Julia Bradbury (born 24th July 1970) is an Irish-born English television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One programme Countryfile, amongst other documentaries.
Bradbury's Derbyshire-born, steel-industry father, Cambridge graduate Michael Bradbury, and Greek mother were in Ireland when Bradbury was born. The family returned to England, where she attended primary school in Edith Weston, Rutland, followed by King Edward VII School in Sheffield, where her father worked for British Steel and her mother ran a fashion business. Bradbury attended acting classes, and took part as a child in the Crucible Theatre's stage production of Peter Pan, starring Joanne Whalley and Paula Wilcox.
Bradbury left school at 16 after O-levels and worked in advertising in various capacities, including a stint with the family business.
She started as a TV presenter with Chrysalis TV, followed by L!VE TV, before making the transition in 1996 from cable TV to terrestrial with GMTV as their Los Angeles correspondent. She has since presented Watchdog, Top Gear, Accidental Heroes, Wainwright Walks and Railway Walks for the BBC, as well as Rough Guide for Channel 5. She has also presented Wish You Were Here...? for ITV and anchored Exclusive! for Five. With Tim Vine, she presented the launch of Channel 5 in 1997.
With co-host Arkin Salih, she hosted the BBC's Are We Being Served?, which examined customer service in the UK and ran for six programmes in the summer of 2006. She appeared as a contestant in Just the Two of Us for the BBC in January 2007.
In 2007, she presented Wainwright Walks on BBC Four in which she followed the mountain routes of the renowned fell walker and guide book author Alfred Wainwright. The series was later repeated on BBC2 and ran for two series. Her appearance in this and the Railway Walks series earned her the somewhat chauvinistic but amusing title of "Walking Man's Totty".
In August 2007 she presented Ultimate Britain – Climbing on BBC1, with extreme climber Tim Emmett. Julia's lifetime ambition to be a 'real' rock climber was achieved when the pair successfully ascended Commando Ridge in Cornwall, Crackstone Rib in the Llanberis Pass, North Wales, and the Old Man of Stoer in Sutherland, Scotland.
In January 2008, January 2009 and January 2010 she has presented three series of Kill It, Cook It, Eat It on BBC Three. The first series concentrated on commercially farmed animals such as chickens, pigs, sheep and cattle. The second series featured hunted wild game such as ducks, rabbits, deer and grouse. The third series focuses on fast food where a group of 6 go through the process of killing, cooking and eating and get heavily involved in the process. In autumn 2008, she presented Accidental Heroes and Railway Walks. Bradbury is also one of the current regular presenters of the travel show Rough Guide on Five. In February 2009, Julia appeared on Celebrity Come Dine With Me alongside Christopher Biggins, Philip Olivier and Edwina Currie, and received a score of 19.
From Monday, 2 March 2009 Julia was temporarily replaced on BBC1's Watchdog show by new co-presenter Anita Rani, following allegations in the press concerning irregularities in Bradbury's Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer account. On 15 April 2009, Julia was cleared of any wrong doing in the investigation and it was confirmed that she would return to present Watchdog, which she did on 20 April 2009. However, a few weeks later in May 2009 the BBC announced that Anne Robinson would return as presenter.
In April 2009 she started presenting a relaunched, primetime Countryfile with Matt Baker.
On 20 July 2009 her series Coast To Coast started on BBC2 at 10.00pm.
She was one of the celebrities who in summer 2009 took part in the BBC programme Around the World in 80 Days, where 'in a re-enactment of Jules Verne's literary odyssey, six pairs of celebrities race against the clock to raise money for 2009's BBC Children in Need'.
05.09.2010, 23:30
Julia Bradbury
Julia Bradbury - The 2010 National Lottery Awards, London, September 4 (x16)
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