Frances Donovan

Frances Donovan is a journalist and presenter who’s anchored television and radio programmes across major events for both the BBC and ITV, including the Rugby World Cup, Euro 2016, The Olympics, The Commonwealth Games, Children in Need and the BAFTAS.

Frances read English and History at University College, Cardiff and later obtained a postgraduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism before beginning her career as a radio reporter and presenter at 210FM in Reading and Severn Sound Radio in Gloucester. Her first television role was a reporter at HTV West in Bristol, from where she went on to work for ITN, Sky, Channel 5 and Meridian Television. She was also a regular sports presenter on News 24 for the BBC.

She then returned to Wales to become one of BBC Wales Sport’s main anchors, where she hosted Wales on Saturday – the weekend results show – for four years, as well as Sports Personality of the Year, Wales Open Golf, ‘Welsh Open Snooker’, International Bowls and Welsh Amateur Boxing. She was the first female presenter of BBC Wales’ iconic rugby programme, Scrum Five.

She is also the host of ITV Wales’ sport chat show In Touch, where her easy, conversational style has drawn major sports figures like Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Chris Coleman, Gareth Edwards, Craig Bellamy, Matthew Maynard, Gary Monk and Malky Mackay into the guest’s chair.

Away from sport, Donovan is an authoritative news presenter, having co-anchored both Wales Tonight and The West Tonight for ITV. She tackled business for ITV Wales in The Secrets of My Success and indulged her love of history and the outdoors, fronting History Hunters for the BBC. She presented ITV’s popular arts and entertainment programme The Wales Show for several years, interviewing Ricky Gervais, Catherine Zeta Jones and Rhys Ifans amongst others.

Highly experienced in live television, Frances has been one of the main presenters of Children in Need for BBC Wales and also hosted a seven-hour- long Outside Broadcast from Cardiff Castle to mark the Queen’s Jubilee.