WHEN Gráinne Seoige first appeared on GMTV earlier this year she became an overnight hit with viewers, who reportedly rushed to ask the West of Ireland beauty for her hand in marriage.
British audiences were begging to see more of the star after she covered the Cheltenham races and later filled in for the show’s regular sports presenter Dan Lobb.
Now Gráinne will form part of the team of special correspondents on the soon-to-be launched magazine show Daybreak, which replaces GMTV this autumn.
The 36-year-old takes on the role of features editor, while the show itself will be presented by The One Show’s former hosts Christine Bleakley — the Northern Irish presenter from Co. Down — and Adrian Chiles.
Gráinne, who won a VIP Style Award in 2004, has been a regular on Irish TV screens for the last 15 years.
She is the only news anchor to have presented the inaugural news bulletins on two Irish terrestrial stations — TV3 and TG4 — and the only television personality to have worked with all four Irish television stations — TG4, TV3, Sky News Ireland and RTÉ.
But while the lure of London certainly means she will be spending more time on this side of the Irish Sea, viewers back home won’t be deprived of their star presenter — famed for her unflappable interview style and good looks — either.
Gráinne, who is a big fan of GAA and Premier League football, said: “I am absolutely thrilled at the news and am delighted everything has gone so well since I began working with GMTV in March of this year. I will continue to work with RTÉ and I am really looking forward to working with both broadcasters. In autumn on RTÉ, I am delighted to be working on such amazing projects as Up For The Match, the People Of The Year Awards and the All Ireland Talent Show.”
Raised in Spiddal, Co. Galway, Gráinne’s father Mairtín, a garda, and her mother Phil — both native Irish speakers — raised their children in a bilingual household.
Gráinne graduated with honours in English, Sociology and Political Science from University College Galway before completing a Higher Diploma in Applied Communications for Television and Radio.
Her TV career began on October 31, 1996 with the launch of Irish language station Teilifís na Gaeilge (now TG4) anchoring the 10pm news bulletin. Two years later and Gráinne moved to TV3 for its launch in 1998, working there for five years where she anchored its daily news bulletins.
In 2004, she was hired as launch anchor for Sky News Ireland and also worked at Sky’s London network headquarters, presenting news bulletins including Sky News Today and Sunrise with Eamonn Holmes.
From there RTÉ beckoned and Gráinne came on board for three seasons as presenter for the State broadcaster’s flagship late afternoon daytime show Seoige with her sister Síle.
On top of her Daybreak duties, later this year she will co-present RTÉ Television’s Up For The Match with Des Cahill and present the third series of the popular All Ireland Talent Show — an Irish equivalent to Britain’s Got Talent.
In her personal life, it was announced earlier this year that Gráinne, who is mum to teenage son Conall, was to spilt from her husband Stephen Cullinane. The pair, who were together for 11 years, married in 2002.