Biography

Natasha Margaret Kaplinsky (born 9 September 1972) 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 2001 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 (now known as Channel 5), 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 light entertainment and factual programmes during her career, including Children in Need and Born to Shine. She was also the subject of the most highly rated Who Do You Think You Are. She was 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.

In 2022, she became the latest president of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), after the former president, Patrick Swaffer, stepped down after a 10-year contract.