a secret until they have returned home.

Speaking to Closer magazine about their friendship, Judge Rinder said: “I love to go away with Susanna once a year. We have more plans to go away, but I won’t say where.”

Bill Turnbull

Another familiar face to present BBC Breakfast for more than a decade was Bill Turnbull between 2001 to 2016.

After making his journalism debut on Radio Clyde in 1978, he moved to the BBC in 1986, where he became a favourite among generations of viewers.

That’s not all, as he also appeared as himself on game show Schools Out, children’s series SMart and Celebrity Mastermind, where his specialist subject was beekeeping.

He also joined his BBC co-star Louise Minchin for the Children In Need series Around the World in 80 Days with Breakfast, and made a guest appearance as himself in the Doctor Who episode, The Wedding of River Song.

After leaving BBC Breakfast, he also became a presenter on radio station Classic FM.

However, shortly after his appearance on The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer, the star was diagnosed with prostrate cancer and shared the news publicly in 2018.

He later presented the Channel 4 documentary – Bill Turnbull: Staying Alive – where he could be heard saying: “I’m not dying yet, I just don’t feel that way.

“I understand that I may succumb to the disease eventually and that’s a very real possibility, a probability. But not for some time.”

In October 2021, Bill later announced that he was taking a leave of absence from his Classic FM show, before the beloved TV star sadly died on August 31, 2022 at the age of 66 years old.

The sad news of his death was confirmed by his family in a poignant statement, saying: “Following a challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer, Bill passed away peacefully at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family on Wednesday, 31st August.”

Along with describing Bill as a “remarkable broadcaster”, the statement continued: “He was also a devoted Wycombe Wanderers fan and an ever-aspiring beekeeper.

“Bill was a wonderful husband and father to his three children; his family and friends will miss how he always made them laugh, and the generosity and love he shared with those around him.

“Bill was a wonderful husband and father to his three children; his family and friends will miss how he always made them laugh, and the generosity and love he shared with those around him.”

Bill’s BBC Breakfast co-stars paid tribute to the presenter, with Naga Munchetty announcing the news of his death on air.

Speaking about the presenter, she said: “Of course all of us here sending love and support to Bill’s family, to Sesi his wife, and I think today after we’ve gotten over the shock of this, we will start remembering the really funny things that Bill did.

“Just like when I presented with him, his energy was amazing. He came into this programme and threw everything at it, every single day.

“He was funny when we sat here on the sofa, he was a brilliant journalist, and he loved this programme and he loved serving you, the audience. So I’m sure you will miss him, but we certainly will too.”

Mishal Husain

Joining Bill Turnbull for BBC Breakfast between 2003 to 2006 was Mishal Husain.

The presenter began her career as a reporter for The News, while completing work experience placements at the BBC, before lading her first role as a junior producer for the broadcaster’s 24 hour news channel.

Since then, she has continued to work for the broadcaster by presenting the BBC News At Ten, BBC World News, The Andrew Marr Show and BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.

She also followed in co-host Bill Turnbull’s footsteps by appearing on Celebrity Mastermind in 2010, where her specialist subject was the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.

Mishal is also an ambassador for the charity Mosaic, and was given the Services to Media award at the British Muslim Awards in 2014.

Away from the limelight, the journalist has been married to husband Meekal Hashmi since 2003 and the couple have three children together.

Dan Walker

Dan Walker is one of the most recent BBC Breakfast stars to have left the programme, after becoming a co-host between 2016 to 2022.

After launching his career at Sheffield’s Hallam FM, he became a sports commentator for Manchester’s Key 103, before joining BBC North West Tonight.

He later took over presenting the BBC’s Football Focus in 2009 and Afternoon Edition on BBC Radio 5 Live, until taking over from Bill Turnbull on the BBC Breakfast sofa.

However in 2022, the star left the BBC to become one of the news anchors for Five News.

Away from journalism, Dan also made a memorable appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 alongside professional partner Nadiya Bychkova – before the couple were eliminated in week 11.

In his personal life, Dan has been married to his wife Sarah since 2001, and the couple share three children together, as well as their adorable rescue dog.

However, he took to social media to joke that he had landed in hot water with his wife and was not allowed to make film suggestions, saying in one amusing Instagram post: “Just watched #Tenet with Mrs Walker… or at least we think we did!

“I have no idea what it was about. My wife has banned me from making film suggestions for at least six months.”

As well as being a football fanatic, Dan is also a keen golfer, with the star admitting to the Daily Mail just how close he came to winning an impressive £300,000 at a charity golfing event.

“That was the prize money for a hole in one. Using a 4-iron I hit the ball perfectly and it drifted nicely, landed and should have run on, but it stopped dead two feet short of the flag.”

Daily Star reported that the presenter has also spoken openly about his Christian faith, saying that it is “strong”, and continues to be an “important part” of his life.

Louise Minchin

BBC Breakfast viewers were regularly welcomed by Dan Walker and Louise Minchin on the big red sofa, with Louise presenting the programme between 2012 to 2021.

Like many of her BBC Breakfast co-stars, Louise began her career at the broadcaster, presenting the news for BBC World Service and The Today Programme, before becoming a presenter on the BBC News Channel.

Louise also made guest appearances as herself reading the news on TV series including Spooks, Silent Witness and the Torchwood mini-series Children of the Earth.

She has also presented Real Rescues with Nick Knowles, consumer programme You and Yours and competed on Celebrity Masterchef.

Following her departure from BBC Breakfast, Louise continues to freelance for the broadcaster and also appeared on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2021, where she came in seventh place.

Louise is also a keen athlete and regularly competes in marathons, but in 2020, the star suffered a horrific foot injury while training for the Norseman marathon.

She later had to take time off from BBC Breakfast to undergo an operation, but later returned to her presenting role.

Louise has also earned praise for speaking openly about her own experiences with the menopause, in order to raise awareness, saying how she suffered hot flushes while presenting BBC Breakfast.

Daily Star reported Louise as saying: “I started the menopause at 45-46 and talking about it happened because at work, sitting on a sofa under hot lights for three and quarter hours, as a peri-menopausal woman has different challenges.

“It was mostly about keeping the studio ice cold.”

Away from the cameras, Louise lives in a stunning home in Cheshire with husband David Minchin, who she married in 1998, and their two daughters.

The family also have a Labrador called Waffle and two miniature Shetland ponies called Hollie and Muffin.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk