Christine Bleakley

Christine Bleakley (February 2, 1979) is a Northern Irish television presenter known for co-presenting The One Show on BBC One. She took part in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. Having started her career as a runner and then training to become floor manager working behind the scenes, whilst studying for her A-Levels at Bloomfield Collegiate School in Ballyhackamore, Belfast. She continued to work at BBC NI whilst studying for a politics degree. She did not complete her degree course, instead moving into television work full time. Bleakley began her career in media at Belfast Citybeat as a news reader and presenter from 1995 - 1997, she was one of the station's original presenters alongside Stephen Nolan, Chris Buckler and Stuart Robinson. She then moved into television with BBC Northern Ireland hosting a wide variety of shows and her biggest solo series was called Sky High which saw her flying around Northern Ireland in a helicopter in 2004. A weekly entertainment show called First Stop followed, while big one-off shows like Would You Pass The 11+ and Children in Need allowed her to develop her presenting skills. She also took part in a cookery show, "Spill the Beans"

Outside Northern Ireland, she co-hosted the BBC Two talent show Let Me Entertain You and since August 2007 she has been the co-host of The One Show on BBC One.

She is a patron of the CineMagic children's film festival and is Northern Ireland ambassador for The Prince's Trust.