Anthea Turner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anthea Turner
Turner at a book signing in 2008
Born	(1960-05-25) 25 May 1960 (age 65) Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Occupation	Television presenter
Years active	1986-present
Notable credit(s)	Presenting: Blue Peter (1992–94) Top of the Pops (1988–91) GMTV (1994–96) Perfect Housewife (2006–07)
Spouse(s)	Peter Powell ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 1998)​ Grant Bovey ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2015)​
Family	Wendy Turner-Webster (sister)

Anthea Turner was born on May 25, 1960. She is a well-known English television presenter. She hosted the popular children's show Blue Peter from 1992 to 1994. Later, she presented GMTV from 1994 to 1996.

Early Life and Family

Anthea Turner grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. She went to St Dominic's Grammar School, a Roman Catholic girls' school in Stoke. Anthea was one of three daughters born to her parents, Brian and Jean Turner. Sadly, one of her sisters, Ruth, passed away when she was 15 years old. Her other sister, Wendy Turner-Webster, is also a television presenter.

Anthea Turner's TV Career

Anthea Turner started her career at BBC Radio Stoke. She began as a runner, helping with tasks behind the scenes. She then joined breakfast show presenter Bruno Brookes as part of his rap crew.

Early Television Work

Turner moved into television in July 1986. She presented live music shows for Sky Channel and Music Box until 1989. Her first appearance on national television was on the BBC show But First This. This led to her hosting two series of the Saturday morning show UP2U.

In 1989, Anthea had an accident during a motorbike stunt on UP2U. She suffered some burns and temporary hearing loss.

Hosting Popular Shows

From October 1988 to May 1991, Anthea presented Top of the Pops. For a year and a half of this time, she was the only regular presenter who was not a Radio 1 DJ.

Anthea became a presenter on the famous children's television show Blue Peter. She hosted the show from June 27, 1992, to June 29, 1994. Around this time, she also helped promote The Y Plan, an exercise program. After Blue Peter, she moved to Totally Live on the music channel Music Box. Then, she joined GMTV, where she presented from July 1994 to December 24, 1996.

Anthea was also one of the hosts for the very first National Lottery draw. This happened on BBC One on November 19, 1994. She hosted alongside Noel Edmonds and Gordon Kennedy. She continued to be the main host of The National Lottery Live until April 20, 1996. After that, she joined ITV to present the travel show Wish You Were Here...?

Later Career and Comebacks

In 2000, Anthea tried to restart her career. She presented a short-lived BBC One show called Your Kids Are in Charge with her sister Wendy. The next year, she took part in Celebrity Big Brother. She was the third person to leave the show.

In February 2006, Anthea made a television comeback on BBC Three. She starred in Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife. In this show, she taught people how to organize and clean their homes. Three books were also released based on the series. Later in 2006, she appeared as a guest on the music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks on BBC Two.

In April 2009, Anthea appeared on the ITV reality show Hell's Kitchen. She was on the show with her husband at the time, Grant Bovey. Anthea also presented Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested for BBC Three. In this show, she helped people whose homes were taken over by pests. In 2013, Anthea took part in the first series of the Channel 4 game show The Jump. This show featured twelve celebrities competing in winter sports in Austria.

On August 23, 2015, she became a host for The Health Lottery draws on Channel 5. She later appeared on a special celebrity episode of Channel 4's First Dates on October 12, 2015. This was to help raise money for Stand Up to Cancer.

In November 2017, Anthea appeared on the BBC show Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. In 2018, she was on the Channel 5 show Celebs in Solitary. For this show, she tried to spend five days alone in solitary confinement.

Dancing on Ice

In 2013, Anthea Turner was a contestant on the eighth series of Dancing on Ice. She finished in ninth place out of twelve celebrity skaters. Her professional skating partner was Andrew Buchanan. In the third week, she skated to the song "Puppy Love". She ended up in the skate-off against Keith Chegwin. Anthea and Andrew lost the skate-off and were the fourth couple to be eliminated from the series.

Personal Life

Anthea Turner's personal life has sometimes been discussed in the news. She married her manager, former DJ Peter Powell, in 1990. They divorced in 1998.

In 2000, Anthea married Grant Bovey. Anthea and Grant divorced in October 2015.

Books by Anthea Turner

Anthea Turner has also written several books:

• Underneath the Underground: The Ghost of Knightsbridge (1998) – written with Wendy Turner Webster
• Fools Rush In (2000)
• How to Be the Perfect Housewife: Lessons in the Art of Modern Household Management (2007)
• How to Be the Perfect Housewife: Entertain in Style (2008)
• The Perfect Christmas (2008)

Television Appearances

Main Roles

Guest Appearances