Babita Sharma (born April 1977)[1][2] is a British television newsreader who worked on the domestic BBC News Channel and BBC World News, presenting the Newsday strand each Monday to Wednesday from London with Rico Hizon in Singapore. Sharma stopped presenting on BBC News during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[3][4]
Early life and education
Sharma is of Indian descent[5] and was born in 1977 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire.[6] She has two older sisters.[7] She lived above a number of corner shops around Reading and Caversham owned by her mother Prem and her father Ved.[8][9][10] Her parents came from the Punjab in India,[11] her father was born in what is now the Pakistan side of the Punjab.[12]
She attended the University of Wales and graduated with a degree in journalism, film and broadcasting.
Career
After completing her education, Sharma began working with BBC Radio Wales and Thames Valley Television.[13] She moved to Dubai,[9] working on radio for Channel 4 FM and for Ajman TV where she presented a weekly music programme. She returned to the UK in 2003 and began her BBC career at BBC Radio Berkshire as a travel presenter and producer. She then moved to the newsroom in Southampton, reporting and producing for BBC South Today. In 2007 she moved on to BBC Spotlight Channel Islands working as a video journalist and regular presenter of the evening bulletin.
Sharma transferred to the BBC News Channel in 2008, initially as presenter of the Your Money programme.[14] In early 2009, she assumed the main business role and then moved to the BBC News Channel, BBC One and BBC World News in her current full-time presenting role.[13] For the BBC World News programme Newsday, which began airing from its new studios on 31 July 2015, Sharma has served as live anchor from the main Broadcasting Centre in London, while Rico Hizon was assigned the main broadcasting role from Singapore.[15] The "World Travel Market global trends report 2013", which was prepared for the World Travel Market and the Euromonitor International was the subject of a panel debate in which Sharma participated. She observed: "The global economy in 2013 has stabilized compared to 2012 with a 3.1% (gross-domestic-product) growth expected for the year. The International Monetary Fund predicts a further 3.8% increase during 2014".[16]
She appeared on series 3 episode 7 of "Celebrity Eggheads"[17] and presented the first two series of Supermarket Secrets with Gregg Wallace.[18]
Sharma also hosts various ceremonies, such as the Angel Film Awards at the Monaco International Film Festival from 2011 to 2013[19] and the 2012 Wings of Hope Achievement Award ceremony.[20] She also moderates panel discussions[21] and speaks at conferences, such as the World Travel Market.[22] In 2017 made the three part series Dangerous Borders: A Journey across Indian & Pakistan for BBC2.[23] In December 2016 her documentary Booze, Beans & Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop was shown on the BBC4.[24]
Sharma co-hosted the Asian Curry Awards 2018 at the Grosvenor House in London on Sunday 18 November 2018.
Since 2022, Sharma has provided the voice over for the opening of Loose Women, introducing the panellists at the start of each show.
Personal life
Sharma is married[25] to Adam Patterson.[26][27] She gave birth to a daughter in May 2019.[28] They moved to Belfast in February 2022.[29][30]
Publications
- The Corner Shop: Shopkeepers, the Sharmas and the making of modern Britain (18 April 2019)[31]
References
- ↑ Babita SHARMA. companieshouse.gov.uk/. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ↑ Corner Shop Media Ltd in London, W1W 7LT.
- ↑ BBC News – Newsday. bbc.co.uk(6 April 2011).
- ↑ Travel Black Book: Cross the Channel to Jersey. The Straits Times(4 February 2014). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ↑ Newsday's Babita Sharma. DSTV(6 August 2015). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ↑ [1].
- ↑ Counter culture: my life growing up in a corner shop. The Guardian(2019-05-19). Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ↑ The Corner Shop. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 BBC World News Presenter to Facilitate Panel Discussions at Wave and Tidal 2014. Renewable UK(4 February 2014). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ↑ Babita Sharma: pop to the corner shop to take the pulse of modern Britain. The Times. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
- ↑ Babita Sharma: pop to the corner shop to take the pulse of modern Britain, Sharma, Babita. www.thetimes.com(2019-04-13). Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ↑ How dangerous is the Indian-Pakistan border? 2 presenters reveal what life is really like on the partition line for BBC's Dangerous Borders: a Journey across India and Pakistan | Radio Times. www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Babita Sharma – Biography and Images. TV Newsroom(13 June 2011).
- ↑ Babita Sharma. Cable Congress.
- ↑ BBC preparing new Singapore studio. NewscastStudio(31 July 2015).
- ↑ 6 trends shaping global travel. Hotel News Now(5 November 2013). Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ↑ Celebrity Eggheads. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ↑ Supermarket Secrets. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
- ↑ Angel Film Awards 2014. Angel Film Awards(7 December 2014).
- ↑ Wings of Hope Achievement Award Ceremony 2012. WOHAA(19 April 2012).
- ↑ 6 Trends Shaping Global Travel. Hotel News Now(5 November 2013).
- ↑ Report Highlights Key Hotel Trends by Region. Hotel News Now(9 November 2012).
- ↑ The legacy of partition: an interview with Babita Sharma.
- ↑ Booze, Beans & Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop.
- ↑ The Corner Shop.
- ↑ The Fold Woman: Babita Sharma.Template:Dead link
- ↑ Template:Cite tweet
- ↑ Template:Cite tweet
- ↑ Babita Sharma on why corner shops are the best of British.
- ↑ Template:Cite tweet
- ↑ The Corner Shop: Shopkeepers, the Sharmas and the making of modern Britain{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Two Roads