Anthea Turner began her broadcasting career in BBC local radio presenting road traffic reports and later worked for Signal Radio in Stoke as promotions manager and outside broadcast producer.
Anthea's move into television was through Sky Channel presenting live music programmes from July 1986 - 1989. Her debut on national television was with BBC on ‘But First This’ which was the first continuity programme to attract the younger viewers during the school holidays. This led to Anthea fronting two series for the BBC on the Saturday morning show ‘Up2U’ and being a guest presenter on ‘Going Live’. Anthea spent 3 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 television show was a series of Thames Television programmes called ‘Best of Magic’ which she co-hosted with Radio One’s Simon Mayo.
On 14th September 1992 Anthea became the 19th presenter of the award winning flagship children’s programme, BBC 1’s ‘Blue Peter’. During her two years with the programme until 1994 she launched the most successful ‘make’ in the history of Blue Peter with in excess of 100,000 viewers writing in for Tracey Island. Anthea refers to Blue Peter as ‘the university of television’ and during her time on the programme launched many an appeal and visited places as far a field as Buenos Aires to Budapest.
In May 1994, Anthea was invited to introduce the Children’s Royal Variety Performance for the BBC in the presence of HRH Princess Margaret. Later that year Anthea was selected by the BBC as one of the three presenters to present the historic live opening of the Channel Tunnel.
In June 1994 Anthea joined the network broadcaster GMTV alongside Eamonn Holmes. She anchors the 7.00am - 9.00am time slot 5 days a week.
On 19 November 1994 Anthea became the first presenter of BBC 1’s National Lottery Live programme which is broadcast every Saturday evening at 8.00pm. The National Lottery Live is currently and has consistently been BBC television’s highest rated entertainment programme. Anthea presented her last Lottery programme on April 20th 1996.
Anthea’s selection of Y Plan Fitness Videos have sold in excess of one million units. She recently won the award for ‘Best Dressed Woman on Television 1995’ and has just signed a 2 year deal with Carlton Television to present a number of major light entertainment shows on network ITV.
In February 1996 Anthea won the prestigious ‘Showbusiness Personality of the Year’ awarded by The Variety Club of Great Britain, also in March 1996 she was voted ‘BBC Personality of the Year’ by the television industry.