Anthea Turner
Encyclopedia
Anthea Millicent Turner (born 25 May 1960, Stoke-on-Trent
, Staffordshire
) is an English
television presenter and media personality.
as a runner, eventually joining breakfast show presenter Bruno Brookes
as part of his crew. The couple became romantically involved and employed Peter Powell
as an agent through his management company.
on the Saturday morning show Up2U.
The short-lived Saturday morning children's show UP2U
was a flop, and is chiefly remembered for a motorcycle
stunt that went wrong. Turner suffered burns and temporary hearing loss, which led to her successful lawsuit against the BBC.
She was the only non-Radio One
DJ to regularly present Top of the Pops
, remaining with the programme for three years.
in 1992, and around this time, was also associated with publicising 'The Y Plan
', a system of exercise developed by the London YMCA
. She moved on to presenting on Totally Live on pan-European music channel Music Box
, the ITV
morning television station GMTV
, as well as the first National Lottery
draw on BBC1 in 1994, and the ITV travel show Wish You Were Here...? She released two work-out videos: Anthea Turner Body Basics (1996) and Anthea Turner: Tone, Lift And Condition: The Inch Buster (1999), both produced and distributed by Grant Bovey.
The relationship between Turner and her GMTV co-presenter was frosty, with Holmes issuing an ultimatum to the GMTV management that he would leave if they did not sack his colleague; Turner lost her job. After Bovey left his wife Della for Turner, the ensuing tabloid interest, and then the "Flakegate" scandal (see below), Turner's career went into a decline.
Attempting to revive her career, Turner presented BBC1's short-lived Saturday evening programme Your Kids Are In Charge with her sister in 2000. The following year, she participated in Celebrity Big Brother
, and was the third contestant to be evicted, after Chris Eubank
and Vanessa Feltz
. But nothing seemed to work to erase the fallout from the media reaction to Flakegate, and in 2003 she came 15th in a Channel 4
poll of 100 Worst Britons.
in Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife
, where she taught disorganised housewomen and men how to clean and run their houses. The series was accompanied by three related books. Later in 2006, she appeared as a guest on BBC Two
's music-based panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks
. In April 2009 Turner appeared on the ITV reality show Hell's Kitchen with Marco Pierre White, alongside her husband Grant Bovey. Anthea also presented the show Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested
for BBC Three, as she tackles people whose homes have been overrun by pests. Since then she has appeared on Big Brother serving breakfast in bed to the finalists.
In 2010 Anthea has been starring in a new show Dinner Party Wars for Food Network Canada, where, together with chef Corbin Tomaszeski, they judge and rate couples putting on a dinner party.
, she married her manager, former DJ Peter Powell
; the couple divorced in 1998. That year, Turner's present husband, Grant Bovey, left his wife Della for her; he then reconciled with Della, before leaving her again. Bovey and Turner eventually married on 23 August 2000. On 23 February 2009, the Daily Mail
reported that their Surrey mansion had been put up for sale owing to catastrophic failures in Bovey's buy-to-let property business, Imagine Homes
. The newspaper reported Turner is making television commercials for household detergents to alleviate financial difficulties.
Turner is keen to start her own family with Bovey, but for various reasons, this has not yet been achieved. She is stepmother to Bovey's three daughters Lily, Amelia and Claudia, from his previous marriage.
in an exclusive deal worth £450,000, showed the couple (apparently) using their wedding to publicise a new Cadbury chocolate bar, Snowflake
. OK! issued the photo to the media with the caption "Anthea Turner and Grant Bovey: exclusive OK! wedding photograph, enjoying Cadbury's new Snowflake. For the complete wedding coverage and a free Cadburys Snowflake, buy OK! magazine this weekend. OK! First for celebrity news." The Sun
described it as "the most sickening wedding photo ever", and the event is now referred to as "Flakegate". Turner, Bovey, Cadbury's and OK! all denied that the chocolate was part of a sponsorship deal. The wedding was rumoured to have cost in excess of £150,000 which was paid for by OK! magazine. Pictures of their wedding and their subsequent honeymoon were in the magazine for the next two weeks. Turner and Bovey insist that someone had stuck the chocolate bar in her hand and snapped a picture before she knew what was happening. Richard Desmond
the proprietor of OK! and his wife were sitting next to the newly married Boveys at the time.
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
television presenter and media personality.
Education
Turner was educated at the independent St. Dominic's High School (since demolished) in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.Career
Turner joined BBC Radio StokeBBC Radio Stoke
BBC Radio Stoke is a BBC Local Radio station in England, for the area of North and Mid Staffordshire, north east Shropshire and South Cheshire. The station began broadcasting programmes on 14 March 1968 as BBC Radio Stoke-on-Trent....
as a runner, eventually joining breakfast show presenter Bruno Brookes
Bruno Brookes
Bruno Brookes is a British radio presenter who became prominent in the 1980s.-Early life and career:...
as part of his crew. The couple became romantically involved and employed Peter Powell
Peter Powell (disc jockey)
Peter Powell is a former disc jockey, popular on BBC Radio 1 in the late 1970s and 1980s, who has a second career in talent management.-Early career:...
as an agent through his management company.
Move to television
Turner moved into television through Sky Channel presenting live music programmes from July 1986 - 1989. Her debut on national television was with the BBC on But First This, which led to her fronting two series for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on the Saturday morning show Up2U.
The short-lived Saturday morning children's show UP2U
UP2U (BBC TV series)
UP2U was a summer Saturday morning children's magazine show produced and screened by the BBC in 1988 and 1989. It aired during the late summer of each year, the early summer having been taken up by On The Waterfront...
was a flop, and is chiefly remembered for a motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
stunt that went wrong. Turner suffered burns and temporary hearing loss, which led to her successful lawsuit against the BBC.
She was the only non-Radio One
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
DJ to regularly present Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, remaining with the programme for three years.
Blue Peter and GMTV
Turner began to present the children's television show Blue PeterBlue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
in 1992, and around this time, was also associated with publicising 'The Y Plan
The Y Plan
The Y Plan is an exercise programme devised by Lesley Mowbray and Jill Gaskell for the London YMCA, and very popular in United Kingdom during the 1990s. Emphasising short but regular workouts without any specialist equipment, the first book based on the programme, titled The Y Plan, was published...
', a system of exercise developed by the London YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
. She moved on to presenting on Totally Live on pan-European music channel Music Box
Music Box (TV)
Music Box Ltd. was a television production company that developed from a pioneering pan-European 24-hour cable and satellite channel that ran from March 1984 to 30 January 1987, originally one of three channels along with PREM1ERE and The Children's Channel, that formed Thorn EMI's venture into...
, the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
morning television station GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
, as well as the first National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
draw on BBC1 in 1994, and the ITV travel show Wish You Were Here...? She released two work-out videos: Anthea Turner Body Basics (1996) and Anthea Turner: Tone, Lift And Condition: The Inch Buster (1999), both produced and distributed by Grant Bovey.
The relationship between Turner and her GMTV co-presenter was frosty, with Holmes issuing an ultimatum to the GMTV management that he would leave if they did not sack his colleague; Turner lost her job. After Bovey left his wife Della for Turner, the ensuing tabloid interest, and then the "Flakegate" scandal (see below), Turner's career went into a decline.
Attempting to revive her career, Turner presented BBC1's short-lived Saturday evening programme Your Kids Are In Charge with her sister in 2000. The following year, she participated in Celebrity Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
, and was the third contestant to be evicted, after Chris Eubank
Chris Eubank
Chris Eubank, Lord of the Manor of Brighton is a retired British boxer who held world titles at middleweight and super middleweight...
and Vanessa Feltz
Vanessa Feltz
Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster and journalist. She currently presents an early morning radio show on BBC Radio 2, a mid morning phone-in show on BBC London 94.9. In 2011, she started hosting The Vanessa Show on Channel 5. The first series ended on June 24th...
. But nothing seemed to work to erase the fallout from the media reaction to Flakegate, and in 2003 she came 15th in a Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
poll of 100 Worst Britons.
Career revival
In February 2006, Turner made a television comeback on BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
in Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife
Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife
Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife is a reality show that ran on BBC Three from 2006 to 2007 and is hosted by Anthea Turner. In each episode, two housewives are introduced who have difficulties running their home efficiently. Anthea helps them by giving tips in the art of housekeeping, homemaking...
, where she taught disorganised housewomen and men how to clean and run their houses. The series was accompanied by three related books. Later in 2006, she appeared as a guest on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's music-based panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
. In April 2009 Turner appeared on the ITV reality show Hell's Kitchen with Marco Pierre White, alongside her husband Grant Bovey. Anthea also presented the show Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested
Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested
Help Me Anthea, I'm Infested is a 2007 factual entertainment television show produced by RDF Television for BBC Three, presented by Anthea Turner and Mark Coltman, a professional pest control expert...
for BBC Three, as she tackles people whose homes have been overrun by pests. Since then she has appeared on Big Brother serving breakfast in bed to the finalists.
In 2010 Anthea has been starring in a new show Dinner Party Wars for Food Network Canada, where, together with chef Corbin Tomaszeski, they judge and rate couples putting on a dinner party.
Personal life
Turner's private life has led the tabloids to take a continual interest in her. After her long relationship with fellow Stoke resident and one-time DJ co-worker Bruno BrookesBruno Brookes
Bruno Brookes is a British radio presenter who became prominent in the 1980s.-Early life and career:...
, she married her manager, former DJ Peter Powell
Peter Powell (disc jockey)
Peter Powell is a former disc jockey, popular on BBC Radio 1 in the late 1970s and 1980s, who has a second career in talent management.-Early career:...
; the couple divorced in 1998. That year, Turner's present husband, Grant Bovey, left his wife Della for her; he then reconciled with Della, before leaving her again. Bovey and Turner eventually married on 23 August 2000. On 23 February 2009, the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
reported that their Surrey mansion had been put up for sale owing to catastrophic failures in Bovey's buy-to-let property business, Imagine Homes
Imagine Homes
Imagine Homes Ltd was at one point one of the largest purchasers of residential property in the United Kingdom. Founded by CEO Grant Bovey in 2003, Imagine Homes began operating from offices in Kew, Surrey, with a total of four employees...
. The newspaper reported Turner is making television commercials for household detergents to alleviate financial difficulties.
Turner is keen to start her own family with Bovey, but for various reasons, this has not yet been achieved. She is stepmother to Bovey's three daughters Lily, Amelia and Claudia, from his previous marriage.
Controversies
In 2000, Turner received negative ad publicity from the tabloids when photographs of her wedding reception, published in the magazine OK!OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
in an exclusive deal worth £450,000, showed the couple (apparently) using their wedding to publicise a new Cadbury chocolate bar, Snowflake
Cadbury Snowflake
Cadbury Snowflake is a chocolate bar manufactured by Cadbury.Launched in 2000, it is a crumbly flaked white chocolate inside covered in smooth milk chocolate...
. OK! issued the photo to the media with the caption "Anthea Turner and Grant Bovey: exclusive OK! wedding photograph, enjoying Cadbury's new Snowflake. For the complete wedding coverage and a free Cadburys Snowflake, buy OK! magazine this weekend. OK! First for celebrity news." The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
described it as "the most sickening wedding photo ever", and the event is now referred to as "Flakegate". Turner, Bovey, Cadbury's and OK! all denied that the chocolate was part of a sponsorship deal. The wedding was rumoured to have cost in excess of £150,000 which was paid for by OK! magazine. Pictures of their wedding and their subsequent honeymoon were in the magazine for the next two weeks. Turner and Bovey insist that someone had stuck the chocolate bar in her hand and snapped a picture before she knew what was happening. Richard Desmond
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
the proprietor of OK! and his wife were sitting next to the newly married Boveys at the time.