Keeley Donovan

Keeley Donovan
Born (1983-05-14) 14 May 1983 (age 41)
Grimsby, Humberside, England
EducationDe Montfort University
Occupation(s)Meteorologist, Journalist and Weather presenter
Years active2005–present
EmployerBBC
Known for
Television
SpouseJohnny I'Anson (married 2018–present)
Children1
FatherTerry Donovan
RelativesDon Donovan (grandfather)

Keeley Emma Donovan (born 14 May 1983) is an English journalist and broadcaster, working for the BBC as a weather presenter for television and radio stations in the North of England.

Early life

Donovan was born in Grimsby in Lincolnshire (then part of Humberside) and grew up in nearby Tetney. Her father, Terry Donovan, was from Liverpool and played professional football for Grimsby Town, Aston Villa, Burnley, Rotherham United,[1] and the Republic of Ireland. Her Irish grandfather, Don Donovan, played for both Grimsby Town and the Republic of Ireland.[2] He managed Boston United from 1965 to 1969.

She attended the Humberston School.[3] She took a course in media at Franklin Sixth Form College in Grimsby, then studied for a BA at De Montfort University in Leicester. She returned to Grimsby to do a post-graduate NVQ Diploma in Broadcast Journalism at Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education in conjunction with East Coast Media.[4]

Career

Donovan started her broadcasting career at the age of 14, presenting for Channel 7 Television (now Estuary TV), a local cable TV station based in Immingham.[4] She went freelance while continuing her studies and began freelancing for BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in 2005 and joined the locally based Propeller TV a year later.

After studying broadcast meteorology with the Met Office and the BBC Weather Centre, Donovan started presenting weather forecasts for the BBC's regional TV and local radio services in the Yorkshire and North Midlands, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and North East and Cumbria regions. She is also a reporter for the regional current affairs magazine, Inside Out, and an occasional newsreader and reporter for the Leeds edition of BBC Look North.

In September 2014, Donovan joined BBC Radio Humberside, presenting the new Saturday morning show. She had participated in work experience at the radio station 15 years earlier.[5]

In September 2015, she co-presented her first networked TV series, the daytime factual show Break-in Britain, produced by BBC Cymru Wales.[4][6]

In March 2016, it was announced that Donovan would co-present the new BBC series Countryfile Diaries, a spin off of the Countryfile programme.[7]

In August 2017, Donovan was named as the new presenter of the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire variation of the BBC's Inside Out; she was previously a reporter for the series.[8]

Personal life

In July 2017, Donovan announced her engagement to fellow BBC presenter Johnny I'Anson.[9] He proposed to Donovan during a romantic walk in the Lake District.[10] They were married on 25 June 2018 in a rustic wedding at Castle Farm near Knaresborough. BBC Look North colleague Harry Gration conducted the ceremony.[11]

Donovan and husband Johnny's first child, a girl, was born on 10 July 2020.[12] They live in Leeds.[13] In January 2023, Donovan revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage.[14]

References

  1. ^ "My Yorkshire: Keeley Donovan". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. 26 August 2017. ISSN 0963-1496. Retrieved 29 August 2017. Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what? Oh gosh, sorry, no – despite coming from good footballing stock – my dad used to play for Rotherham United.
  2. ^ "R.I.P Don". Grimsby Town F.C. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Keeley Donovan". BBC Look North. BBC Yorkshire. 15 June 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Local weather girl Keeley Donovan reveals her new TV challenge". Grimsby Telegraph. Local World. 5 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Look North's Keeley Donovan handed BBC Radio Humberside show". 23 September 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  6. ^ Roberts, Alice (3 September 2015). "Weather girl Keeley Donovan to host BBC1 crime show Break-In Britain". Hull Daily Mail. Trinity Mirror. ISSN 1741-3419. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  7. ^ Methven, Nicola (8 March 2016). "New Countryfile daytime spin-off show to be fronted by glamorous weathergirl". Daily Mirror. London: Trinity Mirror. ISSN 0956-8050. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Keeley Donovan to host regional BBC current affairs programme, Inside Out in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire" (Press release). BBC. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  9. ^ Craig, Peter (1 August 2017). "Keeley Donovan engaged to fellow BBC presenter Johnathan I'Anson". Grimsby Telegraph. Local World. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Keeley Donovan reveals how fiance Johnny I'Anson proposed". Grimsby Telegraph. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  11. ^ Evans, Alex. "Watch the emotional ceremony as BBC Look North's Keeley Donovan marries in rustic wedding on Yorkshire farm". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. ISSN 0963-1496. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Look North's Keeley Donovan gives birth to healthy baby girl". Hull Daily Mail. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  13. ^ Hole, Rabbit. "Welcome to Leeds - The Best Alternative Guide to Leeds". Welcome To Leeds. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  14. ^ "BBC Look North presenter Keeley Donovan confirms she has suffered a miscarriage in poignant post about baby loss". Yorkshire Post. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.