Hazel Irvine

Hazel Irvine (born 24 May 1965), is a British television presenter.^[2]

Life and career

Irvine was born in St Andrews, Scotland. Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an M.A. in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and competed in golf, netball and athletics at university level. In her final year she was Senior Student of Hamilton Hall. She began her broadcasting career in radio, before moving to work for Scottish Television in 1988 as a continuity announcer and latterly, as a sports reporter/presenter. This led to slots on the national ITV network co-presenting coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics alongside Dickie Davies, and presenting reports from the Scotland football team's training camp at the 1990 World Cup.

Irvine joined the BBC in 1990, working as presenter on BBC Scotland's Sportscene programme and becoming the youngest-ever presenter of the BBC's flagship sports programme Grandstand on 19 June 1993. In 1994, Irvine co-hosted the BBC's Hogmanay Live, and in 1995 she introduced coverage of the FIFA Women's World Cup and began reporting for Football Focus. Irvine has presented for the BBC at every Summer Olympics since Atlanta 1996, as well as the Winter Olympics and four Football World Cup tournaments, and in December 1996 became the lead presenter of Ski Sunday, initially with Julian Tutt, but then alone from 1997. She has also been the regular presenter of the World Snooker Championship and regularly presented the sports news on major BBC evening news bulletins, as well as reporting on events such as Wimbledon and the London Marathon.

In August 2008, Irvine presented Olympic Breakfast as well as being one of the commentators for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She reprised these roles for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Irvine also presented BBC coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics, and anchored the BBC1 coverage of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She also presented the BBC coverage of 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Away from television, Irvine is the honorary president of the Dumbarton F.C. Supporters' Association and also works as a media-trainer and after-dinner speaker.

Personal life

Irvine married her long term partner at a private ceremony in Scotland in 2008.^[3] The couple live in London with their daughter.

References

External links

• BBC Press Office Profile
• Images
• Media Training with Hazel Irvine
• Marriage