Steph McGovern


Stephanie Rose McGovern is an English journalist and television presenter. She currently hosts The Steph Show on Channel 4. She worked for the BBC as the main business presenter for BBC Breakfast, often co-hosting the entire programme.

Early life

McGovern is originally from Middlesbrough. In 1998, at the start of her sixth form studies, she won an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship for her potential to be a future leader in the engineering industry. From 1998–2000, in the sixth form, she studied maths, physics, design technology and business studies. At the age of 19, she was awarded 'Young Engineer for Britain', and was a junior team member saving Black & Decker £150,000 a year by improving production techniques used for the Leaf Hog product.
She attended University College London, where she studied Science Communication and Policy in the Department of Science and Technology Studies. In 2013 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Teesside University.

Career

McGovern started at the BBC doing work experience on the Tomorrow's World programme, before securing part-time employment as a researcher in current affairs. She went on to be the main producer for daily financial news on the Today programme on Radio 4, before becoming the lead producer of business news on the BBC's One, Six and Ten O'Clock news bulletins, working with the then business editor, Robert Peston.
McGovern has presented BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money and On the Money and has been BBC Breakfast's main business presenter since 2010 as well as a regular presenter of the entire show.
conference in 2013
She presented Pocket Money Pitch for CBBC. Since March 2016, she has co-presented the consumer series Shop Well for Less with Alex Jones for BBC One.
McGovern joined the BBC Watchdog presenting team from autumn 2016. She also co-presented Can Britain Have a Pay Rise? for BBC Two alongside James O'Brien and has been both a panellist and host on Have I Got News for You.
In October 2018, McGovern stated that she found Donald Trump "creepy" after he referred to her as "beautiful" during an interview in 2012. She is said to have brushed off Trump's comments by telling him she had heard "better lines" in Middlesbrough's Club Bongo.
McGovern left BBC Breakfast in October 2019 to join Channel 4. She had been expected to host Steph’s Talks from spring 2020 at Channel 4's then-new base in Leeds, however the COVID-19 pandemic meant that she began presenting The Steph Show from her front room on 30 March 2020.

Personal life

McGovern is a former champion Irish dancer and still often attends international competitions, where she helps to coach dancers. She confirmed on 14 July 2019 that she and her girlfriend were expecting their first child, On 4 November 2019, McGovern announced that she had given birth to a baby girl.

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