Dermot John Murnaghan (; born 26 December 1957) is an English media personality, notable as a journalist, news reporter and television host. He has been a presenter for numerous networks, including at Channel 4, a news presenter at CNBC Europe, ITN and BBC News. He presented news programmes in a variety of time slots from when he joined Sky News in 2007, until the end of February 2023. Murnaghan also presented the BBC quiz show Eggheads between 2003 and 2014.
Early life and education
Murnaghan was born in
Barnstaple, Devon, and spent much of his early childhood in
Northern Ireland following a family relocation. The family settled sequentially in
Armagh,
Newry (County Down), and later Holywood. His schooling took place at St Malachy's Primary School in Armagh and Sullivan Upper School, a grammar institution located in Holywood.
Murnaghan went on to study History at the University of Sussex, where he earned a master's degree in 1980. He subsequently undertook postgraduate training in journalism at City University London.
Journalism career
Early career
Murnaghan began his journalism career as a trainee reporter with local newspapers before transitioning to television. He joined Channel 4 as a researcher and later worked as a reporter on The Business Programme. After a brief period presenting for the European Business Channel in
Switzerland, he returned to the UK in 1989 to contribute to Channel 4’s breakfast programme The Channel 4 Daily, where he presented business segments. He later became one of the programme’s lead presenters.
Presenter at ITV
Murnaghan then joined ITV, presenting programmes such as the
ITV Lunchtime News and
News at Ten. Between 1993 and 1997, he fronted approximately 100 episodes of current affairs series
The Big Story.
In 1997, as an
ITN news presenter, Murnaghan broke the news of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales to viewers on ITV.
He later presented the
ITV Evening News and the
ITV Nightly News when ITV relaunched their news output in 1999. He also worked on ITV's general election coverage in 2001.
BBC News
From September 2002 to December 2007, Murnaghan was a main presenter of
BBC Breakfast, replacing
Jeremy Bowen. He presented the show alongside
Sophie Raworth, Natasha Kaplinsky,
Kate Silverton,
Sian Williams and
Susanna Reid. He was also a regular stand-in on the
BBC Six O'Clock News and
BBC Ten O'Clock News and co-presented the
BBC News at Six on Fridays from September 2003 to summer 2007 alongside
Sian Williams. His presenting style was lampooned in the
impersonation sketch show
Dead Ringers by
Jon Culshaw, his widely spaced legs on the presenting couch mocked with the phrase "I'm Dermot Murnaghan, watch my crotch follow you round the room."
Whilst at the BBC, he co-presented BBC Two's Treasure Hunt (2002–2003), a revival of an earlier format on Channel 4 alongside Suzi Perry. He co-presented BBC Breakfast from Monday to Thursday as well as regularly fronting national BBC news bulletins until December 2007.
Sky News
In October 2007, it was announced that Murnaghan would be leaving the BBC for
Sky News. Murnaghan became the second news presenter to depart the corporation in the same month – Natasha Kaplinsky also left to join Five News, produced by Sky.
His last time presenting Breakfast was 20 December 2007.
From January 2011 until December 2016, Murnaghan presented his own show entitled Murnaghan on Sky News that aired on Sunday mornings from 10 am until 12 noon. Since September 2016, he has presented Sky News Tonight from Monday to Thursday. For the 2019 general election Murnaghan hosted Sky News' overnight coverage, entitled The Brexit Election.
On the 8 September 2022, Murnaghan announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, presenting the afternoon rolling news coverage following an announcement from Buckingham Palace earlier in the day as Sky News was the first television news organisation to report her death.
Presenting
Murnaghan presented the BBC Two daytime show
Eggheads from 2003 until 2014, as well as its short-lived spin-off series
Are You an Egghead? in 2008 and 2009. Following his move to Sky News, he shared this role with
Jeremy Vine, who subsequently became the sole presenter in series 16. Murnaghan has guest presented reports for different travel shows including ITV's
Wish You Were Here...? and BBC One's rival programme
Holiday. He has made cameos as a newsreader in the 2004 film
Wimbledon,
and
Midnight Man.
Controversies
Tabloid pictures
In 2012, Murnaghan was the subject of gossip after tabloid pictures emerged of him kissing Sky make-up artist Camilla Tew in a London park.
Chuka Umunna interview
On 19 January 2015, Murnaghan was criticised for his supposedly hostile attitude towards Shadow Business Secretary
Chuka Umunna during an interview where Murnaghan asked Umunna if he agreed with the statement sent by the Communities Secretary to the Muslim community earlier in the day. Umunna acknowledged that he had not read it, though Murnaghan nonetheless continued to press the Shadow Business Secretary, resulting in an abrupt end to the interview after Murnaghan cut-off Umunna mid-speech by saying "so you are not going to speak until you get the party line right?" Umunna stormed out of the interview at this point. Viewers complained about the "poor attitude" exhibited by Murnaghan during the interview.
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves interview
On 8 February 2015, Murnaghan introduced the Estonian president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, as Toomas Hendrik and proceeded to call him "President Hendrik". President Ilves removed his microphone and left, saying "Tell him to shut up, he can't even get my name right."
Raheem Kassam interview
On 14 February 2016, Murnaghan confronted British political activist and UKIP member
Raheem Kassam on why he was not wearing a poppy in the United States. Kassam explained he forgot to place it in his new suit jacket but had donated £300 to the Royal British Legion. Murnaghan continued to press him, stating that it was "disrespectful" and that his news colleagues would be "heavily criticised" if they chose not to wear a poppy even if they donated. Kassam retorted they are "rightly criticised" for choosing not to wear one, which was "not applicable" in his case as he had simply forgotten it. Murnaghan quickly changed topic after Kassam's retort, which Kassam highlighted.
Personal life
In August 1989, Murnaghan married Maria Keegan in
Camden Town; they have four children. They live together in
Crouch End,
North London.
Murnaghan is an Arsenal fan.
In 2006, Murnaghan became president of the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) and presented the TRIC Awards 2007.
On 9 March 2017, Murnaghan was involved in a hit and run accident. He was cycling through Kentish Town, north-west London, to his work at Sky News when the accident took place. Speaking to Sky News, Murnaghan said the driver of the car which hit him had been using a mobile phone when the incident occurred. The accident forced Murnaghan to be off air from his Sky News show and resulted in his having large bruise marks on the left-hand side of his face. Murnaghan thanked a "good Samaritan" who saw what had happened and told him that the car had sped off.
Health
In June 2025, Murnaghan disclosed that he had been diagnosed with
Prostate cancer, stating that he was responding well to treatment and encouraging men over 50 to seek early screening.
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