John Pienaar

Pienaar's parents, Eric and Johanna Pienaar, were both born in South Africa. He was educated at Bromley Technical High School, in Keston, Bromley, London[1] and then obtained his NCTJ training at Highbury College, Portsmouth.[2]

Pienaar began his career in journalism at the South London Press, before becoming an Old Bailey correspondent. He was then a political correspondent at The Independent, the Press Association, The Guardian, and from 1992 the BBC, on a range of TV and radio news and current affairs programmes.

In 2002, he became chief political correspondent at Radio 5 Live, and presented a Sunday morning programme, Pienaar's Politics. He also hosted Question Time Extra Time (a radio supplement to BBC One's Question Time) alongside Stephen Nolan[3] and served as a stand-in host on BBC Two's Daily Politics. From 2015 to 2020 he was BBC News' deputy political editor.

Pienaar started presenting the drivetime programme on the new Times Radio station in June 2020.

Pienaar married Denise Walsh in 1980 and they had a son and a daughter. They divorced and Pienaar married Penny Davies, with whom he has two daughters.[1]

He is a fan of Crystal Palace Football Club.[1]

• John Pienaar at IMDb