Fiona Bruce Biography
Fiona Bruce is a British journalist who is currently working as a newsreader ad presenter at BBC News. She joined the station as a researcher for Panorama in 1989 and has since become the first female newsreader on BBC News at Ten. Bruce is also the first female presenting to many flagship programs for the corporation including BBC News at Six, Crimewatch, Real Story, Antiques Roadshow, and Fake or Fortune?
Since January 10, 2019, she has been the presenter of the BBC One television program Question Time. Born in Singapore, attended and graduated from Gayton Primary School in Wirral, the International School of Milan, and then from the age of 14 until 18 she attended Heberdashers’ Aske’s Hatchman College in New Cross.
Later on, she modeled for the stories in the teenage girls’ magazine Jackie. In addition, she read French and Italian at Hartford College, Oxford. During this time, she was briefly a punk, singing in rock bands. Bruce then attended the University of London Institute in Paris.
Fiona Bruce Career
After graduating, she joined a management consulting firm for a year but found the experience depressingly dull. After this, she worked at a number of advertising agencies. She then went on to meet Tim Garden who at the time was the editor of the BBC’s Panorama.
After becoming an assistant producer on Panorama, Bruce made the change to reporting in 1992 on Breakfast News. Later, she moved to BBC South East, appearing as an occasional presenter and reporter on Newsroom South East and a weekly current affairs program, First Sight.
From 1994 to 1995, she was a reporter on the BBC 2 current affairs program Public Eye. She went on to report for the Panorama and the Newsnight. In 1999, she was named secondary presenter of the BBC Six O’Clock News. She presented the program as a cover for the main presenter Huw Edwards, as well as regularly on Fridays.
After the murder of Jill Dando, she took over the position of co-presenter on Crimewatch alongside Nick Ross, until both were replaced by Kirsty Young towards the end of 2007. In 2001, she became one of the presenters of the BBC general election results program.
On January 10, 2019, Bruce succeeded long-time host David Dimbleby on the BBC’s debate program Question Time. Her tenure as host was almost immediately embroiled in controversy, and in May 2020, she stated “QT is, without doubt, the hardest job I’ve ever done.”
Fiona Bruce Controversies
However, in every career, there are ups and downs. Bruce has been involved in some controversies that almost cost her her job. She was once criticized for showing “blatant bias” when interviewing Matt O’Connor, founder of Father 4 Justice. She was earlier accused of having an axe to grind on the issue of domestic violence. Many including Matt, let her own personal view on domestic violence as an issue of gender take over the program.
In addition, there were concerns that Matt has originally been invited to speak about CAFCASS and the Family Courts, yet the program was changed to focus on domestic violence. Later, a BBC committee concluded that there were “some weaknesses” in the program when considered against the BBC’s journalistic values.
Overall the committee “did not think that these matters were sufficient to constitute a serious breach of editorial standards” and found that “the program had provided appropriate and balanced information around the allegation that violent men had infiltrated F4J”.
Fiona Bruce Age
How old is Bruce? Bruce is 59 years old as of 2023. She was born on April 25, 1964, in Singapore, Malaysia, and Asia. In addition, she celebrates her birthday on April 25 and her zodiac sign is Taurus. She is of white ethnicity and holds a British nationality.
Fiona Bruce Height
Bruce stands at an average height of 5 feet 8 inches and weighs 60 kg equivalent to 134 lbs.
Fiona Bruce Family
Bruce was born to a Scottish father and an English mother. Her father worked his way up from being a postboy to becoming the regional managing director of Unilever. Her family lived for several generations in the fishing village of Hopeman before moving to Singapore. She has two elder brothers whom she has not shared much information.
Fiona Bruce Husband
Bruce is happily married to her caring husband, Nigel Sharrocks. She met her husband when he was the director of the advertising agency where she worked. Currently, he is a non-executive chairman of Digital Cinema Media. They got married in July 1994 in Islington and are blessed with two children a son (born in January 1998) and a daughter (born in November 2001).
Fiona Bruce’s Net Worth
Bruce has an estimated net worth of $3 Million. Her main source of income is her career as a journalist.
Fiona Bruce Salary
As a journalist at BBC News, Bruce receives an estimated annual salary of between $175, 345 and $210, 254.