Penny Smith

Penelope Jane Smith (born 21 September 1958, in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire) is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for her work on the breakfast TV show GMTV. She has previously worked for Sky News and Classic FM.

She attended Uppingham CE Primary School on Belgrave Road in Uppingham and the Rutland High School for Girls (became Rutland Sixth Form College, then Rutland College) on Barleythorpe Lane in Oakham. She was a fan of folk music and regularly sang at folk clubs. She worked as an au pair in Belgium, where she gained four stone in three months.

Penny Smith co-presents `GMTV` (Monday-Friday 6.00am - 7.00am) with John Stapleton. She is also the stations main newsreader. She joined the breakfast television station in April 1993.

Penny began her career as a reporter and feature writer on the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. After four years, she left to backpack through Central and South America and South East Asia where she reported and presented on a current affairs programme for Radio Television Hong Kong.

In l984 she joined Radio Trent as a reporter/presenter and then worked for Central Television as press officer for documentaries and drama. After that she co-presented the local evening news for Border Television and after a year she co-presented Thames News with Andrew Gardner. Penny then moved to Sky News before becoming presenter of GMTV`s 'News Hour'.

Penny has also presented 'I Want It Now' and 'Going For A Song' for the BBC and 'Celebrity' for ITV. Radio work includes presenting shows on Classic FM and LBC. Penny has written for a number of national newspapers and magazines, including columns in the Daily Mail and First magazine. Her first novel, 'Coming Up Next' was published in the summer of 2008 and her second is due in the summer of 2009.

Penny has produced three yoga videos, 'Penny Smith's Power Yoga', `Penny Smith's Essential Guide to Yoga' and 'Penny Smith's Yoga Masterclass'. In February 2006 she took part in BBC1`s prime-time reality show `Just The Two Of Us`.

Penny`s passions include yoga, opera, tennis and hiking.

Smith married journalist Tony Birtley in May 1984 in Grantham, but they divorced in 1987. She counts Rory Bremner and Paul McKenna among her ex-boyfriends. Her boyfriend of the last four years is actor Vince Leigh. In 2000 she was voted the 92nd sexiest woman in the world by readers of FHM magazine. She is good friends with Mariella Frostrup and lives in Notting Hill. Smith's passions are opera, tennis, hiking and yoga. She presented an opera show on Classic FM, and has produced three yoga videos: "Penny Smith's Power Yoga", "Penny Smith's Essential Guide to Yoga" and "Penny Smith's Yoga Masterclass".