Gloria Hunniford's Biography

Gloria Hunniford was born on 10 April 1940 in Portadown, Northern Ireland.

Hunniford has had a distinguished career presenting on radio and TV. Not only was she the first woman to present a daily show on Radio 2, but she ended up hosting the programme for 13 years.

Gloria Hunniford was a relatively late starter to national broadcasting, although she had hosted A Taste of Hunni on radio and Good Evening Ulster on television.

Her major breakthrough came when she deputised for Jimmy Young in 1981 on Radio 2.

Amongst her famous shows on television are Open House with Gloria Hunniford and Sunday, Sunday.

She also presented The Heaven and Earth Show.

Gloria Hunniford's daughter, Caron Keating, who was also in television, presenting programmes that included Blue Peter, Top of the Pops and This Morning, died through breast cancer in April 2004, prompting Gloria Hunniford to launch a foundation to help cancer sufferers.

Gloria Hunniford took part in Strictly Come Dancing series 3, and was partnered by Darren Bennett, who, with Jill Halfpenny, won series 2. Although Hunniford was eliminated in week 3, she nevertheless appreciated the experience, saying:

"It's been life changing. I've had a ball and I've lost a bit of weight."

In 2016, it emerged that Gloria Hunniford, who had presented Rip Off Britain, had herself been targeted by a scammer, who extracted £120,000 from her bank account by pretending to be her.