Naga Munchetty

Subha Nagalakshmi Munchetty-Chendriah[1] (born 25 February 1975),[2] also known as Naga Munchetty, is an English television presenter, newsreader and journalist. She is a regular presenter on BBC Breakfast. She is also a former presenter of BBC World News and BBC Two's weekday financial affairs programme Working Lunch.

Naga Munchetty
Munchetty in 2021
Born
Subha Nagalakshmi Munchetty-Chendriah

(1975-02-25) 25 February 1975
Streatham, London, England
EducationGraveney School
Alma materUniversity of Leeds
Occupation(s)Television presenter, journalist
Notable credit(s)
BBC Breakfast, BBC World News, BBC News, Newsnight, Working Lunch, Sunday Morning Live, Victoria Derbyshire, GMT, The Hub
Spouse
James Haggar
​
(m. 2004)​

Early life and career

Munchetty was born and grew up in Streatham, South London.[3] Her mother is from Tamil Nadu, India and her father is from Mauritius. In 1971, her parents each moved to the Welsh Valleys to study. Her mother was 18 years old and training to be a dentist and her father, a year older, training to be a nurse. They married in London in 1974, without telling their parents until afterwards.[4][5] She has one sister, born in 1976.[6] Her early education was at Graveney School in Tooting.[7] She studied English Literature and Language at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1997.[8] Her first job was as a journalist on the City Pages of the London Evening Standard.[9] She also worked on the Business Section of The Observer.[9]

Career

Munchetty's television career began as a reporter for Reuters Financial Television, after which she worked as a senior producer for CNBC Europe, a business producer and reporter for Channel 4 News and a presenter on Bloomberg Television.[9]

Munchetty joined Working Lunch after the show was revamped in October 2008 and stayed with the programme until it was cancelled in July 2010.[10] Munchetty has hosted Radio 4's Money Box.[11] She also reports from the City for BBC News, gauging the reaction to breaking financial stories such as the Budget,[12] and the Pre-Budget Report.[13]

Since August 2010, Munchetty has presented early morning bulletins (UKT) on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. She is a regular presenter on BBC One's Breakfast.[14] From January 2021, Munchetty became the presenter on the 10am to 1pm Radio 5 programme on Mondays to Wednesdays replacing Emma Barnett, who moved to Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Munchetty co-hosted The Spending Review – The South Today Debate on BBC One with Sally Taylor in September 2010.[15]

Munchetty also presented Paranormal Investigation: Live on Living on 30–31 October 2010 to celebrate Hallowe'en.[16] Munchetty narrated the BBC documentary Fear and Faith in Paris looking at anti-Semitic attacks in Paris and their impact on the Jewish community of France. She won Celebrity Mastermind, which was broadcast on 2 January 2013. In June 2016, she replaced Sian Williams as presenter of Sunday Morning Live on BBC One. In 2017, she was replaced by Emma Barnett and Sean Fletcher. On 26 August 2016, Munchetty presented an episode of Newsnight on BBC Two.

She was a contestant on the fourteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, having been paired with Pasha Kovalev,[17] and being voted out in week four (16 October 2016). She co-presented Britain's Classroom Heroes with Sean Fletcher in October 2017.

In 2017, Munchetty joined the cast of CBBC sketch show Class Dismissed playing a fictionalised version of herself as a Media Studies teacher who acts like a newsreader.

On Boxing Day 2022, Munchetty appeared on the BBC quiz show The Weakest Link.[18][19]

Trump comments

In September 2019, Munchetty was ruled to have breached the BBC's guidelines by criticising US President Donald Trump for perceived racism. That July, while presenting BBC Breakfast with Dan Walker, Munchetty took issue with Trump's comments telling his opponents to "go back" to the "places from which they came". Munchetty said: "Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism. Now I'm not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean."[20]

The BBC was criticised for its decision to uphold complaints over Munchetty's comments. Several public figures, including Lenny Henry and Adrian Lester, signed an open letter asking the corporation to reconsider its ruling against her.[21]

On 30 September 2019, it was reported in The Guardian that the complaint was also made against her co-host Dan Walker but his comments were not the focus of the BBC's executive complaints unit (ECU) investigation.[22] Later that day, the Director-General of the BBC Tony Hall overturned the decision after looking into it personally.[23]

Personal life
Munchetty in the pro-am round of the 2013 Women's British Open golf championships

Naga married ITV broadcast consultant James Haggar in 2004.[24][25] She lives in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.[3][26]

Munchetty plays jazz trumpet and classical piano.[9] She plays golf, with a handicap of nine in 2015.[27] In October 2012, she won the Hertfordshire de Paula Cup at Bishop's Stortford Golf Club.[28] She is now a committee member of Moor Park Golf Club, where she presents the annual Charity Golf Day in June.[29][30][31]

She is also a trustee of local theatre, Watersmeet, and a governor at St Joan of Arc School.[32][33]

Munchetty was diagnosed with adenomyosis in September 2022 and revealed her diagnosis during her BBC Radio 5 Live programme in May 2023.[34]

References
  1. Moorhead, Joanna (17 June 2016). "Naga Munchetty: When I said I was studying English, my mum said, 'What are you going to do – become a poet?'". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2018. when I told them I was doing English literature at university
  2. "BBC Breakfast's Naga Munchetty shares inspirational post after celebrating 46th birthday". Hello!. 26 February 2021.
  3. Macfarlane, Jenna (19 March 2021). "Naga Munchetty: who is the BBC presenter - and why has she apologised for liking 'offensive' Union flag tweets?". Edinburgh Evening News.
  4. "Naga Munchetty: When I said I was studying English, my mum said, 'What are you going to do – become a poet?'". TheGuardian.com. 17 June 2016.
  5. Segalov, Michael (12 April 2020). "Sunday with Naga Munchetty: 'I'm bereft not to be playing golf'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. Duerden, Interviews by Nick. "Relative Values: the TV presenter Naga Munchetty, 42, and her mother, Muthu, 65". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  7. Webber, Richard (16 February 2018). "Mrs Berry and Mr Barbrook by Naga Munchetty". TES.
  8. "Prominent alumni". University of Leeds. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  9. Naga Munchetty BBC News, 3 October 2008
  10. BBC's Working Lunch show to end BBC News, 23 April 2010
  11. Money Box BBC Radio 4, 24 July 2010
  12. The Full Story: Budget 2010 BBC News, 24 March 2010
  13. The Full Story: Pre-Budget report BBC News, 9 December 2009
  14. "Breakfast". BBC. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  15. The Spending Review – The South Today Debate BBC One, 9 September 2010
  16. The Host – Naga Munchetty Paranormal Investigation: Live, Living TV
  17. Naga Munchetty becomes latest Strictly Come Dancing contestant BBC News, 18 August 2016
  18. "BBC One - The Weakest Link, Series 2, Episode 3". BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  19. "Naga Munchetty addresses major blunder on BBC The Weakest Link". MSN. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  20. "Naga Munchetty Trump comments 'breached BBC rules'". 25 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  21. Hirsch, Afua; Henry, Lenny; Lester, Adrian; Guru-Murthy, Krishnan; others (27 September 2019). "You can't be 'impartial' about racism – an open letter to the BBC on the Naga Munchetty ruling | Afua Hirsch, Lenny Henry, Adrian Lester, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and others". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  22. Waterson, Jim (30 September 2019). "BBC racism row: Naga Munchetty complaint was also about co-host Dan Walker". The Guardian.
  23. Kuenssberg, Laura (30 September 2019). "Tony Hall has overturned the decision about Naga Munchetty – he's looked personally at the decision and says her words did not merit a complaint being upheld against her". Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  24. "Naga Munchetty pictured in rare wedding snap – and she looks stunning". Hello!. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  25. "Naga Munchetty: When I said I was studying English, my mum said, 'What are you going to do – become a poet?' | Family | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  26. Duerden, Interviews by Nick. "Relative Values: the TV presenter Naga Munchetty, 42, and her mother, Muthu, 65". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  27. Hodge, Ed (18 July 2015). "Naga Munchetty on how golf has changed her life". The Scotsman. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  28. "Hertfordshire de Paula Cup hosted by Bishop's Stortford Golf Club. Friday 5 – Sunday 7 October 2012". Bishop's Stortford Golf Club. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  29. "Moor Park Golf Day in association with Claws Consultants". Action for A-T. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  30. "A Bunch Of Wallies At Batchworth Park Golf Club". Women & Golf. 23 June 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  31. "Events & Training | Claws Consultants | Practical Property People". Claws Consultants. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  32. Duerden, Interviews by Nick. "Relative Values: the TV presenter Naga Munchetty, 42, and her mother, Muthu, 65". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  33. "Naga Munchetty: There's been noise about the BBC licence fee for decades". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  34. Roberts, Michelle (22 May 2023). "BBC's Naga Munchetty reveals womb condition adenomyosis". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2023. I'm in pain because I have something called adenomyosis. You probably haven't heard of it and I hadn't either until I was told 8 months ago that I have it.
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