30-year career in broadcasting

Kirsty Young was born in East Kilbride and attended Stirling High School before starting her career in broadcasting as a continuity announcer for BBC Radio Scotland in 1989.

In 1992 she moved to STV to present Scotland Today.

She headed up her shortlived chat show Kirsty before moving to London where she appeared on a series of programmes, including the Holiday show, The Time, The Place and The Street. Her breakthrough came in 1997 when she joined the newlylaunched Channel 5 as one of the original newsreaders of 5 Live, which became famous for its presentation style.

The programme was unique at the time, with presenters standing up or sitting on a desk rather than behind it.

Young briefly left the network in 2000 for ITV News before returning in 2002.

She ended her stint with Channel 5 in 2007 and since 2006 has been the main presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs – a role she took over from long-term presenter Sue Lawley.

In 2007 Young took over from Fiona Bruce as presenter of Crimewatch on BBC One and was with the show until 2015.

She is married to businessman Nick Jones – the founder of Soho House club – and has two daughters and two step-children from Mr Jones’s first marriage.