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Bev Turner

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Bev Turner
Turner at the International Maternity Expo Awards 2019
Born
Beverley Turner

(1973-10-21) 21 October 1973 (age 51)
Prestwich, Lancashire, England
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Occupation(s)Television presenter, radio presenter
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2002; div. 2019)​
Children3
Websitewww.thebevturner.co.uk

Beverley Turner (born 21 October 1973) is an English television and radio presenter.

Early life

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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.[1][2]

Career

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Turner worked for BBC Radio 5 Live, presenting their Bump Club series, following a group of pregnant women through to motherhood. Previously, she spent three years as one of only two female presenters for 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[3] in July 2004, which described widespread sexism in the sport.[4] 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.[5] She co-presented Homes Live with Watchdog's Matt Allwright, a daily, live property show on BBC Two.[citation needed]

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.[6] 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.[6]

From November 2022, Turner began hosting her own weekday show on GB News, titled Bev Turner Today. She had previously been a stand-in presenter on the channel.[7]

She has written for newspapers The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.[citation needed]

Personal life

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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[8] and April 2011.[9] They announced their separation in April 2019,[10] and were granted a decree nisi in their divorce proceedings in July of the same year.[11]


Controversies

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On 1 June 2021, Turner clashed with Dermot O'Leary on This Morning over the issue of COVID-19 vaccines, when she said that it was not effective and urged younger people to refuse the vaccine when offered it. She went on to claim: "It does not stop you catching or passing on the virus." Following this, she was banned from appearing on the programme.[12][13] Controversy continued later on Jeremy Vine, which caused Ofcom to receive hundreds of complaints. She later shared a video of herself crying, claiming she had been "ambushed."[14] On November of the same year she appeared again on the Jeremy Vine programme, in which she clashed with Owen Jones when she compared Austria's lockdown rules for the non-vaccinated to apartheid.[15]

On 7 February 2022, in the hours after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was encircled by protesters[16] yelling "traitor", with references to Jimmy Savile, amongst other things, Turner tweeted to suggest that Starmer was complicit in the incident and that the event was staged.[17] Turner tweeted: "I'm not at all convinced this is a genuine 'ambush.' It perfectly casts Johnson as a Trumpian agitator. (I'm not condoning his Savile comment. It was stupid). But Starmer does not look scared. Yelling about 'Freemasons' was brainstormed in a board room! Why walk so far?! Staged."

Amidst the July 2022 United Kingdom heat wave, in a conversation with BBC's meteorologist John Hammond, she said "I want us to be happy about the weather, and I don’t know if something has happened to meteorologists to make you all a little bit fatalistic and harbingers of doom, but broadcasters – particularly on the BBC – every time I’ve turned on, anyone is talking about the weather and they’re saying there’s going to be tons of fatalities, but haven't we always had hot weather, John?" in a moment that was compared to the film Don't Look Up.[18][19] On her Twitter account, she has expressed her opinion about the extreme heat warnings, calling them "weather-fear porn"[20] and "climate lockdown."[21]

In July 2023, a leading Jewish group criticised Turner for spreading a "dangerous conspiracy theory" after she tweeted that the COVID-19 virus appeared to have been bioengineered to be less dangerous to some Jewish people.[22]

in September 2023, when allegations about Russell Brand's abuse and sexual assault of women were made public by Channel 4's Dispatches programme, Turner defended Brand on Twitter and clashed with Andrew Pierce live on GB News.[23][24] Turner responded to Pierce's branding of her dismissal of the alleged victims' testimonies as "shameful" by claiming she had been in contact with several sources "close to Brand [and] close to The Times" which had led her to believe the allegations to be "flimsy."[25]

Other interests

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Turner's main charity interest is in sexual health and sexual politics, and she is a patron of the Family Planning Association (FPA).[26] She is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[27]

She has been a competitive swimmer,[28] and appeared in FHM's "Sexiest Women" list at position 43 in 2001.[29] Turner has also studied for a Diploma in Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "110mb.com – Want to start a website?". magazinecelebs.110mb.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  2. ^ "Who is Beverley Turner? James Cracknell's wife, radio presenter and mum - Cambridgeshire Live". 6 April 2019.
  3. ^ Turner, Beverley (2004). The Pits: The Real World of Formula One. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1-84354-237-7. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  4. ^ Turner, Beverley (8 July 2004). "Exposed: the rampant sexism that defines the world of Formula One". independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Book Beverley Turner, Speaker, Host & Facilitator - TSA".
  6. ^ a b "Beverley Turner leaves LBC". Radio Today. January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. ^ "GB News axes to the Point". 3 November 2022.
  8. ^ "James & Bev Have Baby Daughter". MTC News. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Congratulations!!!". James Cracknell. 4 June 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  10. ^ "James Cracknell and Wife Beverley Turner Separate".
  11. ^ "Judge signals end of rower James Cracknell's marriage to Beverley Turner". The Herald. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  12. ^ Needham, Lucy (6 June 2021). "Beverley Turner 'blocked' from This Morning after anti-Covid vaccine row". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  13. ^ Jamie Roberts, Chloe Burrell (June 2021). "TV presenter Dermot O'Leary involved in heated debate with anti-vaxxer guest on This Morning". Daily Record (published 1 June 2021). Retrieved 19 July 2022. [Includes video]
  14. ^ Samuel Osborne (17 June 2021). "Hundreds complain about Covid rant on Jeremy Vine show". The Independent (published 17 June 2021). Retrieved 18 July 2022. Ofcom has said that the majority of the 125 complaints about the show concerned her comments.
    Ms. Turner told the panel: "Less than one percent of deaths are down to Covid-19.
    "This has to be taken by a decision-by-decision basis because this is a clinical trial until 2023."
  15. ^ Kyle Farrell (15 November 2021). "Owen Jones in heated row over Beverley Turner's Covid comparison 'Apartheid was murderous'". Express (published 15 November 2021). Retrieved 19 July 2022. [Includes video]
  16. ^ "Keir Starmer: Two arrested after protesters surround Labour leader". BBC News. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  17. ^ Turner, Beverly [@beverleyturner] (7 February 2022). "I'm not at all convinced this is a genuine 'ambush.' It perfectly casts Johnson as a Trumpian agitator. (I'm not condoning his Savile comment. It was stupid). But Starmer does not look scared. Yelling about 'Freemasons' was brainstormed in a board room! Why walk so far?! Staged. https://t.co/A3cc5OmQWq" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Kate Nicholson (15 July 2022). "GB News Anchor Makes Don't Look Up A Reality With Her Reaction To 'Lethal Weather'". HuffPost (published 15 July 2022). Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  19. ^ Alistair McGeorge (15 July 2022). "GB News reporter shuts down reports of 'lethal weather' and it's literally like scenes from Don't Look Up". Metro (published 15 July 2022). Retrieved 19 July 2022. [Includes video]
  20. ^ @beverleyturner (17 July 2022). "I wonder how many summer fetes, such as this one I was at today, had low numbers buying drinks, food and ice cream, because of the msm weather fear-porn?..
    Small businesses are really struggling & need footfall, unless the plan is to close them down, in which case, good work..."     (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ^ @beverleyturner (18 July 2022). "This is what a climate lockdown looks like. They didn't even have to INSTRUCT people to stay at home. They did it willingly, forgetting they used to be capable of doing their own risk assessment on a sunny day. Businesses empty. I'm furious. Wake the f*** up people!!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Walker, Peter (18 July 2023). "Jewish group criticises GB News host over 'dangerous conspiracy theory'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Hosts Go to War Over 'Shameful' Defense of Russell Brand Live on TV". Daily Beast. 18 September 2023.
  24. ^ ""Shame On You": GB News Presenters Angrily Clash Live On Air Over Russell Brand Allegations". Deadline. 18 September 2023.
  25. ^ GB News Hosts In On-Air Bust-Up Over Russell Brand, retrieved 18 September 2023
  26. ^ "Book Beverly Turner | Speaker Agent". 2 October 2023.
  27. ^ "National Secular Society Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Retrieved 27 July 2019
  28. ^ "Video: Redisover your love of swimming with SwimFit pool sessions". 15 August 2013.
  29. ^ Glendenning, Barry (2 July 2009). "James Cracknell | Rowing". The Guardian.
  30. ^ Turner, Beverley (15 February 2010). "Tapping therapy: curing physical and mental problems". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
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