Ellie Harrison (journalist)
 |
Ellie Harrison | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eleanor Harrison 17 November 1977 |
| Nationality | English |
| Education | Sir William Romney's School, Tetbury |
| Alma mater | King's College London |
| Occupation | Television presenter |
| Employer | Freelance |
| Known for | Countryfile Daily Planet Michaela's Wild Challenge Secret Britain |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Partner | Matt Goodman since 2005 |
| Children | 2 daughters, 1 son |
Eleanor "Ellie" Harrison (born 17 November 1977) is an English television presenter, best known for co-presenting Countryfile since 2009.
Early life
Born to a father who was a carpenter, Harrison grew up in rural Gloucestershire close to Cirencester, where the family grew their own fruit and vegetables and kept chickens. She was educated at Sir William Romney's School, Tetbury.[1]
Whilst studying geography at King's College London, she was in a relationship with Nathan Hutchings, son of actor Geoffrey Hutchings. Through his father, Hutchings had contacts in Zimbabwe from the shooting of the Clint Eastwood film White Hunter Black Heart, which allowed the couple to visit the country, where Harrison gained her interest in wildlife. She graduated with BA in Ecology and Geography from King's College, London in 2000.[1]
Career
Whilst exploring a career as a country singer, Harrison undertook a series of temporary jobs to support her life, ending up as a secretary at Channel 5. Picked from a line-up to host the children's show Milkshake!, she turned it down, but a year later was chosen to fill in for Michaela Strachan's maternity leave, presenting Michaela's Wild Challenge for over a year, during which time the show won a children's BAFTA. After this, she became a freelance television presenter, presenting across the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the Discovery Channel.
Harrison currently provides filmed reports or is a presenter on various TV shows, including: Countryfile, Country Tracks, The Great British Winter and The One Show for the BBC; and Daily Planet for the Discovery Channel.[2][3]
In December 2014, Harrison took over as president of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust from Sir Henry Elwes.[4]
Since 2015, she has co-presented Secret Britain on BBC One. In 2015, she presented Dinosaur Britain, a two-part documentary for ITV. In 2016, she presented Britain's Sharks and Britain's Whales, also for ITV. She is currently on Maternity Leave but appeared at Countryfile Live at Blenheim in August and Countryfile Ramble for Children in Need in Edinburgh on Saturday 8th October 2016.
Personal life
Since 2005, Harrison has been engaged to doctor Matthew Goodman with whom she has two daughters and a recently born son.[5][6] The family live in Gloucestershire.
References
- ^ a b "TV presenter helps her old school mark 400 years". Gloucestershire Echo. 29 September 2010.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Ellie Harrison at IMDb.
- ^ "Presenters". Wild About Your Garden. BBC.
- ^ "Countryfile host Ellie Harrison is Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust president". BBC News. 3 December 2014.
- ^ (Daily Express 040816)
- ^ "Ellie Harrison predicts Countryfile axe as popular host claims 'hot' new replacement is 'inevitable'". Retrieved 16 May 2016.