Kate Silverton (born 4 August 1970) is an English child therapist. She formerly worked as a broadcaster and newsreader for the BBC. Silverton was a regular presenter of BBC News at One and BBC Weekend News, as well as making occasional appearances on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. In 2018 she participated in series 16 of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, where she was paired with professional dancer Aljaž Škorjanec and finished in 8th place. She became a qualified child therapist in 2023.
Silverton worked for a London-based bank before becoming a journalist. She trained with the BBC, working on Look North news before becoming a reporter and presenter at Tyne Tees Television.
In 2003, Silverton allegedly hit Rod Liddle, the former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, during a pilot for a new political show. Liddle said: "I made a stupid comment about the disabled which Kate rightly took exception to."[9]
In December 2007, she was named as the presenter of the BBC News 8 p.m. summary, a 90-second round-up of the news shown on BBC One, which she presented for two months. She presented the BBC News at One from February to August 2008, whilst main presenter Sophie Raworth was on maternity leave.[10]
BBC Scotland apologised to viewers in August 2010, after Silverton swore at the end of a news bulletin on live television. Viewers in Scotland were the only ones who heard the words. A spokesman for BBC Scotland said: "Kate thought she was off-air at the time. The microphones hadn't been faded down and the mistake only went out in Scotland."[11]
Silverton took maternity leave in October 2011, and returned to the News at One in April 2012. Until May 2012, she was the deputy presenter of the BBC News at One,[12] presenting on Mondays and when main presenter Sophie Raworth was unavailable. Sian Williams later took over this role. Silverton returned to the deputy role in October 2013 to cover for Williams' leave. Williams later left the BBC so Silverton regained her role.
In April 2009, she appeared as a mentor in the BBC Two series The Speaker, offering her advice on good storytelling and public speaking.[16]
In May 2009, she presented a documentary called 10 Things You Need to Know About Sleep, which looked at different ways to deal with insomnia.[17]
From 2010, she presented the Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 5 Live, running from 09:30 to 11:00.[18]
In June 2012, Silverton interviewed Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, who called for a halt to the killing of rhinos for their horns in Africa.[19] Silverton has also acted as a stand-in presenter for the Radio Four series Last Word.
In September 2005, Silverton drew media attention when her BBC News 24 co-newsreader Philip Hayton, who had worked for the BBC for 37 years, resigned from his position six months into a year's contract, citing issues of "incompatibility" with Silverton.[21]The Daily Telegraph, without substantiation and quoting an unnamed 'insider', reported that Hayton turned to Silverton during a break and said "I don't like you".[22][23]
The Daily Mirror quoted another BBC 'insider' as saying that Silverton is "...pushy beyond belief. Behind her big superficial smile she can be a really aggressive, manipulative monster who always gets what she wants."[5] Hayton merely cited "incompatibility" with Silverton as his reason and when his managers refused to move Silverton to another time slot, he left. Silverton was in the peculiar position of having to go through the morning's paper review live on air the morning the story broke, avoiding any discussion of the story and chiding her new co-anchor when he looked to refer to it.[22] Hayton said that he left the BBC "without bitterness or rancour".[22]
However, several figures spoke up for Silverton. Jon Sopel, a fellow BBC News 24 presenter, who was Silverton's co-anchor at News 24 for several months, commented on the incident saying: "She's warm and friendly. With Kate, what you see is what you get – she's bright, lively, talented and vivacious. I like and trust her. Yes, she's ambitious... but aren't we all?"[5]
Rod Liddle, who was allegedly hit by Silverton in 2003,[9] nevertheless defended his former co-presenter. Liddle said: "Kate is intelligent, attractive and has strong opinions. She was absolutely lovely, good fun, professional, intelligent and devoid of the usual afflictions of TV presenters – narcissism and greed."[24]
Child therapist
In 2021 Silverton left the BBC to follow what she described as her "life's passion" and become a qualified child therapist. She told the PA news agency: "My academic background is in child psychology, and becoming a mum really inspired me too. My journey has really been decades long, both in understanding more about children’s mental health, and as a parent really benefiting from all the interviews and access to advice that I was given by incredible people." She admitted that when she competed in Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, it was with the intention of leaving journalism to train in child therapy. She now works in a primary school supporting young children with complex needs.[25]
Personal life
Kate married Mike Heron in 2010. On 5 November 2011, Silverton gave birth to a baby girl. Her baby daughter was eventually conceived naturally, after four unsuccessful cycles of IVF. After losing an ovary during an operation to remove a cyst at the age of 29, Silverton had been told that she was unlikely to get pregnant naturally.[26]
On 25 January 2014, at the age of 43, Silverton announced that she was pregnant with her second child. She used her Twitter account to break the news, stating: "Mike and I are very happy to share that Clemency is set to become a big sister this summer."[26] Their second child, a son, was born on 26 June 2014.[27]
Silverton is 5ft 11in tall. In August 2018, she said the producers of Strictly Come Dancing had custom-made shoes created for her because none in the Strictly wardrobe were big enough for her above-average size-nine feet.[28]
In 2022, Silverton was training to be a children's counsellor, and had qualified by 2023.[29][25]
Cosmetic surgery lawsuit
In January 2008, Silverton sued a clinic after an allegedly botched cosmetic surgery procedure for treatment of acne scars. Silverton said that the procedure caused a severe skin reaction and she had to take two weeks off work after the treatment. The lawsuit filed for unspecified monetary damages.[30]
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