Fiona Bruce has been the star presenter of British TV series Antiques Roadshow since 2008, when she replaced presenter Michael Aspel as he retired. While the decision sparked controversy at the time, average viewership actually increased since she's been on the show. However exposed to the public she may be, Fiona Bruce remains quite a mysterious figure. Today, we will focus on her salary from the show, as well as her earlier career. This is all you should know about the presenter.
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Who is Fiona Bruce?
Fiona Elizabeth Bruce was born on 25 April 1964 in Singapore, Malaysia, when it was still an English-owned state. Her mother is English, father Scottish and she has also got two older brothers. Her father eventually became the regional managing director of multinational Unilever. During her childhood, she travelled a lot. After going to the Gayton primary school on the isle of Wirral, she attended the International School of Milan, in Italy. She finished her education in London, all the while posing for the teenage girl's magazine Jackie.
Fiona Bruce learned English and Italian at the Hertford College, in Oxford, a period during which she admitted to going through a punk phase, singing in rock bands and even dying her hair blue for one week. Later, she attended the University of London Institute in Paris, which eventually allowed her to become fluent in French and Italian. After getting her degree, she started working for a management consulting firm for a year, but later said she found it depressingly dull.
I dreaded the meetings, the tedium, the fact that I was in the wrong job. I was so unhappy. I used to cry in the loos at lunchtime.
She then moved on to the world of advertising, where she worked for several years before a 'stroke of luck' brought her to the BBC.
She began her career as a researcher
Fiona Bruce first joined the BBC as a researcher for their current affairs programme Panorama in 1989. While she was still working in advertising, she met the editor of Panorama, Tim Gardam, at a wedding. She admits to having 'pestered him continually' until he finally agreed to let her interview for a researching position on the show. As a researcher, she was sent all over the world and says she loved the experience.
I was sent here, there and everywhere, given what seemed to be at the time enormous responsibilities. It taught me how to investigate and there aren't many programmes where you can learn how to do proper investigations.
As time went by, she made it clear that she wanted to be on the other side of the camera, and begged the producers of the BBC Breakfast News to give her a shot.
I persuaded them on one of my days off to let me go up to Yorkshire and do a report on the decline of the mining industry. It was a couple of minutes long and it took me six days to write!
Her determination paid off, and she was soon offered a position as a reporter on the show in 1992. She says she felt incredibly stressed in the beginning.
I thought of all these terrible words that I could say that would end my career instantly before it had been begun. Fortunately, I managed not to say any of those things.
Her next big career break
In 1996, Fiona Bruce joined BBC One's Six O'Clock News. That same year, tragedy hit the BBC, as Fiona's colleague, journalist Jill Dando, was shot dead on the steps of her London home. As the group was in mourning, Fiona was asked to step into Jill's shoes and replace her as presenter of BBC One's Crimewatch UK. At first, she was hesitant and worried for her personal safety, as anyone would be. However, she decided to step up to the task, saying:
You cross a Rubicon when you put yourself in a position of broadcasting into people's sitting rooms, be it Crimewatch UK, news or anything. Presenters can get unwanted attention from all sorts of quarters on all sorts of programmes.
Fiona Bruce had the honour of being the first woman presenter to be a part of the BBC's election team in 2001. She also became the first woman to present the BBC News at Two. Since 2019, she has been the presenter of the BBC show Question Time.
How much does Fiona Bruce earn?
The 60-year-old presenter was listed as the sixth highest-paid BBC presenter in 2023, earning between £395,000 and £399,999 a year. According to Celebritynetworth.com, her net worth is estimated to be around £2.3 million. Her income is not solely limited to her job as a TV presenter. Indeed, Fiona Bruce has got her own production company, called Paradox Productions, which allows her to be employed as a freelancer by the BBC, something which has been widely criticised. She is also a published author, and she wrote a book entitled Savvy! The Modern Girl's Guide To Doing It All Without Risking It All, which came out in 2008.
She chose to work part-time
Fiona Bruce married successful businessman Nigel Sharrocks in 1994, and the couple welcomed two children together: Sam and Mia Rose. The presenter explained she often felt guilty about spending more time at work than at home with her husband and children, which is why she chose to work part-time for several years. She told the Radio Times:
We've had the same nanny for 20 years and that has made so much of my working life possible. But I do have a fair dose of working mother's guilt. Would it have been better for my children had I been at home all the time? I don't know. I've asked and they say no.
Read more:
Jeremy Clarkson: Everything we know about the Top Gear presenter throughout his decades-long career
Ruth Langsford: This is how the TV presenter has evolved throughout her decades-long career
Dermot O’Leary: The ITV presenter owns a beautiful £3.5 million house
Sources used:
BBC: Fiona Bruce
OK!: BBC Antiques Roadshow presenter Fiona Bruce's whopping net worth and private life off screen
The Standard: BBC salary list 2023: Gary Lineker to be offered new contract
BBC: Fiona Bruce's wild days
Celebritynetworth.com: Fiona Bruce Net Worth
