Lliana Bird

Lliana Bird (born 17 August 1981), known professionally as Birdy, is a British radio presenter, writer, actor, and co-founder of charities Help Refugees (now known as Choose Love) and The Kindly Collective. She is currently a presenter on Radio X.[1]

Lliana Bird
Born (1981-08-17) 17 August 1981
London, England
NationalityBritish
Other namesBirdy
OccupationRadio presenter, writer, actor, co-founder of Help Refugees (now Choose Love) and the Kindly Collective
Years active2009–present
Partner(s)Noel Fielding (c. 2010–present)
Children2

Career

Radio

Bird currently presents the Sunday evening show on Radio X.[2] She has also previously contributed to Capital Radio, Virgin Radio, and BBC Three Counties Radio.[3][4] She is also a regular guest on LBC,[5] BBC 5 Live and BBC London.

In 2010 she presented a series of radio documentaries about independent record labels entitled "Independents Day".[6] She presented on XFM from 2007 until 2015, when the station rebranded as Radio X.[7] Bird was the final live presenter on Xfm, delivering the final live link and playing the song that the station began on, MC5'S 'Kick Out The Jams'[8]

Bird presents a weekly podcast entitled Geek Chic's Weird Science which was selected as iTunes Best of 2014.[9][10]

She also co-presents "Get It Off Your Breasts" alongside Emma Gannon, a female-focussed podcast featuring unfiltered roundtable discussions [11][12]

Television

Bird has appeared on Sky News and BBC Breakfast[13] as a guest commentator. She previously presented TFTV and XFM's online station, XFM TV. In 2014 she presented a conservation series about London Zoo.[14] In 2016 she was a guest on BBC's Springwatch.

Theatre, TV and Film

Bird has also worked as an actress in various productions, including Fiddler on the Roof at The Lyric Theatre, Boom-bang-a-bang at the Etcetera Theatre,[15] and The Christmas Cock-up at The Cockpit Theatre.

In 2009, Bird set up a theatrical production company called Bird & Be with Phoebe Barran. Their first production was a run of Orlando Wells' The Tin Horizon at Theatre 503, which received positive reviews from critics.[16]

In 2013 she co-produced Orlando Wells' adaption of Patrick Hamilton's The Duke in Darkness, which ran from 16 April to 11 May at the Tabard Theatre.[17][18]

Bird has appeared in several episodes of The Mighty Boosh, and in episodes of Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy Series 1 and 2.

In 2018 Bird wrote and co-directed her first short film ‘Snapshots’ starring Paul Kaye and Mark Benton. It went on to win several awards.

Writing

Bird writes for The Huffington Post on a variety of social issues.[19]

In 2016 she released a book, The Mice Who Sing for Sex (and other weird tales from the world of science) with Dr Jack from her Geek Chic's Weird Science podcast.

Charity work

Bird is the co-founder of Help Refugees (now known as Choose Love), a humanitarian organisation providing aid to refugees across Europe and beyond.[20] Help Refugees was named as one of the NESTA New Radicals and won Liberty's "Jo Cox, More in Common" award. Bird was also named as one of Foreign Policy's "Top 100 Global Thinkers 2016".[21]

In 2016, Bird hosted the London Peace Talks.[22]

In 2017 Bird co-founded The Kindly Collective, which brings people together to fundraise and champion projects supporting women, children and creatures across the globe.[23]

Personal life

Bird has lived with comedian Noel Fielding since about 2010. They live in Highgate, north London. Bird and Fielding have two children, a daughter born in 2018[24] and a second daughter born in August 2020.[25]

References
  1. "Full line-up for Global's Radio X confirmed". RadioToday. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  2. "Lliana Bird – Friday and Saturday 10 pm – 1AM". Radio X. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  3. "Lliana Bird" (PDF). John Noel Management. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  4. "Lliana Bird". Voices.com. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  5. Help Refugees (4 August 2016). "Help Refugees' co-founder Lliana Bird speaks to LBC about the recent Home Affairs Committee report" – via YouTube.
  6. Bird, Lliana (3 July 2015). "Why I'm Celebrating 'Independents Day' This 4th July". HuffPost. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  7. Armstrong, Stephen (31 July 2014). "The surreal thing: the return of Noel Fielding". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  8. Renshaw, David (14 September 2015). "XFM closes with MC5's 'Kick Out The Jams' played as last song". NME. Time Inc. (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  9. Lewis, Jack (31 October 2014). "Geek Chic Weird Science Podcast presented by Dr Jack & Lliana Bird". Dr Jack Lewis. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  10. "Geek Chic's Weird Science". iTunes Preview. Apple Inc. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/oct/20/a-fresh-perspective-on-donald-trump-podcasts-of-the-week
  12. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/get-it-off-your-breasts/id1280870020?mt=2
  13. "Help Refugees co-founder Lliana Bird on BBC Breakfast". 15 January 2016 – via YouTube.
  14. ZSL – Zoological Society of London (6 July 2013). "'Keeper for a Day' with XFM's Lliana Bird – Part 4" – via YouTube.
  15. Davies, Russell (13 May 2010). "Boom-bang-a-bang opens in London". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  16. "Theatre503 Presents The Dark Comedy THE TIN HORIZON 4/15-5/9". BroadwayWorld.com. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  17. "The Duke in Darkness". Theatricalia. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  18. Best, Jason (19 April 2013). "The Duke in Darkness review at Tabard London". The Stage. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  19. "Lliana Bird". HuffPost. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  20. Anthony, Andrew (12 June 2016). "Accidental activists: the British women on the front line of the refugee crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  21. Foreign Policy (2016). "Global Thinkers 2016 Podcast". genfb.
  22. Bird, Lliana (11 March 2016). "You Don't Need Permission to Help Others". Peace Talks.
  23. http://kindlycollective.co. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. "GBBO's Noel Fielding and partner to welcome baby". RTE.ie. 3 March 2018.
  25. "The Great British Bake Off host Noel Fielding welcomes second daughter with partner Lliana Bird". digital spy.com. 29 October 2020.
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