Gabby Logan
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| Gabby Logan | |
 Gabby Logan with Radio1 DJ Chris Moyles
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| Born | 24 April 1973 Leeds, England[1] |
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| Nationality |  British |
| Education | Cardinal Heenan Roman Catholic High School Notre Dame Sixth Form College |
| Alma mater | Hild Bede College, Durham University |
| Occupation | BBC TV presenter |
| Employer | BBC Sport |
| Home town | Leeds, England |
| Known for | TV presenter |
| Spouse(s) | Kenny Logan |
| Children | Reuben, Lois |
| Parents |  Terry Yorath (father) Christine Yorath (mother) |
Gabby Logan (born Gabrielle Nicole Yorath on 24 April 1973, in Leeds), is a British television presenter and radio presenter, as well as a former Welsh international gymnast. She currently hosts programmes for BBC Sport, mainly focusing on football, and a Sunday morning radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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[edit] Biography
She is the daughter of former Wales international football player and manager Terry Yorath. Aged 10, she decided she wanted to present the BBC's nightly news programme Newsnight. After attending Cardinal Heenan High School, and Notre Dame Sixth Form College in Leeds, Logan's university education was at the College of St. Hild and St. Bede, Durham University, where she read Law.
Logan played netball for the school and at university, competed at high jump, but the peak of her sporting career was when she gained eighth place in Rhythmic gymnastics representing Wales at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.[2] She had to retire from gymnastics aged 17 due to sciatica. She attended Bishop Ullathorne RC School in Coventry.
Logan married the former Scotland international rugby player Kenny Logan on 19 July 2001.
After undergoing IVF treatment, on 28 July 2005 Logan gave birth to twins - Reuben McKerrow, born at 11.40pm; Lois Maya, born 12 minutes later. McKerrow is the maiden name of Kenny's mother Elizabeth.
On 11 May 1985, Gabby was in the crowd at Valley Parade when the Bradford City stadium fire happened. She, along with her brother and sister, had left the stand only moments before the fire took hold and watched the disaster take place before their very eyes. [3]
In 1992 her 15-year-old brother Daniel collapsed as he was enjoying a kick-about with his father in the back garden of their home. Daniel, who had just signed schoolboy forms with Yorath's former club Leeds United, died in his helpless father's arms from a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Her brother Jordan Yorath (born 1986) played football for England Universities in 2008 whilst in the final year of his planning and development surveying degree at Northumbria University. Jordan was previously at Sheffield Wednesday and Halifax town as a young professional. Like Gabby's mother Christine, Jordan has a successful property business in Leeds. Gabby's youngest brother appeared on All-Star Family Fortunes in 2006. Gabby also has a sister, Louise (born 1974).
She runs and plays golf. She claims to support Newcastle United[4] stretching back to her time at Durham University, where her then boyfriend was a childhood fan. She remembers her first match as Newcastle's 1-0 Premier League victory over Everton on 25 August 1993[5] and made visits by air or rail to St. James' Park throughout the 1990s and early 2000s[6], including Newcastle's 5-0 win over Manchester United on 20 October 1996. However, in the mid-2000s her affection for Newcastle United had started to wane, with Logan expressing misgivings over the departures of managers Bobby Robson in 2004 and Kevin Keegan in 2008, and dissatisfaction with recent lapses in player and manager discipline. She has not attended a Newcastle match since 2007 and also claims to have variously supported Leeds United, Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, Vancouver Whitecaps and Bradford City as a child.[5]
[edit] Early career
After university she presented on Metro Radio in Newcastle, from where she was offered a job as a presenter on Sky Sports.
Logan's career came to notice when she fronted On the Ball for ITV. After ITV lost the terrestrial rights to the FA Premier League, she has presented ITV's UEFA Champions League football coverage, including the 2006 final, between Arsenal and Barcelona. She has also presented other programmes including ITV's 2005 Super Bowl coverage.
Logan took part in the celebrity version of Stars in Their Eyes as Sharleen Spiteri of Texas - although she lost to Debra Stephenson, Spiteri sent flowers to congratulate her on her performance.[7] She writes regularly for The Times newspaper, and has also done a photo shoot for men's magazine GQ.
After the birth of her twins and the return of Steve Rider to ITV, she was given a co-host role. This included ITV's coverage of the 2006 World Cup, on which she later commented: "I interviewed David Beckham but I didn't see a single game. It dented my confidence and made me question my abilities. If you've got ambition and you want to do well, it's obviously disappointing."[8]
In August 2006 when Champions League returned to ITV, Logan was not present and it was announced that Rider would front with Jim Rosenthal as deputy. Under the ITV team section of the ITV football website, it announced that Logan would front ITV's UEFA Cup coverage.
In September 2006, it was announced that ITV had banned Logan from competing in the fourth series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, which began on 7 October 2006 (though she did appear in the studio audience at least once). She was told that she would appear in rival ITV series Dancing on Ice, which returned on 13 January 2007, but refused to take part. [9]
[edit] Move to BBC
In October 2006, the Daily Mirror reported that the BBC was interested in signing her up for their sports coverage, following her fall from favour at ITV. On 19 December 2006 it was announced that Logan had quit ITV, in favour of a move to the BBC in a three year deal[10].
Logan now fronts Inside Sport an all new sports news show, and covers live sport events. She also works on BBC Radio 5 Live. She currently presents the Gabby Logan show on Sunday mornings. Logan started presenting on BBC Sport on 27 January 2007, presenting the FA Cup fourth round tie between Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers.
Logan also made a few appearances on Match of the Day, covering for Gary Lineker. However contrary to popular belief, she was not the first female presenter of Match Of The Day, BBC's flagship football show. This honour went to Celina Hinchcliffe in 2005. However Hinchcliffe is now predominantly seen presenting the sports news during BBC News bulletins, having presented the BBC's women's football coverage for a few years.
Following her switch to the BBC in 2007, she agreed to take part in Strictly Come Dancing in the same year. One of her opponents for the competition was her husband, Kenny Logan. Kenny was paired with professional dancer Ola Jordan and Gabby was partnered with Ola's husband James Jordan. Gabby was voted out of the series in week 4.[11]
In Summer 2008 she was one of the anchor presenters for the BBC's coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She was the main presenter for the evening primetime coverage.
Gabby and her husband Kenny Logan are currently co-presidents of the children's charity Sparks[12]
On 12 April 2009 she presented the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of St John's Catholic School for the Deaf of which she is a patron. [13][14]
[edit] References
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This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. |
- ^ Gabby Logan BBC Sports Presenter
- ^ The record doctor: Gabby Logan | OMM | The Observer
- ^ "Day that will live with me forever". The Times Online. 12 May 2003. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1131387.ece. Retrieved on 29 April 2009.
- ^ "Gabby has her eye firmly on the ball". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. 22 August 2002. http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0300entertainment/onthebox/2002/08/22/gabby-has-her-eye-firmly-on-the-ball-50081-12136075/. Retrieved on 2008-08-20.
- ^ a b Logan, Gabby (23 January 2009). "Dear Joe Kinnear, let me put it in black and white . . .". Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/article5568992.ece. Retrieved on 31 May 2009.
- ^ "Gabby has her eye firmly on the ball". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. 22 August 2002. http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0300entertainment/onthebox/2002/08/22/gabby-has-her-eye-firmly-on-the-ball-50081-12136075/. Retrieved on 2008-08-20.
- ^ MY PAP PICS: GABBY LOGAN: Im so lucky to be expecting IVF twins this | Sunday Mirror | Find Articles at BNET.com
- ^ "Gabby Logan quits ITV to join BBC", Daily Mail, 2006-12-19, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=423740&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490, retrieved on 2007-10-28
- ^ Kerins, Suzanne (2006-09-17), "ITV Ban Dancing Queen Gabby", Sunday Mirror, http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17762131%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26headline=itv%2dban%2ddancing%2dqueen%2dgaby-name_page.html, retrieved on 2007-10-28
- ^ BBC SPORT | Logan to take BBC presenting role
- ^ "Strictly Come Dancing - Contestants - Gabby". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/contestants/gabby.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ "Sparks Official Website". http://www.sparks.org.uk/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=309&srcid=449.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 Appeal". http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jlwnz. Retrieved on 2009-04-23.
- ^ "Gabby adds her support to school appeal". Yorkshire Post. 8 April 2009. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/health/Gabby-adds-her-support-to.5154450.jp. Retrieved on 23 April 2009.
