Andrea Byrne
| Andrea Byrne-Benfield | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Andrea Benfield 1978 (age 38–39) Guildford, Surrey |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Notable credit(s) |
ITV News: Wales at Six, ITV News weekend bulletins |
Andrea Byrne (née Benfield) (born c. 1978 in Guildford, Surrey), is an English journalist and presenter; she currently presents ITV News: Wales at Six.
Born in Guildford, Surrey, Byrne graduated from Southampton University with a degree in English literature, before gaining a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Highbury College, Portsmouth. Latterly, she has gained a political diploma through the Open University.
Byrne married Wales rugby player Lee Byrne on 1 January 2012. Byrne took a year-long sabbatical in June 2013, returning to ITV Cymru Wales to anchor the relaunched Wales at Six.
Byrne started her journalism and media career as a local radio reporter for Guildford-based County Sound Radio. She then joined local television station MyTV Portsmouth as a reporter, but when the station was forced to lay off staff, she was promoted to news editor at the station. When Portsmouth TV ceased broadcasting she moved to Oxford's local TV station, Six TV before joining Thames Valley Tonight on ITV Thames Valley as a reporter. It was while here that she produced a series of special reports on the Royal Air Force, reporting on pilots and their training at RAF Odiham before they were posted to Afghanistan, which was also shown nationally on ITV2 and placed runner-up in the regional Royal Television Society awards.
Following the departure of Lucy Owen to BBC Wales' flagship news programme Wales Today in November 2007, Byrne applied for the resulting vacancy on ITV News Cymru Wales. On 17 December, it was announced that she had beaten 80 other applicants to the post, and undertook her first show opposite Jonathan Hill on 14 January 2008. Prior to her debut, Benfield moved from Surrey to Cardiff Bay.
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