Childhood & Early Life
Subha Nagalakshmi Munchetty-Chendriah was born on February 25, 1975, in Streatham, South London, England. She is of mixed ethnicity as she was born to an Indian mother and a Mauritian father. Both her parents had moved to Wales to pursue higher studies in the early 1970s. While her mother studied dentistry, her father undertook training to become a qualified nurse. The two crossed paths, fell in love, and got married in London. Both her parents went on to work at a hospital where her mother switched her career from dentistry to nursing.
As Naga Munchetty’s mother dreamt of snakes when she was pregnant with her, she named her after ‘Naga,’ which means cobra in Sanskrit. Munchetty was raised along with her sister Mimi in South London. Munchetty attended ‘Graveney School’ in Tooting. Although her mother wanted her to become a doctor or lawyer, she took up English literature at the ‘University of Leeds’ from where she graduated with a ‘Bachelor of Arts’ degree. She then went on to complete a postgraduate degree in newspaper journalism. While studying in college, Munchetty worked at bars and pubs from where she acquired the skill of making cocktails.
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Career
She started her career by working as a journalist for ‘The Evening Standard’ in London. She then worked for the popular British newspaper, ‘The Observer.’ While working for ‘The Observer,’ Munchetty worked predominantly on the ‘Business Section’ of the newspaper which is published every Sunday.
She then started working as a reporter for ‘Reuters Financial Television,’ which marked the beginning of her television career. She then went on to work for other television channels. She worked as a senior producer for business and financial news television channel, ‘CNBC Europe.’ She also worked as a business producer and reporter for ‘Channel 4 News’ and as a presenter for the business news television channel, ‘Bloomberg Television.’
In October 2008, Munchetty joined ‘BBC Two’s’ television show ‘Working Lunch.’ She joined the show after it was re-launched with new titles, set, and presenters. The show that covered personal finance, business, and consumer news saw Munchetty and Declan Curry replace Adam Shaw, Paddy O'Connell, and Nik Wood as presenters. Munchetty was featured in the show until it was canceled in July 2010. Munchetty went on to host the weekly personal finance radio show ‘Money Box’ that airs on ‘BBC Radio 4.’
Munchetty works for ‘BBC News,’ reporting from the City of London. Her primary task while reporting from the City is to gauge the general reaction to important financial news, such as the ‘Pre-Budget Report’ and ‘Budget.’ Starting from August 2010, she has presented early morning bulletins on ‘BBC World News’ and ‘BBC News Channel.’
In September 2010, she co-hosted ‘The Spending Review – The South Today Debate’ on ‘BBC One’ along with Sally Taylor. In October 2010, she presented ‘Paranormal Investigation: Live’ to celebrate Halloween. The show was aired on the UK television channel ‘Sky Witness,’ which was formerly known as ‘Living.’
The BBC documentary ‘Fear and Faith in Paris’ was narrated by her. The documentary explores the rise of anti-Semitism in France. It also explores the reasons behind the rise in anti-Semitism, attacks in Paris, and the subsequent impact on the Jewish community in France.
She participated in the British television quiz show ‘Celebrity Mastermind’ which she went on to win. Munchetty was part of the eleventh series of ‘Celebrity Mastermind.’ The episode featuring her was aired on January 2, 2013, on ‘BBC One.’ Munchetty’s subject in the quiz show was ‘The Ryder Cup 1979 to present.’
In June 2016, she replaced Welsh journalist and presenter Sian Williams to become the presenter of the religious and current affairs discussion program, ‘Sunday Morning Live’ on ‘BBC One.’ She worked as the presenter of ‘Sunday Morning Live’ until Emma Barnett and Sean Fletcher replaced her in 2017.
Meanwhile, she presented an episode of the weekday current affairs program ‘Newsnight,’ which was aired on ‘BBC Two’ on August 26, 2016. In the same year, she also took part in the fourteenth series of British television dance contest ‘Strictly Come Dancing.’ Professional Russian ballroom dancer Pasha Kovalev was her dance partner in the show. The pair was voted out on October 16, 2016, during the fourth week of the series.
In October 2017, she co-presented ‘The Teaching Awards,’ an annual teacher awards ceremony in the UK, along with Sean Fletcher. Since 2017, she has been featured in the British children’s sketch comedy series ‘Class Dismissed.’
Along with Dan Walker, Louise Minchin, and Charlie Stayt, Munchetty is one of the main presenters of the famous British breakfast TV program ‘BBC Breakfast.’ The show airs on ‘BBC One’ and ‘BBC’ news channels. ‘BBC Breakfast’ includes news about business, sports, weather, etc. Apart from being a TV presenter, Munchetty also holds the position of the director at ‘Naga Munchetty Limited.’
Family & Personal Life
Munchetty met James Haggar in a public event. James is an English actor and director. He is best known for his work in ‘Live from Studio Five,’ ‘It's All Gone Pete Tong,’ ‘The Football Factory,’ ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ ‘Renaissance,’ and ‘Five News.’ Munchetty and Haggar started dating in 2005 and got married in 2007.
She can play classical piano and jazz trumpet. While on her visit to South Africa, Munchetty was introduced to golf by her husband. Eventually, she became an avid golf player with a handicap of nine in 2015. She emerged as the winner of the ‘Hertfordshire de Paula Cup’ which was held at ‘Bishops Stortford Golf Club’ in October 2012. Miguel Angel and Rory are among her favorite golfers.
She is active on social media platforms like Twitter where she has thousands of followers.
