Lauren Layfield

Lauren Layfield
Born (1987-12-01) 1 December 1987 (age 36)
Warwick, Warwickshire, England[1]
EducationUniversity of Salford
National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ)
OccupationTelevision presenter
Years active2014–present
SpouseLuke Beddows

Lauren Layfield (born 1 December 1987) is an English television and radio presenter and journalist who has worked for CBBC, Capital FM and Radio 1.[2][3]

Career

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Layfield studied and graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in English and creative writing. She joined CBBC continuity in September 2015, at the end of the one-off TV special Hacker's Birthday Bash: 30 Years of Children's BBC, going on to co-host the BAFTA-winning[4][5] design series The Dengineers with Mark Wright. In April 2017, Wright left and was replaced with Joe Tracini, who Layfield continued to present with until her own departure in 2019.[6]

In January 2016, she joined another children's television programme All Over the Place, co-hosting with Ed Petrie. Since then, she has made one appearance in the game show Ultimate Brain and four in the panel show The Dog Ate My Homework. Layfield's television work has continued, presenting for the Match of the Day spin-off show, Match of the Day Kickabout, as well as Morning Live and as a reporter on The One Show.

Layfield has the distinction of competing as a contender on BBC's Celebrity Mastermind twice. She first competed in 2016,[7] when her specialist subject was the Jurassic Park films and she finished in 3rd place. She returned in February 2024, when her specialist subject was the Arctic Monkeys and she finished in second place.[8][9]

In 2022, a clip of Layfield and Hacker T. Dog presenting CBBC HQ, resurfaced and went viral. The original clip from 1 November 2016 featured Hacker deadpanning to Layfield "We're just normal men... We're just innocent men", which prompted Layfield to break character and laugh.[10][11][12] While some assumed the clip had context before the exchange, Hacker's puppeteer Phil Fletcher later explained that there was none, and he had just ad-libbed the line to make Layfield laugh.[11]

Layfield began her radio career in July 2018, when she began covering weekend shows on Capital FM. She later presented Capital FM's Capital Early Breakfast show from 7 January 2019 until 29 September 2023. In November 2023, it was announced that Layfield would be joining BBC Radio 1 in January 2024, presenting the Friday morning Early Breakfast show throughout the month. In March 2024, it was announced that Layfield would join Radio 1 on a permanent basis from 7 April 2024, co-presenting the station's Life Hacks programme alongside Newsround's Shanequa Paris. [13]

As an author, Layfield has written for the Top of the Pops magazine. Her debut children's novel, Indi Raye is Totally Faking It was published in 2023.[14]

Personal life

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Layfield is married to Luke Beddows, the writer and co-creator of Class Dismissed.[15]

Throughout her career, Layfield has advocated for mental health discussion and wellbeing, giving talks to students and even becoming an ambassador for the charity YoungMinds, the charity that she raised money for in her first appearance in Mastermind.[16]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2014–15 Whoops I Missed the Bus Presenter
2015 Hacker's Birthday Bash: 30 Years of Children's BBC Herself One-off special
2015–19 The Dengineers Co-presenter With Mark Wright (2015–17) and Joe Tracini (2017–2019)
2015–2020 CBBC Presenter Continuity
2016 Ultimate Brain Contestant 1 episode
2016, 2024 Celebrity Mastermind 2 episodes[7][9]
2016–19 The Dog Ate My Homework Panelist 4 episodes
2016–present All Over the Place Herself Co-presenter
2017–present The Playlist Presenter
2018–2023 Capital FM Cover presenter & Early Breakfast presenter
2019–present The Dog Ate My Homework 3 episodes
2022–present Junior Eurovision Song Contest Co-commentator With Hrvy (2022, 2023)

References

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  1. ^ "CBBC HQ – Lauren's Profile". Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. ^ Dooney, Emma (16 November 2023). "BBC Radio 1's big schedule shake-up and four new hosts - including Capital FM DJ". The Mirror. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  3. ^ "BBC Radio 1 - Radio 1's Best New Pop, with Lauren Layfield". BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  4. ^ "2019 Children's Factual Entertainment | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  5. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (1 December 2019). "BAFTA Children's Winners Include Emily Burnett, Bella Ramsay, CBeebies, 'Horrible Histories' & 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse'". Deadline. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  6. ^ Joe Tracini (11 April 2017). "Joe Tracini joins CBBC's The Dengineers – Media Centre". BBC. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  7. ^ a b "BBC One - Celebrity Mastermind, 2016/2017, Episode 3". Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Lauren Layfield on X: "Tonight is a big night for Layfield because I'm doing @ArcticMonkeys on Celebrity Mastermind and if Alex Turner sees it,..." 2 February 2024 – via X}.
  9. ^ a b "BBC iPlayer - Celebrity Mastermind - 2023/24: Episode 10". Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  10. ^ MacKenzie, Steven (27 June 2022). "Lauren Layfield: 'Normal men, innocent men' and me". The Big Issue.
  11. ^ a b "I Interviewed the 'We're Just Normal Men' Puppet on Zoom". www.vice.com. 17 June 2022.
  12. ^ "A CBBC dog saying 'normal men, innocent men' has become the internet's favourite meme". indy100. 26 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Four new presenters to join the Friday Early Breakfast slot on Radio 1". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  14. ^ Tyson, Sarah (20 August 2023). "Kid's Book Review: Indi Raye is Totally Faking It".
  15. ^ "Writing For Hello!, Capital F.m. Presenter Lauren Layfield On Her Cancelled Wedding, Why It's Okay To Be Sad, And Her Tips For Other Brides-to-be". Hello!. Retrieved 6 February 2024 – via Everand.
  16. ^ "Lauren Layfield Talks About Mental Health". YoungMinds. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
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