Everything about Anthea Turner totally explained
Anthea Millicent Turner (born
May 25,
1960 in
Stoke-on-Trent) is an
English television personality.
Career
Anthea's move into television was through
Sky Channel (
UK) presenting live music programmes from July 1986 - 1989. Her debut on national television was with the BBC on
But First This, which led to Anthea fronting two series for the
BBC on the Saturday morning show
Up2U. She then spent three years as the only non-
Radio One DJ to regularly present Britain's most successful TV music show
Top of the Pops. Her first adult TV show was
Best of Magic which she co-hosted with
Simon Mayo.
The short-lived Saturday morning children's show
UP2U was a flop, and is chiefly remembered today for a motorcycle stunt that went wrong. She was to stand forward of a truck, the motorcycle would do its thing, then
pyrotechnics would be ignited, then it would link back to the Studio. Unfortunately there was a big communications breakdown; at the last minute it was decided that Anthea would sit on the back of the truck, she'd also take her cue from somebody behind the camera which, unknowingly to the camera crew, became the same cue used to ignite the pyrotechnics. She suffered burns and temporary hearing loss, which led to her successful lawsuit against the BBC.
Turner later became famous for presenting the children's television show
Blue Peter, and around this time, was also associated with publicising '
The Y Plan', a system of exercise developed by the London
YMCA. She moved on to presenting on
Totally Live on pan-European music channel
Music Box, the
ITV morning television station
GMTV, as well as the first
National Lottery draw on
BBC1 in 1994, and the ITV travel show
Wish You Were Here...?. Turner's nickname by
Eamonn Holmes, during her time at GMTV, which is intended to be an insult, is Princess Tippy Toe. The relationship between them was so frosty that Holmes gave an ultimatum to the GMTV management that either they sacked Anthea, or he'd leave; they decided to sack Anthea.
After her present husband Grant Bovey left his wife Della for Anthea, the ensuing tabloid interest, and then the "Flakegate" scandal (see below), Turner's career went into a decline.
In 2001, to try reviving her career, Turner appeared on
Celebrity Big Brother, and was the third contestant to be evicted, after
Chris Eubank left, followed by
Vanessa Feltz. In 2003, she came 15th in a
Channel 4 poll of
100 Worst Britons.
In February 2006, Turner made a television comeback on
BBC Three in, where she taught disorganised housewives how to fold towels, clean and run their houses and prepare perfect canapés, amongst other accomplishments. Later in 2006, she appeared as a guest on
BBC Two's music-based panel show
Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Currently she's presenting the show
Help me Anthea - I'm infested for BBC Three, as she tackles people whose homes have been overrun by pests.
Turner is rumoured to be making a guest appearance on Channel 4's
Big Brother Celebrity Hijack alongside
Dermot O'Leary in 2008.
Personal life
Turner's private life has made her a
tabloid staple. After a long relationship with fellow Stoke resident and one-time DJ co-worker
Bruno Brookes, she married her manager, British DJ
Peter Powell.
However, the marriage was short lived, and in 1998, Turner's present husband,
Grant Bovey, left his wife Della for her; he then reconciled with Della, before leaving her again. Bovey and Turner eventually married on
23 August 2000, and now live in
Chiddingfold,
Surrey.
Turner is keen to start her own family with Bovey, but for various reasons, this hasn't yet been achieved. She is stepmother to Bovey's three daughters Lily, Amelia and Claudia, from his previous marriage.
Flakegate
In 2000, Turner received more bad publicity from the British tabloids after photographs of her wedding reception, published in the magazine
OK! in an exclusive deal worth £450,000, showed the couple (apparently) using their wedding to publicise a new
Cadbury chocolate bar,
Snowflake.
OK! issued the photo to the media with the caption "
Anthea Turner and Grant Bovey: exclusive OK! wedding photograph, enjoying Cadbury's new Snowflake. For the complete wedding coverage and a free Cadburys Snowflake, buy OK! magazine this weekend. OK! First for celebrity news."
The Sun described it as
"the most sickening wedding photo ever", and the event is now referred to as "Flakegate". However, Turner, Bovey, Cadbury's and OK! all denied that the chocolate was part of a sponsorship deal. However the wedding was rumoured to have cost in excess of £150,000 which was paid for by
OK! magazine. Pictures of their wedding and their subsequent honeymoon were in the magazine for the next two weeks. Turner and Bovey insist that someone had stuck the chocolate bar in her hand and snapped a picture before she knew what was happening. Richard Desmond the proprietor of
OK! and his wife were sitting next to the newly married Boveys at the time.
Charity work
Turner had a widely reported falling-out with the
Douglas Macmillan Hospice in 2004 for failing to turn up to fund-raising events. She was subsequently dropped by the charity as one of their fund-raising patrons. She has allegedly had disagreements with other organisations for similarly failing to deliver satisfactory support and publicity.
Recently, she was disowned by the local charity, NSAAA for failing to contribute to their £5 million campaign which only raised £15,000 since it started.
Trivia
- Turner's younger sister is animal rights campaigner Wendy Turner Webster, with whom she presented BBC1's short-lived Saturday evening programme Your Kids Are In Charge.
- She has released two work-out videos: Anthea Turner Body Basics (1996) and Anthea Turner: Tone, Lift And Condition: The Inch Buster (1999).
- She was rumoured to have died after being involved in an accident with a motorcycle while presenting an event in 1990. She suffered burns and temporary hearing loss, which led to her successful lawsuit against the BBC. The video of the accident can be seen on various web sites.
- Turner is mentioned on the Robbie Williams song "South of the Border".
- Sister-in-law of Gary Webster
- Electronic music group Lolita Storm recorded a song "Anthea Turner's Tears".
Quotations
"Anthea, how about we get together while I kick you in the mouth." Chris Evans on Anthea.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Anthea Turner'.
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