John Humphrys

Millions of people wake up to the sound of his voice, as John Humphrys, one of the UK’s most prominent authors, journalists and broadcasters , informs, entertains and inspires on The Today Show every morning.

After leaving school at 15 to train as a journalist, John joined the BBC in 1966 as a foreign correspondent. This was the start of a varied and successful career with the corporation. As their first full-time US TV correspondent, covering Richard Nixon’s resignation, John made his mark, and was soon sent to South Africa to report on the fragile political situation, and then in 1980, he returned to the UK as a diplomatic correspondent, before being snapped up as lead presenter for BBC1's Nine O'clock News, and in 1987 on Radio 4's Today programme.

In 2013 the BBC announced that Today's audience grew by 200,000 in a year, taking it to record breaking ratings of nearly seven million.

Alongside his iconic presenting status on Mastermind, John has published numerous books, and has carved a reputation for himself as a rigorous yet charming interviewer, whose curious and intelligent questioning has led to momentous breakthroughs in the British political arena, including the infamous 6.07am two-way exchange on the Iraq war with reporter Andrew Gilligan, which led to the Hutton Report in 2004, and subsequently the departures of Gillian; Director- General Greg Dyke, and chairman Gavyn Davies.

John also once famously interrupted the Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke 30 times in a single interview.

He is also the founder of the Kitchen Table Charities Trust, and in the Summer of 2013, at the age of 70, camped out at Glastonbury for the first time, broadcasting Today live from the festival.

In March 2021, John announced he was stepping down as host of the BBC quiz show 'Mastermind' having spent 18 years and 750 episodes opposite the famous black chair.