Debbie King
Debbie King is one of the brightest young prospects currently working in television. A vivacious, highly intelligent and charismatic presenter, her latest project studentcooking.tv has recently won a Royal Television Society Award for 2008's Best Contribution to New Media. Based online and featured in UKTV Food's New Market Kitchen, the dynamic cooking show sees internet chef Debbie burst onto campus at universities across the UK, demonstrating how to cook 5 star healhty meals on 2 star budgets. Think "Jamie's School Dinners" but for the great unwashed. The show, which is at the very heart of the WebTV revolution, is set to roll out in a big way in 2009.
Earlier in 2008, Debbie was asked to be the red carpet reporter for the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards, interviewing song writing royalty from the likes of Take That to Phil Collins and Mika. She is set to report from this year's award ceremony once again, this spring.
Fearless and up for any challenge, 2005 saw Debbie present the self entitled King of The Road on which she tried, tested and reported on a range of nail biting motor activities. In 2006 Debbie's love for adventure also saw her compete with a whole host of celebrities in ITV1's Red Bull Track Attack, in which she raced in mini Formula One go carts.
After graduating from Newcastle University with a degree in History, Debbie followed her dream of working in television. Starting as a Researcher she was promoted quickly, becoming an Assistant Producer on programs such as This Morning, The Big Breakfast and Nickleodeon.
Debbie's talent and ability on screen shone through and whilst working as a producer on whereits.at a youth current affairs show, she was asked to interview Ken Livingstone at a press conference. Her talent and ability to outwit such a leading politician resulted in Debbie's boss giving her a weekly debate show on which she would interview leading spokespeople and guests on a range of teen issues from sleeping rough to eating diorders and body image.
After a few years on screen, Debbie developed and produced the cult hit game show "Quizmania" which she sold to FreemantleMedia along with her co producer. Quzmania was subsequently broadcast on ITV1 and ITV2 for 18 months with Debbie at the helm as the anchor presenter and producer. Quizmania has since been syndicated to a worldwide audience including France, Poland, Columbia and Australia.
Debbie is a fantastic and skilled master of ceremonies. She is the regular host for West End Live, London's annual theatrical showcase attracting over 40,000 spectators and is the host of Future Engineers, a new concept which aims to bring engineering to young people in annual events on board historic vessels such as the Queen Mary 2. Debbie also works closely with Rethink, one of the leading charities for mental health. She feels the charity deserves recognition for the vital work it carries out in changing the publics' vision of mental health today.