celebforum - Christine Bleakley

Christine Bleakley (born 5 February 1979) is, along with Adrian Chiles, co-presenter of BBC One's The One Show and a former contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Early life and career
* 2 Broadcasting career
o 2.1 Strictly Come Dancing
* 3 References
* 4 External links

Early life and career

Christine Bleakley was born in Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland to mother Mina and father Frederick, a musician, in 1979.

Bleakley started her television career as a runner and then trained to become a floor manager 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. However, she did not complete her degree course, instead moving into television work full time.[2] Bleakley is currently dating Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard.[3]
Broadcasting career

Bleakley began her career in media at Belfast Citybeat as a news reader and presenter. From 1995 - 1997,[citation needed] 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. 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.[4]

She is a patron of the CineMagic children's film festival[5] and is Northern Ireland ambassador for The Prince's Trust.[4]

Bleakley appeared as a celebrity panellist on the 26th August 2009 edition of Shooting Stars.[6] She also appeared as a panellist on the comedy show Would I Lie To You? on 7th September 2009.[7]
Strictly Come Dancing
Main article: Strictly Come Dancing (Series 6)

Bleakley took part in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Matthew Cutler.[8]

She danced the Foxtrot (27/40), the Quickstep (26/40), the Samba (30/40), the Paso Doble (22/40), the American Smooth (29/40), the Jive (31/40), the Waltz (34/40), the Cha Cha Cha (27/40), the Tango (28/40) and the Salsa (30/40). Bleakley left on 30 November after Rachel Stevens beat her in the dance off.