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BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Durham Book Festival's line-up to spotlight home-grown talent
A book festival's return will bring together different generations of North East writers, its organisers Book Festival will take place between 10 and 12 October, hosting Dame Pat Barker, Steph McGovern, Eliza Clark and Ann Cleeves, whose books have been adapted into TV shows Vera and Shetland. Former White House national security adviser Fiona Hill, who was born in Bishop Auckland, will also launch a podcast series as part of a festival commission."It feels very strong in terms of Northern voices this year, which is exciting," festival director Rebecca Wilkie said. Ms Wilkie said the line-up featured several generations of authors."It feels wonderful to bring them together and it's hopefully reflected in the audiences that come along to the events," she said."I hope that it's inspirational for emerging writers or people that would like to be writers." Booker Prize winner Barker, from Durham, will discuss her forthcoming memoir with her daughter Anna Barker during the Wilkie said the book was not expected to be published for "at least another year"."This is a very exclusive work-in-progress event with one of Britain's most revered novelists," she Bay's Cleeves and broadcaster McGovern, from Middlesbrough, will discuss the latter's debut crime thriller, Deadline.A special festival commission will also see the launch of Forged in the North, a four-series podcast by Dr Hill, featuring singer Sting and Dragons' Den star Sara Hill, who is the chancellor of Durham University, will also be in conversation with Northumberland-born bestselling author LJ Ross and Romani storyteller Richard O'Neill on how the North East shaped their University alumni broadcaster Jeremy Vine will also discuss his debut crime novel, Murder on Line One. As well as featuring well-known names, the festival will also give a platform to emerging writers at a scratch night, where they can share their writing workshops will also be held. 'Truly inspirational' Thousands of people are expected to attend the events and visitor numbers have been growing."Across the whole country, we all felt post-Covid that audiences were down," Ms Wilkie said."I know that theatres and festivals across the whole country felt this, but they are now coming back."Certainly last year's festival felt like a return to those pre-pandemic times. "It was wonderful to just be in a room with all these people that love books and wanted to share that with each other."Durham County Council's cabinet member for economy and partnerships Lyndsey Fox, said this year's line-up was "truly inspirational"."I hope it encourages aspiring authors, poets and journalists from County Durham to follow their dreams," she added. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BreakingNews.ie
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Steph McGovern: My stalker made me consider what I post on social media
An obsessive stalker who targeted TV presenter Steph McGovern has left her much more careful about posting details on social media about herself. The former BBC Breakfast TV business presenter and host of Steph's Packed Lunch, which ran from 2020 to 2023, says she no longer posts messages about where she will be filming and has always kept her family out of the spotlight. Advertisement 'I made a conscious decision not to say (on social media) where I was before I was there. I tend to normally say after the event where I've been and what I'm doing,' says McGovern, 43, who lives in the north east with her girlfriend – who is also in TV – and their five-year-old daughter. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steph McGovern (@stephlunch) 'Social media is such a poisoned chalice. It's an amazing way to authentically talk to your audience and the people who've got you where you are. 'But I find the pressure to post quite stressful. How much do you give of your life? I have a kind of love-hate relationship with it.' 'My family have not chosen to be in the public eye,' she continues. 'I don't want them to be exposed to what is essentially quite a pressurised environment. 'It's a place where everyone's got an opinion and I just want my partner, my daughter and my family to be able to get on with their life and not worry about what people think of it. Advertisement 'In some respects I'd love to post a couple of pictures of my daughter, because I'm proud of her, but the minute I do that, that opens a door which can never be closed.' The stalking is just one of the real-life experiences she has woven into her debut crime novel Deadline, set in the fast-paced world of live TV. It centres on TV reporter Rose Steedman whose live interview with the chancellor of the exchequer is hijacked by a voice in her earpiece saying that he has her wife and son and to follow his orders to keep them safe. A side story involves a stalker who is convinced he and Rose are in a relationship. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steph McGovern (@stephlunch) McGovern's own stalking experience went on for around two years. 'Somebody thought they were in a relationship with me and they kept messaging me. I didn't think anything of it. I thought, it's just a viewer who's messaging me and then he started turning up at things.' Advertisement He would message her on Twitter, where she used to post details of where she would be filming at particular times. 'Then he wrote to my dad and my dad rang me, saying 'Who's this fella'? The letter had all his details in, so I had his address. It wasn't like cut-out letters from a newspaper trying to threaten me. He was a fantasist who thought he was in a relationship with me. 'He didn't do anything to me. He just genuinely thought that we were in a relationship. He did say things to me like, 'Can I give you a lift home again? I've got your favourite snacks.'' (Macmillan/PA) Her fear, she says, was more geared towards her mum and dad because he had their address. Advertisement 'My fear was more about what he might do if I cut contact completely. I didn't block him on Twitter. I thought I'd let him keep that communication because then he'd be less likely to contact my parents again.' She notified BBC security who contacted him, she recalls. 'He said it was me and that I'd started this relationship with him. But after that it just quietened down.' Yet even after he'd been told to back off he sent her flowers, she recalls. There are many other aspects of Deadline which McGovern has taken from her own life in TV, including the similarity to her main character, Rose. 'I wanted to write it in a north eastern voice,' she explains. Advertisement That north eastern accent has, at times, led her to being stereotyped, she agrees. 'I've built my whole career on being underestimated. It's different now because of where I am in my career, but before that I would constantly be underestimated because of where I was from. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steph McGovern (@stephlunch) 'People would assume I didn't know things, or I wouldn't have experienced things. 'When I first started at the BBC one of the bosses said to the team, in a very friendly way, 'We've got this new girl starting and she's really unusual, she's northern. I was thinking about things we could do to welcome her, like we could take her to the theatre because she's probably never been there before'.' Today, she's more concerned with family life. Juggling work and career is helped hugely by both sets of grandparents, she says. 'I never really understood that it takes a village to bring up a child, but I really feel it now. It's partly why I'm in the north because we've got that network around us. 'At the start I felt really guilty about it. I thought, 'Oh God, I'm not here and I have to come to London quite a lot. But I realised, actually, my daughter gets so much from being with her grandparents. I can see some of their amazing traits in her on both sides.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cristina M-k (@cmarshall1208) Motherhood has changed her, she admits. 'I now see ageing as a privilege. I want to try to live for as long as possible because of her. I feel a real sense of my own mortality and am an avid health checker, constantly getting MOTs on my health because I want to make sure that I look after myself better. 'The other change is just priorities in life. In the past I might have said yes to all the work coming my way, now I'm like, what will this actually mean for the family? I'm less selfish, I would like to think.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by PodcastingToday (@podcastingtoday) McGovern grew up in a deprived part of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. Her father was an artist, her mother a radiographer. While she lived in an industrial area where many children had difficult home lives, she did not. 'I don't have an X-Factor tragedy story to my life but quite a few of the kids I was with did. That was really good for me. We thought about how to make money and how to get jobs.' She ditched a promising career in engineering – she did an apprenticeship with Black & Decker and gained a degree in science communication and policy at University College London – for broadcasting, becoming a TV producer of financial slots on the Today programme and BBC Breakfast business presenter and has interviewed the great and the good of politics and finance. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steph McGovern (@stephlunch) Yet she still suffers from imposter syndrome, she admits. 'I've always had imposter syndrome. My entire life I've constantly thought someone's going to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about.' Now a popular guest presenter for ITV's This Morning, she also presents a podcast The Rest Is Money with Robert Peston, has two documentary series in the pipeline and is working on another novel. After taking part in Netflix's Celebrity Bear Hunt, Bear Grylls' reality show, she isn't currently planning further reality appearances. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steph McGovern (@stephlunch) 'I've been asked to do Strictly quite a lot, and I'm A Celebrity, but I've no big desire to do it because it's hard to do reality and not talk about your family. 'Can you imagine doing Strictly and never having my partner and my kid there? That would be rubbish. 'I'd do The Traitors like a shot. But I think any kind of day-to-day (TV) where you're sitting around talking to other people off the telly would just open up a can of worms for me with privacy.' Deadline by Steph McGovern is published by Macmillan, priced £20. Available now
Daily Mail
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Steph McGovern dealt withering putdown after asking ‘I wonder if I'll get recognised?' during night out on the town
Steph McGovern has revealed a friend dealt her an epic putdown after asking if she'd get recognised during a night out. The TV host, 43, was catapulted to household fame thanks to her stint on the BBC 's long-running breakfast show. While she was the main business presenter, Steph often hosted the entire programme as a stand-in. In 2019, she left the BBC completely and moved to Channel 4, where she hosted her own programme, fittingly called Steph's Packed Lunch. But in a new interview, the mum-of-one has recalled the time her friend stopped her on a night out and warned her she was becoming a 'bit of a nob'. Steph told The Times: 'I was in a restaurant not long after I'd got the job and a group of blokes sent over a bottle of champagne to my table, like, 'Whey! Doing it for the northerners'. The TV host, 43, was catapulted to household fame thanks to her stint on the BBC 's long-running breakfast show 'People were always getting photos and stuff, which was really lovely, but my mate was like, 'You are turning into a bit of a nob'.' Admitting she 'fell' for the buzz of presenting, Steph continued: 'Everywhere we went I was, 'Ooh, I wonder if I'll get recognised'. And she'd be like, 'Ah, shut up. Come on'. 'When she said it I thought, 'I don't want to be a TV nob'. And I went, 'You're right'.' In 2023, Steph was dealt a crushing blow when Channel 4 axed her daytime show due to low viewership. She made her long-awaited TV return last month, appearing on ITV's This Morning for their daily news segment. The journalist appeared alongside LBC radio host Nick Ferrari, 66, as fans at home were left delighted. Flooding social media with their reactions, many called for Steph to be given a permanent hosting slot on the show. Meanwhile, Steph recently opened up about her stalker hell, which is detailed in her brand new book, titled Deadline. Appearing on This Morning, she said: 'I have had a stalker, so that story is in there, I've never really talked about it before but it was quite fun and therapeutic writing it in a crime fiction,' Steph explained. She added: 'Weirdly in telly, when I found out I had a stalker and told my bosses they were like 'Oh yeah, everyone gets a stalker at some point'. 'But this was a guy who just used to turn up everywhere I went.' The TV presenter recalled how although the man 'wasn't horrible' to her, he did think he was in a relationship with her. 'He used to think, when I said 'Morning everyone' on the telly, that I was talking directly to him and he used to think when I put things on social media that that was me telling him where to meet me,' she added.
Metro
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
BBC Breakfast star warned by friend she was becoming too 'fame-obsessed'
BBC Breakfast's Steph McGovern has said her friend was forced to have a word with her after she started to let the fame of being a TV presenter get to her. The 43-year-old stepped into the broadcasting role at the Beeb after first answering the phones for Radio 4's Money Box while at university. She went on to become a current affairs researcher at the BBC and then the producer of the financial news on the Today programme, before stepping in front of the camera for BBC Breakfast. The ex-business reporter and host of former Channel 4 show Steph's Packed Lunch has now spoken about the effect that being recognised in public had on her early in her career. McGovern told The Times she 'fell for' the buzz of presenting and the fame that came with her position, so much so her friend Rach ended up saying something. She told the publication: 'I was in a restaurant not long after I'd got the job and a group of blokes sent over a bottle of champagne to my table, like, 'Whey! Doing it for the northerners'. 'People were always getting photos and stuff, which was really lovely, but my mate was like, 'You are turning into a bit of a nob'. 'Everywhere we went I was, 'Ooh, I wonder if I'll get recognised'. And she'd be like, 'Ah, shut up. Come on'. When she said it I thought, 'I don't want to be a TV nob'. And I went, 'You're right'.' More Trending McGovern also spoke about being more careful about what she shares online now, ever since she discovered she had a stalker while presenting on the BBC. The presenter says she was 'oversharing' at the time and now never discusses her partner and doesn't post her location or photos of her house. McGovern's flagship Channel 4 daytime show came to an end in 2023, after the broadcaster axed it due to low viewership. View More » Since then, she appeared in Netflix's Celebrity Bear Hunt, which pitted a bunch of celebs against the wiles of Bear Grylls and saw McGovern finish a finalist. She also hosts The Rest Is Money podcast with Robert Peston. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: BBC admits Bob Vylan was deemed 'high risk' before Glastonbury controversy MORE: 'This is wrong' – BBC commentator slams tennis star for abusing rule at Wimbledon MORE: BBC thriller that fans hailed 'perfect' soars up Netflix top 10 chart
The Sun
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Steph McGovern reveals chilling act from deranged stalker that forced her to call security
STEPH McGovern revealed the chilling moment that forced her to take action against a deranged stalker. The television star, 43, appeared on today's This Morning and revealed her stalker experience has influenced part of her debut novel, Deadline. Telling hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about her ordeal, Steph explained that the man never caused her harm but his delusions became increasingly concerning. The man fell in love with her, believing she was addressing him directly through the TV screen whenever she was speaking to viewers in general. It all got too much when he somehow got hold of her parents' address and wrote to her dad asking for permission to marry her. She explained: "My dad rang me and said, 'Steph, who's this fella you're seeing?' "He talked to my dad about being in a relationship with me and he kind of asked for my hand in marriage." When Ben revealed his surprise that the man had managed to get the address, Steph continued: "That's what freaked me out. At that point it's very different from having someone being there at broadcasting things to finding your parents address and writing to them. "That panicked me because I thought my mum and dad are going to be dead worried here. "That's when it all kicked in and the BBC security team did their thing." No charges were ever brought against the stalker. Steph has been busy ever since Channel 4 axed her daytime show, Steph's Packed Lunch, in December 2023. Watch the moment Bear Hunt star Shirley Ballas furiously clashes with Mel B in heated row Not only has she written a novel, she also starred in Bear Grylls ' hit Netflix reality show, Celebrity Bear Hunt. It pushed her to the limit and in one terrifying incident she ended up bashing her face off a cliff face. Medics scrambled to help her as she helplessly hung from her safety harness while host Holly Willoughby watched on with concern. Speaking exclusively to The Sun earlier this year, Steph said: "We had these amazing medics and everything. There was a moment where I literally fell off a cliff and smashed into a wall. "You will see, it was pretty scary. When I got pulled back off the cliff, I saw everyone's face and I thought, 'oh', and then Holly is like, 'Oh my goodness'. "I was just hanging there looking at... There was blood dripping off my face. "I didn't overthink it. I just thought, they're not going to let me die. "It was fine, it wasn't a big deal, it wasn't broken. They were just kind of checking me that I didn't have a concussion. I was a bit mad. You know these things sometimes that look more dramatic than they actually are?" In difficult-to-watch moments, Steph fell from a ledge during a challenge and swung towards the sheer rockface. The impact was heavy and she repeatedly shouted "Ow!". Co-star Big Zuu could be heard asking if she was alright as Holly reassured him medics were on their way to help. 2
