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Jan Leeming

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Jan Leeming
Jan Leeming with a three-year-old cheetah in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, South Africa
Born
Janet Dorothy Atkins

(1942-01-05) 5 January 1942 (age 82)
Dartford, Kent, England
Occupation(s)TV presenter and newsreader.
Children1
Websitewww.jan-leeming.com

Jan Leeming (born Janet Dorothy Atkins; 5 January 1942) is an English TV presenter and newsreader.

Early life

Born in Kent, England,[1] and educated at the Assumption Convent, Charlton & St. Joseph's Convent Grammar School, Abbey Wood.

Career

Presenter and actress

She worked as an actress and presenter in Australia and New Zealand before becoming a well-known face on British television in regional and children's programmes. An early UK TV role came in the BBC sitcom Hugh and I in December 1966[2]. In 1969, she joined the presenting team of BBC1's Tom Tom, which she co-hosted until 1970[3]. In 1976, she fronted the 10-part BBC2 handicraft series Knitting Fashion[4] which was repeated several times through to 1978 and from 1977, she was the anchor of the BBC's regional programme Zodiac & Co for the South West area[5], switching to the Midlands for the regional show Midlands Tonight in 1979[6]. Leeming began a long stint presenting the Monday-Friday BBC One afternoon show Pebble Mill at One between 1976 and 1979, during which time she also often co-presented Radio 4's Woman's Hour[7]. Leeming also presented music and entertainment programming, including both Miss England 1979[8] and Miss United Kingdom 1979[9], as well as BBC Radio 2's You And The Night And The Music[10]. Beginning in April 1980, she became one of the United Kingdom's best-known newsreaders across the BBC and also hosted the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest.

She has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the newsroom in 1987,[11] with bit parts and one-off specials including as a stand-in newsreader for the Channel 4's breakfast show The Big Breakfast during the 1990s. Her most recent appearances include one as herself in the film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?, starring Tom Courtenay, in 1999; and latterly on The Harry Hill Show; So Graham Norton; Lowri; Good Morning Australia; Esther and Through the Keyhole. At the Barbican she presented the RAF concert to mark the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Since 2000 much of her time has been spent in corporate work and her longtime passion working with a cheetah conservation charity in South Africa. She appeared in Safari School, a reality television series, which was first broadcast on BBC Two during January and February 2007.

In February 2010, Leeming appeared in a special celebrity episode of the dining programme Come Dine with Me for Channel 4.

I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

In November 2006, Leeming was a contestant on the sixth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on ITV. Leeming has done a record number of six 'Bush Tucker' trials. For one of the trials, Leeming volunteered and for the other five she was voted to do them by the British public. Some of her trials have included being lowered into a dark tunnel with various unpleasant creatures, shut in a box amongst snakes, jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet to catch falling stars and perhaps one of the most disgusting trials: having to eat various insects and Australian delicacies to win food for camp. During that trial, Leeming ate a vomit fruit and a witchety grub smoothie. However, she refused to eat a kangaroo's eye, tongue, anus and reproductive organs. Leeming was evicted on the 19th day of the series where she came 6th.

Searching for René

2013 Jan researched, wrote and presented a Documentary on WW2 Free French Pilot - René Mouchotte. BBC 1 South East 'Inside Out' Currently considering writing a book about her 6 year extensive Search. Through her research she met the Director of the Allied Air Forces Museum at Elvington near York [12] - Ian Reed was able to source historic material which greatly added to Jan's programme. She is now a Vice President of the Museum and though she cannot take you to the full Documentary, you can see a taster which was made with the help of Museum Director Ian Reed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqYgJGcH7Ak

The Real Marigold Hotel

In January and February 2016, Leeming appeared in the three-part BBC series The Real Marigold Hotel, which followed a group of celebrity senior citizens including Miriam Margolyes and Wayne Sleep on a journey to India.[13] In December 2017, she also appeared in the second season of The Real Marigold on Tour to Havana.[14]

Celebrity First Dates

Broadcast on 2 November 2017, Jan took part in a special celebrity edition of Channel 4's First Dates, in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.[15]

Money for Nothing

Celebrity edition. Jan donated the money raised to the Brooke Sanctuary

Marigolds on Tour - Cuba

Jan joined Miriam Margolyes, Wayne Sleep and Bobby George in BBC 1 programme 'Marigolds on Tour' [16] when they visited Cuba to look at how Cubans treat their elderly and the way the elderly spend their retirement. She also salsa-ed the night away and went on a date with a local.

Personal life

Leeming has been married five times:

  1. BBC sound engineer John Staple, in 1961 - Marriage failed and Leeming left UK 1962
  2. Estate agent Jeremy Gilchrist. Met in 1969 Married 1972.
  3. BBC Radio 2 announcer and news reader Patrick Lunt (1980–1983). Leeming and Lunt had one child Jonathan in 1981.[17]
  4. Met RAF Red Arrows manager Eric Steenson 1983. Married 1988-1997. Leeming became stepmother to Steenson's two children.
  5. Kent headmaster Chris Russell in 1997 - Divorced 2002

On 22 August 2007, Leeming was a special guest in an episode of the live television programme Doctor, Doctor broadcast on channel Five, in which she talked with the presenter and GP Mark Porter about the clinical depression that she used to suffer from. She reported that she had been free of depression for about 10 years since recovering with counselling, medical help, and by taking Prozac antidepressant tablets.

On 23 September 2008, Leeming appeared on MSN Entertainment stating she had joined a dating agency website.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.jan-leeming.com/biography
  2. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/8dd10afa920944dd8ecd22b135c273dd
  3. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/72239b712e444909a587fa1fbff8bfd9
  4. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9d24507ed4414a5e836fa48da72f164a
  5. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5c2aa2c7a4f4443b94924b1a38c4aee4
  6. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2d252cb831434406951ba6d66a9fbec3
  7. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/18d4caf35bc34cddbce0d2fecce37b21
  8. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/1a50b2bc5598402c8698430a5a1b2b20
  9. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f3230567fda843599a74b0cf1a0337ae
  10. ^ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3a28b93dbf09413e85d7e85c1cfcd927
  11. ^ L is for ... – tv.cream.org
  12. ^ http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9444702.Museum_role_for_Jan_Leeming/
  13. ^ BBC
  14. ^ BBC
  15. ^ "Celebrity First Dates with Roman Kemp, Sinitta and Michael Fabricant: Everything you need to know". Evening Standard. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  16. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09hztft
  17. ^ Jan Leeming interview – Daily Mirror
  18. ^ "Entertainment news | Celebrity, movies, TV and gaming | MSN UK". MSN. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest presenter
1982 		Succeeded by
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