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Gloria Hunniford

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Gloria Hunniford
OBE
Hunniford in 2011
Born
Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford

(1940-04-10) 10 April 1940 (age 84)
Portadown, Northern Ireland, U.K.
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Television and radio presenter, singer
Years active1969–present
TelevisionOpen House with Gloria Hunniford
Rip Off Britain
Loose Women
Spouses
Don Keating
​
​
(m. 1970; div. 1992)​
Stephen Way
​
​
(m. 1998; died 2024)​
Children3; including Caron Keating

Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a British television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer originally from Northern Ireland. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as Rip Off Britain, and her regular appearances as a panellist on Loose Women. She has been a regular reporter on This Morning and The One Show. She also had a singing career between the 1960s and 1980s.

Early life

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Gloria Hunniford was born in Portadown, into a Protestant family. Her father, a magician,[1] was a member of the Orange Order.[2] She had an older sister, Lena and a younger brother, Charles.[3] In her teens, she spent some time in Kingston, Ontario, Canada,[4] a period she considers very important in broadening her outlook.[5]

Career

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Television

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After starting off as a singer, Hunniford worked as a production assistant for UTV in Belfast then as a local radio broadcaster for the BBC; it was at UTV that she met her first husband Don Keating, a Catholic.[6] In the 1970s and 1980s, she was the presenter of Good Evening Ulster and on the ITV Network Sunday Sunday and We Love TV. She has also appeared on many programmes over the years including Lily Savage's Blankety Blank[7] and on Call My Bluff. She also appeared on Blankety Blank with Bradley Walsh in 2021.

Hunniford recorded two albums that were released in the 1970s. In 1985, she sang at the Royal Variety Performance. As part of the film musicals theme, she sang "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane, as originally performed by Doris Day.[8]

In 1995, Hunniford became one of the presenters of the long-running BBC chat show series Pebble Mill at One where she also presented a special one-off episode interviewing Doris Day.

From 1998 to 2003, Hunniford presented Open House with Gloria Hunniford for Channel 5. In August 2010, she appeared as a panellist/presenter on the ITV daytime programme 3@Three.[9]

Since 2009, Hunniford has co-presented Rip Off Britain, a consumer complaints programme on BBC One with Angela Rippon and, for the first two series, Jennie Bond,[10] and then, for the third series, with Julia Somerville replacing Bond.[11] Together, the trio of Hunniford, Rippon and Somerville also presented Charlie's Consumer Angels.[12]

In 2012, Hunniford presented the BBC One documentary series Doorstep Crime 999.

From 8 September 2014, Hunniford became a regular panellist on ITV chat show Loose Women.[13] She was previously a guest panellist in 2003. She has guest anchored the show on 4 occasions between October 2014 and August 2016.

In 2014, Hunniford presented the first series of BBC One programme Home Away from Home. Gyles Brandreth presented the second series. She has also presented three series of Food: Truth or Scare with Chris Bavin from 2016.

In January 2022, Hunniford appeared on the third series of The Masked Singer as "Snow Leopard". She was second to be unmasked.[14]

Strictly Come Dancing

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Main article: Strictly Come Dancing

In 2005, Hunniford appeared in the third series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, dancing with Darren Bennett and was eliminated from the competition on the third week.

Guest appearances

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Hunniford has appeared on numerous programmes including Gloria Live, Wogan, Holiday, Songs of Praise, That's Showbusiness, Kilroy and Sunday, Sunday.

In 2008, Hunniford was a regular panellist on Through the Keyhole and was a celebrity homeowner on an episode in 2018. On 27 September 2013, Hunniford appeared on an episode of Piers Morgan's Life Stories. On 28 January 2014, Hunniford took part in an episode of Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?[15]

Radio

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Hunniford had her own daily radio show on BBC Radio 2, starting with the lunchtime show in January 1982[16] before moving to an afternoon slot between 2.00pm and 3.30pm in January 1984, where she remained for 11 years until April 1995, when she was replaced by Debbie Thrower. Hunniford also hosted Sounding Brass, a music phone-in request programme with a live brass band, devised by radio producer Owen Spencer-Thomas.[17]

Other work

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Hunniford has made a health and exercise video called Fit for Life. She also has written an Irish recipe book with her sister Lena, Gloria Hunniford's Family Cookbook.

Charity involvements

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Hunniford is a Patron of Hope for Tomorrow, a UK charity providing Mobile Cancer Care Units (MCCUs).[18] Hunniford is also a patron of The Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks, a not-for-profit charity and a welcoming community arts venue with a 451 seat theatre, two cinema screens, alternative performance studio and meeting rooms. Any surplus revenue is reinvested back into the business and building ensuring these facilities are available in the heart of Sevenoaks Town.[19]

Personal life

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Hunniford was married to Don Keating, who was English but had Irish Catholic roots, from 1970 to 1992. They had a daughter, Caron Keating, and two sons, Paul and Michael.[20] Don Keating died in 1997.

On 5 September 1998, she married hairdresser Stephen Way at parish church St Peter's, Hever, Kent. He died, aged 85, on 13 August 2024.[21]

She lives in Sevenoaks, Kent.[22]

In June 2022, Hunniford suffered a fall at home, breaking a bone under her eye.[23] As a result, she did not take part in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.[24]

Caron Keating

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Hunniford's daughter Caron Keating (5 October 1962 – 13 April 2004) died of breast cancer in Kent. Hunniford set up a cancer charity in her daughter's name, the Caron Keating Foundation.[25]

Hunniford was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to cancer charities.[26]

Political views

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On The Alan Titchmarsh Show on 6 May 2011, Hunniford revealed her support for David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government, describing herself as "a bit of a David Cameron fan", although she criticised the government's decision to continue giving aid to Pakistan when it was making cuts in the UK.[citation needed]

In August 2014, Hunniford was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[27]

Filmography

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Television
Year Show Role Note(s)
1978–1987 Good Evening Ulster Presenter
1982–1990 Sunday, Sunday Presenter
1984–86 We Love TV Presenter
1988, 1992–93 Eurovision Song Contest Previews Presenter
1995 Pebble Mill At One Presenter
1998–2002 Open House with Gloria Hunniford Presenter
2003, 2014— Loose Women Guest panellist (2003) Guest Anchor (2014–2016)
Regular panellist (2014—)
2004–05, 2011 This Morning Guest presenter Newspaper reviewer
2005 Strictly Come Dancing Contestant
2009 The One Show Guest presenter Regular contributor and reporter
2010 3@Three Panellist
2009— Rip Off Britain Presenter
2012 Doorstep Crime 999 Presenter
2013— The Travelling Picture Show Presenter Broadcast in Northern Ireland
2014 Home Away From Home Presenter 1 series
2016— Food: Truth or Scare Co-presenter 3 series; with Chris Bavin
2017 When Chat Shows Go Horribly Wrong Narrator 1 episode
Britain's Home Truths Presenter 1 episode
2018 Get Away for Winter Narrator 1 series
2022 The Masked Singer Contestant (Snow Leopard mask) 2 episode; season 3
2023 B&B by the Sea Herself 1 episode[28]

Discography

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Albums

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  • That's How I Spell I.R.E.L.A.N.D. (1970), Outlet
  • Good Evening...Gloria Hunniford (1979), Release
  • A Taste of Hunni (1982), Ritz (compilation)

Singles

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  • "Are You Ready for Love" (1969), Metronome
  • "Give the Children Back Their Childhood" (1979), Release
  • "True Love" (1987), Honey Bee – Foster & Allen with Gloria Hunniford
  • "Give the Children Back Their Childhood" (1988), Ocean
  • "Pudsey's Picnic" (1989), President – Gloria Hunniford, Adrian Love & Graham Dolby

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sunday Express Magazine, 'I don't think of myself as a trailblazer', London, 23 January 2022, page 16.
  2. ^ "Liverpool Echo: Latest Liverpool and Merseyside news, sports and what's on". liverpoolecho.
  3. ^ Webber, Interview by Richard (25 April 2014). "Gloria Hunniford | My family values". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Moving to Canada as teen broadened my horizons, says TV presenter Gloria Hunniford". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  5. ^ 'Moving to Canada as a teen broadened my horizons, says TV presenter Gloria Hunniford'. Sunday Life", 29 August 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022
  6. ^ 'Portadown born star Gloria Hunniford "thrilled" at being awarded Freedom of the Borough of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon'. Northern Ireland World, 21 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022
  7. ^ Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. 17 June 2001. ITV.
  8. ^ Charity, Royal Variety. "Performances :: 1985, London Theatre Royal | Royal Variety Charity". www.royalvarietycharity.org. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  9. ^ 3@Three Presspack, ITV Press Centre, 26 July 2010 Archived 25 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Angela Rippon Rip Off Britain" 14 November 2010, TV Choice Magazine
  11. ^ "BBC One – Rip Off Britain". Bbc.co.uk. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Charlie's Consumer Angels". YouTube. 25 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  13. ^ Jack Klompus (4 September 2014). "Judy Finnigan returning to TV as Loose Women panellist". Digital Spy.
  14. ^ "The Masked Singer UK unmasks the second celebrity in series 3". Digital Spy. 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  15. ^ 8.00pm – 9.00pm (28 January 2014). "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Episode 1 | presscentre". Itv.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "BBC Genome Project". Gloria Hunniford. 18 January 1982. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  17. ^ BBC London Homepage URL accessed 13 June 2008.
  18. ^ Lee, Nina. "Celebrating two years of bringing Chemotherapy into the Community in east Kent". www.ekhuft.nhs.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  19. ^ https://stagsevenoaks.co.uk/ [bare URL]
  20. ^ "Mixed emotions for Gloria Hunniford as son weds at church where Caron buried". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Gloria Hunniford says death of husband Stephen Way will leave 'enormous void'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 14 August 2024. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Gloria Hunniford opens new Sevenoaks garden". Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Gloria Hunniford rushed to hospital after breaking bone in her face in fall". Yahoo News. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  24. ^ Gloria Returns To The Panel & Opens Up About Breaking A Bone Under Eye In Nasty Fall – Loose Women, 22 June 2022, retrieved 25 June 2022
  25. ^ "The Caron Keating Foundation homepage". The Keating family. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  26. ^ "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B12. (“Miss Mary Winifred Gloria HUNNIFORD (Mrs. Way). For services to Cancer charities through Breast Screening Services and Cancer Support.”)
  27. ^ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories". The Guardian. London. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  28. ^ "B&B by the Sea: Gloria Hunniford". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
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