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Simon McCoy
McCoy in 2018
Born (1961-10-07) 7 October 1961 (age 63)
Hammersmith, London, England
EducationSherborne School
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • newsreader
Notable credits
Spouses
Victoria Graham
​
​
(m. 2007; div. 2019)​
*
​
(m. 2021)​
Children1

Simon McCoy (born 7 October 1961) is a British journalist and former newsreader on BBC News and Sky News and presenter at GB News.

Early life

McCoy was born on 7 October 1961 in Hammersmith. He was educated at the private Sherborne School in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England.

Career

McCoy started his journalism career at the Fleet Street News Agency in London[1] before joining Thames TV as a researcher for Thames News in 1983. After time as a scriptwriter at Thames TV, in 1986 he joined the breakfast TV station TV-am as a news editor.[1] In 1988, McCoy left to go to new satellite channel Sky – initially as a producer on the Sky News breakfast programme Sunrise.

After a year as a general reporter for the station, he was appointed Royal Correspondent, and between 1991 and 1996 McCoy covered major stories which affected the Royal Family.[citation needed]

After a job which involved travel around the world throughout the years, McCoy took a desk job, presenting Sunrise on Sky News.[1][2] He also presented the Tonight programme – a topical chat show involving interviews with people from the worlds of showbiz, politics and sport.[citation needed]

In 2003, McCoy co-anchored Sky's coverage of the Iraq War on location in Kuwait and Basra. He was on air for five hours every day of the conflict.[3]

In January 2004, McCoy joined the BBC, and could be seen on BBC Breakfast and BBC News 24, initially as a cover presenter for both.[1] In September 2005, he took over the morning slot on BBC News alongside Kate Silverton following Phillip Hayton's sudden departure after Hayton fell out with Silverton. When reviewing the papers the following day, McCoy tried to point out the story, but was prevented by Silverton.[4] In December 2007, Silverton left the shift to host the 8pm Update.

In 2006, McCoy stopped regular appearances on BBC Breakfast upon Charlie Stayt's arrival at the BBC, but continued to be a relief presenter on the BBC Weekend News. Since 2008, McCoy made a number of appearances as a stand-in presenter on Breakfast.

On 9 March 2012, McCoy was apparently caught asleep face-down at the newsdesk as BBC Breakfast handed over to the BBC News channel at 8:30 am. McCoy joked that he had "just been told the Queen wanted me to cover her next visit".[5]

Shortly before 1pm GMT on 18 March 2013, McCoy and co-presenter Sophie Long read the final BBC News bulletin from BBC Television Centre, with BBC News moving to Broadcasting House in the West End of London for the BBC News at One.

On 7 June 2013, McCoy presented coverage of the Queen's visit to Broadcasting House to officially open the new part of the BBC's Headquarters which features the largest live newsroom in Europe. The new Broadcasting House sees the BBC's Television, News and Radio departments in one complex. The BBC's Children's and Radio 5 Live moved to Salford's MediaCity in 2012. The Queen opened the new complex with a live public broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.[citation needed]

On 22 July, McCoy was on the roster for coverage of the birth of the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who a few days later was named Prince George of Cambridge. Stationed outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital with often little or no news to share, McCoy's comments concerning the value of the news coverage made for (often sympathetic) headlines. He said: "The news is there is no news".[6][7]

In September 2013, a live broadcast by McCoy went viral after he inadvertently picked up a refill pack of A4 printer paper instead of his iPad while presenting to camera.[8][unreliable source?] A BBC spokeswoman said: "This morning as Simon McCoy was preparing to introduce this story, instead of picking up his tablet to hold as he went to air, he mistakenly picked up a ream of paper that was sitting next to it. In the rush of live news, he didn't have an opportunity to swap the items, so simply went with it."[9]

McCoy presented the weekday 2–5 pm slot, now titled Afternoon Live, on BBC News.[10]

McCoy made his debut on the BBC News at Ten on 27 August 2019.[citation needed]

In March 2020, McCoy took up the role of main presenter of the BBC News at One.[citation needed]

On 25 March 2021, McCoy announced it was his last day working for the BBC. It was later announced he was moving to GB News to present an afternoon show alongside Alex Phillips titled McCoy & Phillips.[11][12] On his reason for leaving the BBC and joining GB News, he said he wanted a new challenge.[13] He also said he was "not a leftie BBC journalist" and voted 'Leave' in the 2016 EU referendum.[13][14] In July 2021, he moved to present the breakfast show, The Great British Breakfast, alongside Kirsty Gallacher.[15] In December 2021, McCoy left GB News.[16]

Personal life

McCoy has a son, Max from his first marriage.[citation needed]

On 28 September 2007, he married Victoria Graham of BBC South West.[17] They announced their divorce in January 2019.[18] In 2020 McCoy was reported as being in a relationship with the actress Emma Samms.[19] They married on 9 October 2021[20] and live in the Cotswolds near Stroud.[21][22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Simon McCoy joins the BBC. BBC Press Office. 18 November 2003.
  2. ^ Sky News gets Channel 5 airing. BBC News. 19 December 2001.
  3. ^ "BBC Press Office – Simon McCoy". 25 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  4. ^ Silverton Sparkles With New Co-host McCoy. . The Daily Telegraph.
  5. ^ Plumb, Alastair (9 March 2012). "BBC Breakfast Presenter Simon McCoy Caught Sleeping On His Desk". Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  6. ^ Morse, Felicity (25 July 2013). "Royal baby watch: BBC Reporter Simon McCoy admits Duchess of Cambridge labour coverage is 'not news'". The Independent. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  7. ^ Deacon, Michael (22 July 2013). "Royal baby sketch: 'Breaking news: we have no news!'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  8. ^ Tamplin, Harley (20 September 2017). "It's four years since a BBC presenter held A4 paper instead of a tablet". Metro. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  9. ^ Halliday, Josh (18 September 2013). "BBC presenter does live broadcast clutching stack of paper instead of iPad". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  10. ^ BBC News Channel - Afternoon Live. BBC.
  11. ^ Sherwin, Adam (25 March 2021). "Simon McCoy leaving BBC News to join GB News - taking sarcasm and viral gaffes with him". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  12. ^ Sherwin, Adam (11 June 2021). "Simon McCoy: 'Why I quit the BBC for GB News – and no more waiting for Royal babies'". i. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b Singh, Anita (11 June 2021). "Simon McCoy: 'I'm not a leftie BBC journalist – I voted Leave'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  14. ^ Waterson, Jim (15 July 2021). "GB News shows attracted zero viewers after boycott over taking the knee". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  15. ^ Adam, Sherwin; Butterworth, Benjamin (16 July 2021). "GB News director of programmes quits as Simon McCoy leaves afternoon show for breakfast slot". i. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Simon McCoy becomes latest presenter to leave GB News". BBC News. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Biography – Victoria Graham". BBC Press Office. September 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  18. ^ Pearce, Tilly (26 January 2019). "BBC News anchor Simon McCoy ends 12-year marriage to Victoria Graham". Metro. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  19. ^ Carter, Helen (14 March 2020). "BBC news presenter Simon McCoy is dating a Dynasty star". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  20. ^ Samms, Emma [@EmmaSamms1] (10 October 2021). "Yesterday was a very good day ❤️ @SimonMcCoyTV #MrandMrs" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Bennett, Geoffrey (10 October 2021). "Gloucestershire-based celebrities Emma Samms and Simon McCoy tie the knot". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  22. ^ Correspondent, Will Humphries, Southwest. "Actress Emma Samms suffers six-month hell of Covid fatigue". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 April 2023. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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