Inside Sally Nugent’s private life including ‘devastating’ marriage breakdown

Sally Nugent is a BBC Breakfast presenter (Picture: BBC/James Stack)

Sally Nugent has been a beloved presenter on the BBC Breakfast show for over a decade.

Alongside Naga Munchetty, Charlie Stayt, and Jon Kay she is a fixture on the popular morning show, which features the headline news and topical interviews.

She grafted her way to the top – starting as holiday cover and roving reporter, before eventually replacing Louise Minchin as a main host in 2021.

You can now catch Sally, 53, on Monday and Wednesday mornings, but what does she get up to when she’s not on our screens, and how did she secure the job?

Here is everything you need to know about the presenter…

Is Sally Nugent married?

Sally was married to businessman Gavin Hawthorn for around 13 years, but their romantic relationship reportedly ended in 2023.

Gavin and Sally are said to have split in 2023 (Picture: Facebook/LinkedIn)

She has always kept details of her personal life very private, so she rarely commented on her marriage and her stance didn’t change during the claimed split.

‘It’s very sad, but they are no longer together. I think they tried to tough it out for quite a while as they didn’t want to split up if they could possibly help it for the sake of their son, but they clearly couldn’t make a go of it,’ a source told Daily Mail.

She was said to be ‘heartbroken’ and ‘devastated’ by the collapse of her marriage, and his departure from their family home in Cheshire.

Does Sally Nugent have children?

Sally has a 17-year-old son with Gavin but prefers to keep him away from the spotlight too. She has never disclosed his name or shared photographs.

She enjoys her privacy (Picture: James Stack/BBCPA)

In an interview with The Sunday Times in 2022, she gave a very small insight into her home life.

While sharing her after-work routine, she said: ‘I’ll either go for a run or take Sadie for a walk. It’s important to get some daylight. I’ll often meet a friend for lunch. Then I pick up my son from school before doing some news research.’

She added that her alarm clock goes off at 3:45am (ouch!) and she’s got ‘years of experience’ not waking her sleeping family.

Sally Nugent’s career so far

Born near Liverpool on the Wirral, Sally is a journalist and broadcaster with a degree in Communication Arts and French from the University of Huddersfield.

Jon and Sally are on our screens Mondays and Wednesdays (Picture: PA)

She started her career at BBC Radio Merseyside, before moving on to present sports news on BBC North West Tonight.

Sally has a long history with BBC Breakfast, first joining the programme on a freelance basis back in 2011. She would regularly present the sporting segments with Mike Bushell, and step in to take the helm of the show when presenters were on annual leave.

In 2021, the impressive TV star was promoted to be a main presenter. On her appointment, Sally said: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to become the new presenter of BBC Breakfast and bring the nation the latest news, top entertainment guests and stories that matter every week.

Sally Nugent has been working with the BBC since the early days of her career (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

‘It’s an honour to take the reins from Louise and be part of the UK’s most-watched breakfast show.’

She is also well known for presenting or narrating several documentaries including Sir Chris Hoy: Finding Hope, Rob Burrow – Living with MND and Marcus Rashford: Feeding Britain’s Children.

Her journalism was recognised at the 2021 Royal Television Society Journalism Awards when BBC Breakfast’s coverage of free school meals was given the scoop of the year award.

Strictly wore Sally down (Picture: BBC/Guy Levy)

In 2023, Sally put on her dancing shoes to partner Graziano Di Prima in the Strictly Christmas special.

Speaking about finally saying yes after years of being asked, Sally said: ‘I just thought it was time to do something joyful and fun and happy, and escape from the real world for a little bit, and go into this bubble of glitter, and sequins and happiness and giddiness.’

The show was won by EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, but Sally scored a very respectable 38 for her festive Foxtrot.

Sally is fairly active on her Instagram, which has the handle @sallynugenttv. She gives updates on her daily life, and lavish holidays – most recently she jetted off to Paris for a girls’ weekend away.

BBC Breakfast airs weekdays at 6am on BBC One.

A version of this article was originally published on October 27 2021.

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