Beverley Turner

Turner was born in Prestwich, Lancashire. She has a first class degree in English Literature and Language from the University of Manchester. She is the sister of Olympic swimmer Adrian Turner and of the executive producer of The Apprentice, Cal Turner. [1]

Turner worked for BBC Radio 5 Live, presenting their Bump Club series, following a group of pregnant women through their journey to motherhood. Previously, she spent three years as one of only two female presenters for UK ITV's Formula One coverage and also presented coverage of the Tour de France. She broke with Formula One racing coverage with a "bridge burning exercise" in the form of her book, The Pits: The Real World of Formula 1[2] in July 2004, which described widespread sexism in the sport.[3] She spent another three seasons presenting coverage of US National Basketball Association games in the UK. In 2002 she began presenting entertainment sections for Granada's This Morning and, in 2003, travel reporting for the Travel Channel.

She was the sole presenter of sixty-four episodes of Taste, a cooking programme for Sky1 which was shown daily for six years across global Sky Channels and became one of the station's most profitable self-made shows. She co-presented Homes Live with Watchdog's Matt Allwright, a daily, live property show on BBC2.

Turner hosted her own talk show on the radio station LBC from 2015 to 2019, and at the time of her departure was one of two female presenters at the station.[4] She began working on their weekend output in 2015 and has tripled the listening figures in both time slots that she has occupied. She also attracted more female listeners than is typical for the traditionally male sphere of phone-in radio and increasing those from an ABC1 demographic. She left the station in January 2019 after complaining that the station predominantly employed white men; LBC reported that her contract had expired and was not renewed.[4]

In 2015, she set up The Happy Birth Club in Chiswick, West London. It provides ante-natal and post-natal classes for pregnant couples. The course is unusual as a midwife attends every class - independent midwife Pam Wild who delivered TV presenter Davina McCall's children. Membership of the club also includes a home visit from Pam after the babies are born. The courses are often fully booked in advance.

Turner and Wild wrote The Happy Birth Book which was published in 2017 – an A–Z guide to pregnancy and the early weeks.

As a model, Turner specialised in work with swimwear and underwear brands, including Speedo, Marks & Spencer, Arena, Dorothy Perkins, JD Williams, while also appearing in most major women's magazines in the UK. She was represented by Elite Premier agency. in London and Boss Models in her home town of Manchester.

She has written for newspapers The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.

Turner married double Olympic Gold medallist rower James Cracknell at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire in 2002. They have a son, born in September 2003, and two daughters, born in March 2009[5] and April 2011.[6]

Cracknell was injured in a cycling accident in July 2010 whilst filming for The Discovery Channel and sustained a personality-altering traumatic brain injury. The pair wrote about his recovery in the book Touching Distance which was published in 2012. They announced their separation in April 2019.[7]

Turner's main charity interest is in sexual health and sexual politics, and she is a patron of the Family Planning Association (FPA). She is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[8]

She has been a competitive swimmer, and appeared in FHM's "Sexiest Women" list at position 43 in 2001. Turner has also studied for a Diploma in Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy.[9]

• Beverley Turner at IMDb
• Travel Channel | Presenter – Beverley Turner Postcards from Paradise profile
• NBA.com UK One on One with Beverly [sic] Turner Chat interview transcript from Sunday, 11 March 2001.
• The Observer | Review | 'I felt trapped in this world of horrible men' Review of her book, 'The Pits'
• Beverley Turner Showreel Created by Burning Vision