Penny Smith Biography
Penny Smith is a British author, television host, newsreader, and radio host. She has appeared on Sky News, GMTV, Classic FM, BBC Radio London, TalkRadio, and is a regular contributor to TalkTV, which will debut in April 2022. Smith is the current host of Scala Radio’s weekday drivetime show, and her favorite classical composer is Giacomo Puccini.
How old is Penny Smith? – Age
She is 64 years old as of 21 September 2021. She was born in 1958 in Eastwood, United Kingdom. Her real name is Penelope Jane Smith.
Penny Smith Family – Education
Smith grew up in Rutland after being born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. She went to Uppingham Primary School and Rutland High School for Girls (later Rutland College) in Uppingham.
Penny Smith Husband
Her older sister married in January 1983 at Grantham register office; her sister studied clarinet at the Royal College of Music and married a guitarist. On Saturday, May 12, 1984, Smith married journalist Tony Birtley at St Wulfram’s Church in Grantham; the reception was held in Colsterworth; and the best man was Daily Star reporter George Dearsley.
The couple moved to Nassington in north-east Northamptonshire and married for three years before divorcing in 1987. In the 1980s, her parents, Graham and Christine, lived at Phaeton House, 59 High Street in Colsterworth; her father ran an engineering firm in Grantham before moving to Cyprus in the late 1980s. Among her ex-boyfriends are Rory Bremner and Paul McKenna. Smith has been in a long-term relationship with actor Vince Leigh since September 2001.
Penny Smith Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $5 Million.
Penny Smith GMTV
Along with Anne Davies, Matthew Lorenzo, and Ross Kelly, Smith launched her career on GMTV on April 19, 1993, serving as the program’s primary newsreader and serving as the show’s lead presenter of the Reuters News Hour. John Stapleton joined GMTV in 1998 and later collaborated with Penny to present the Reuters News Hour. GMTV rebranded all of its programs in 2000. Smith and John Stapleton took over as the primary GMTV Newshour presenters after Matt Lorenzo and Ross Kelly left, and they also took over as the primary newsreaders and replacement presenters for GMTV Today.
With a new studio and rebranding for all of its programs in 2009, GMTV underwent another relaunch. This meant that the GMTV Newshour and GMTV Today merged to form GMTV, with Penny and John hosting the first hour. Smith and Stapleton were the relaunch’s first faces and voices. Smith remained GMTV’s primary News Reader.
Smith’s Twitter account announced on March 3, 2010, that she had decided to leave the show after 17 years as the show’s main face. ITV claimed that this was part of a cost-cutting exercise. Smith’s final performance took place on June 4, 2010.
Penny Smith Career
Smith began her journalism career in 1977 as a reporter and feature writer for the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. She left after four years to backpack through Central and South America and Southeast Asia, where she reported and presented on current affairs show for Radio Television Hong Kong. She began her career as a reporter/presenter for Radio Trent in 1984 and later worked for Central Television as a press officer for documentaries and drama.
Smith then co-presented Lookaround, Border Television’s local evening news, before joining Thames Television in 1987 to co-present Thames News with Andrew Gardner.
Smith left the station near the end of 1988 to assist in the launch of Sky News in February 1989. She joined GMTV in April 1993 and remained there until June 4, 2010. Smith has also hosted Carlton’s Crime Net, Crime File, and Crime Fighters, LWT’s Crime Monthly and Britain’s Most Wanted, the BBC’s Going for a Song, and ITV’s Celebrity. She also co-hosted the 1995 season of The Krypton Factor with Gordon Burns. She made an appearance in Jonathan Creek’s “Satan’s Chimney” in 2001.
Smith appeared in the BBC One show Just the Two of Us in 2006. She performed with Curtis Stigers and was eliminated on March 3rd. She finished fourth. She later appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News for You in 2006. She also made an appearance in Garfield 2 while Garfield was watching TV.
She appeared as a panelist on the ITV1 daytime show Loose Women on several occasions in February 2009. Smith announced the Kiri Prize, a nationwide search for an opera star, on BBC Radio 2 in July 2010. Smith has also covered Claudia Winkleman’s Friday Night Arts Show on BBC Radio 2.
Smith co-hosted the weekday breakfast show on BBC London 94.9 from January 2013 to January 2016. Smith began hosting her first show on the digital radio station talkRADIO on March 26, 2016. She will continue to host the weekend breakfast show until February 2021. She began hosting the weekday drivetime show on Scala Radio in March 2021.