Carol Kirkwood

Carol Kirkwood (born 29 May 1962) is a Scottish weather presenter, trained by the Met Office, and employed by the BBC,[1] in particular on BBC Breakfast and Victoria Derbyshire. In 2015, she participated in the 13th series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, finishing in 10th place.

Carol Kirkwood
Carol Kirkwood (2008)
Born
Carol MacKellaig

(1962-05-29) 29 May 1962
Morar, Inverness-shire, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma materNapier University, Edinburgh
OccupationTelevision presenter
Known forBBC Breakfast
Victoria Derbyshire
Strictly Come Dancing

Early life

Born Carol MacKellaig in Morar, Inverness-shire, she was one of eight children to parents who ran a hotel in Morar.[2] After attending Lochaber High School in Fort William, Kirkwood gained a BA in commerce from Napier College of Commerce and Technology (now Edinburgh Napier University) in Edinburgh.[3]

Career

After graduation, Kirkwood joined the BBC's secretarial reserve in London. After a series of internal moves, she presented short slots on BBC Radio Scotland, and then BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4.[4] Following her marriage to Jimmy Kirkwood, she left the BBC and subsequently worked in recruitment and then as a training consultant for a management consultancy in Cheshire.[2][3] In 1992, she spent time on a now defunct cable TV channel, Windsor TV, latterly called Wire TV, along with Sacha Baron Cohen.

Kirkwood rejoined the BBC at the corporation's Elstree Studios training department in 1993 as a freelance presenter, during which time she also presented a bi-monthly programme Talking Issues for HTV West.[4] In 1996 Kirkwood joined the new UK operation of The Weather Channel, but after it closed down she underwent training under the guidance of the BBC at the Met Office, before joining BBC News in April 1998 as a weather presenter.[4] She has since appeared regularly across all of BBC Weather's output on both radio and television, including BBC News, BBC World News, BBC News at Six and the live forecasts as part of the BBC's coverage of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

Kirkwood is the main weather presenter on BBC Breakfast.[4] The programme moved from London to MediaCityUK in Salford in 2013 but Kirkwood stayed in London presenting the weather on Breakfast via video link. She presented the BBC's The Weather Show and is also a regular contributor and reporter for The One Show.[3] In 2011, Kirkwood co-presented the BBC One series The Great British Weather.[5] She also presented the weather on BBC Radio 2's The Chris Evans Breakfast Show.

Kirkwood has appeared as a guest on CBBC's show Hacker Time.[4] In 2014, she appeared on BBC One panel show Would I Lie to You?[6] In October 2018, Kirkwood had a cameo appearance on Hollyoaks.[7]

Strictly Come Dancing
Main article: Strictly Come Dancing

In August 2015, it was announced that Kirkwood would be taking part in the thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing,[8] which began in September 2015. She was partnered with professional dancer Pasha Kovalev.

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Craig Revel Horwood Darcey Bussell Len Goodman Bruno Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha – "Thunder in My Heart" 2 5 5 4 16 None
2 Foxtrot – "It's a Lovely Day Today" 4 6 5 5 20 Safe
3 Quickstep – "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" 3 5 5 4 17 Safe
4 Paso Doble – "España Cañí" 5 6 6 5 22 Safe
5 Viennese Waltz – "I've Been Loving You Too Long" 4 6 6 5 21 Safe
6 Rumba – "I Think I Love You" 2 4 4 3 13 Safe
7 American Smooth - "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" 3 5 5 4 17 Eliminated

Personal life

Kirkwood was married to Jimmy Kirkwood but they divorced in 2008. She now lives on her own in Maidenhead in Berkshire.

Awards

Kirkwood won the TRIC award for best TV Weather Presenter in 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2012–2017.[4] She received an Honorary Fellowship from Princess Anne for "contributions to broadcasting" at Inverness College, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, on 17 November 2015.[9]

TV appearances
  • BBC Breakfast (1999–present) – Weather presenter
  • The Great British Weather – Co-presenter
  • Hacker Time – Guest
  • The Weather Show – Presenter
  • The One Show – Reporter
  • Would I Lie to You? (2013) – Guest, 1 episode
  • Victoria Derbyshire (2015–present) – Weather presenter
  • Strictly Come Dancing (2015) – Participant
  • Hollyoaks (2018) - Cameo appearance as Weather presenter

References
  1. "Carol Kirkwood". Twitter.com. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  2. "Interview with Carol Kirkwood". Girl Guide Association. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
  3. "BBC Breakfast: Carol Kirkwood". BBC. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  4. "BBC Weather: Carol Kirkwood". BBC. 10 September 2012.
  5. "The Great British Weather". BBC. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  6. "Would I Lie to You?: Series 7, Episode 5". BBC. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  7. "Hollyoaks storm week to feature Piers Morgan and Carol Kirkwood cameos". Radio Times. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  8. Tobin, Christian (18 August 2015). "Strictly Come Dancing confirms BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood as latest celebrity - Strictly Come Dancing News - Reality TV". Digital Spy. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  9. "University reveals Student of Year and Honorary Fellows at Inverness event". hebridestoday.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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