Childhood & Early Life
Sophie Jane Raworth was born on May 15, 1968, in Redhill, Surrey, England, to Richard Raworth, a businessman, and Jenny Raworth, a florist. She was raised in the affluent suburban area of Twickenham in southwest London, England. She grew up with her sister, Kate.
She attended an independent all-girls school named 'Putney High School’ in Putney, London, and then an independent day school for girls named ‘St. Paul's Girls' School’ in Brook Green, Hammersmith, West London.
She attended the ‘University of Manchester’ and studied French and German there, before spending a year teaching English to teenagers in Toulouse, France. Following this, she enrolled at ‘City, University of London,’ from where she completed a postgraduate course in broadcasting and journalism.
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Career
In 1992, Sophie became a news reporter of the ‘BBC’ local radio station ‘BBC Radio Manchester,’ marking the beginning of her long journey with the ‘BBC’ network. In April 1994, she started working as a ‘BBC Regions’ correspondent in Brussels. She joined ‘BBC's regional TV news service ‘BBC Look North’ in Leeds in May 1995.
She stepped into national TV in 1997, with the ‘BBC One’ show ‘Breakfast News.’ She co-presented the show with Justin Webb and then with John Nicolson. The program was re-launched as ‘BBC Breakfast’ on October 2, 2000. The first show was hosted by Sophie and Jeremy Bowen. This daily British breakfast show that airs on ‘BBC One’ and ‘BBC News’ includes a mix of news related to sports, business, weather, and other areas. Sophie was one of the main presenters of the show between 2000 and 2002, initially presenting alongside Jeremy Bowen and then with Dermot Murnaghan.
Meanwhile, between 1999 and 2000, she presented the ‘BBC’ TV series ‘Tomorrow's World’ that focused on new developments in science and technology. She also featured in entertainment programs such as the quiz show ‘Judgemental’ and ‘Dream Lives’ in the early 2000s.
In January 2003, she began presenting ‘BBC Six O'Clock News’ alongside George Alagiah. She appeared on the ‘BBC’ makeover reality TV show ‘What Not to Wear’ in 2004. Style advisors Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine gave her a makeover on the show.
She worked with ‘BBC Six O'Clock News’ till October 2005. Following this, she went on a maternity leave. She resumed her career as the main presenter of ‘BBC News at One’ in June 2006. That year, she was part of the TV coverage of the ‘Children's Party at the Palace.’
After taking a hiatus for her third pregnancy in early 2008, Sophie made a comeback with the ‘Bank Holiday’ edition of ‘BBC News at One,’ ‘BBC News at Ten,’ and ‘BBC News at Six,’ on August 25, 2008.
Since early 2009, Sophie appears as the main relief presenter on ‘BBC News at Six’ and as a regular relief presenter on ‘BBC News at Ten.’ She covers for the main presenters during their absence. She has also covered for Andrew Marr during his absence on ‘The Andrew Marr Show’ in 2013 and occasionally presents relief shifts on ‘BBC News.’ She has presented many ‘BBC’ specials, such as ‘Our Monarchy – the Next 50 Years’ and the coverage of the ‘Queen's Golden Jubilee.’ She also played a cameo role in the British TV sitcom ‘My Hero.’
She and Justin Rowlatt presented the ‘BBC’ program 'The Trouble with Working Women' in May 2009. That year, she was one of the main presenters of ‘Crimewatch’ on ‘BBC One,’ co-presenting with Rav Wilding.
Sophie presented the ‘BBC’ program ‘Watchdog Daily’ in 2012. She guest-presented the program ‘Crimewatch’ that year. In February 2016, she replaced Kirsty Young to take over as the temporary main anchor of the program and presented its first three shows of 2016. She made a cameo appearance as herself in the 2013 blockbuster action–thriller ‘A Good Day to Die Hard,’ the fifth instalment in the ‘Die Hard’ film series, starring Bruce Willis.
An ‘Award of Doctor of Arts honoris causa’ was bestowed on her by ‘City, University of London’ on July 16, 2013.
She presented the ‘BBC’ TV series ‘Watchdog Test House’ that aired from March 10, 2014, to March 20, 2015. In September 2015, she replaced Anne Robinson and became one of the main presenters of the ‘BBC One’ consumer investigative journalism program ‘Watchdog.’
In 2018, she presented a documentary named ‘RAF 100: Into the Blue in 2018,’ celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ‘Royal Air Force.’ The documentary had her tracing the story of her grandfather, Cpt. Edwin Raworth, who was one of the first pilots of the aerial warfare force of the UK that was formed toward the end of World War I.
Family & Personal Life
Sophie dated her friend Richard Winter for a year. Richard, a property company director, proposed to her on her birthday in the beautiful town of Amalfi in Italy. The two got married on December 13, 2003, at a local church in London. They are blessed with two daughters, Georgia and Ella Rose, and a son, Oliver. Sophie lives with her husband and three children in London.
On October 5, 2008, she ran the world’s largest half marathon, the ‘Great North Run.’ She completed the ‘London Marathon’ on April 17, 2011, even after she collapsed 2 miles from the finish line. All six ‘World Marathon Majors’ were completed by her by 2017. She also completed the 6-day, 251 km ultramarathon, the ‘Marathon Des Sables,’ in April 2018. The marathon is held every year in southern Morocco, in the Sahara Desert, and covers a distance of around six regular marathons.
In 2017, Sophie’s earnings as a ‘BBC’ presenter were reported to be around £150,000–£199,999. Sophie has earned a decent count of followers on social-media platforms such as ‘Twitter’ and ‘Instagram.’ Her ‘Twitter’ account, ‘sophieraworth,’ has already earned over 82 thousand followers. Her ‘Instagram’ account has earned more than 16 thousand followers.
