It’s 10:25 am on a Friday morning and I’m starting to get worried. I was supposed to start an interview with Naga Manchetti. BBC breakfast, less than an hour ago. However, no one can track her down. From 6 a.m. until she was 9:15, her face was turned to living rooms and kitchens across the country. Now she is nowhere to be seen. At 10:29 am, I received an email from a spokesperson. She will call Manchetti in ten minutes. The presenter answered the phone and apologized profusely. She left her phone with all her appointments on the table in the hall as she headed to her studio in Salford this morning. Mystery solved. She was starting to get a little impatient. “No, I’m fine,” she says with a laugh. “I’m just an idiot,” she says, sorry. Also. “There is nothing worse than an unstable interviewee not showing up.”
The 47-year-old journalist has dealt with her fair share of flakes over the years, but the difference was that she often had to do it on live TV. I first learned to roll with a punch when I started working for a newspaper as a financial journalist. She then appeared on television for CNBC She’s Europe, Bloomberg, Channel 4 She’s The News, and BBC.She joined the broadcaster in 2008 and presented her business show working lunchthen toggle BBC breakfast In 2014, replacing Susannah Reed, who left to host ITV Rivals. good morning englandas BBC breakfast celebrates its 40th anniversary and is today the UK’s most watched morning news programme. Nearly 1.2 million people watched live each day, watching Manchetti and Charlie State (her co-host, whom she warmly describes as a “friend”) sitting on a red couch, watching ambulance wait times, costs, and more. We report everything. A living crisis to Mel C’s new dance show. Add in the number of people watching the show on iPlayer, and that reach swells to his 5 million.
After nearly a decade in the job, Munchetty is still thrilled with the job. “I’m always bustling,” she says. “Before the show starts, I’m excited, because you have to be in with that energy.” Her vim appears on the screen. It doesn’t look tired or rumpled. Manchetti sets her alarm for 3:45 am every morning. BBC breakfast – Thursday to Saturday. “I don’t really need more than about five hours of sleep on a brisk walk,” she says, admitting she sometimes takes an afternoon nap. She’s also a big believer in the snooze button. “No. Maybe 8:30 if I’m really tired, but it could be later. As long as I hit the 5 hour block, I’m fine… I’m timing my routine to 16 minutes.” Everything is in order: face moisturizer, hair wax, body moisturizer, deodorant, etc. She doesn’t drink caffeine – just decaffeinated coffee is enough. No. She is too busy reading the brief.
Mancheti gains a rare insight into the world before dawn. When she goes to the studio on Saturday mornings, she often crosses paths with the “rabblers” on the way home from her night out. “I’ve always been a little bit more nostalgic than envious,” she says.
After the performance, there will be an impression meeting. “Those poor producers,” says Manchetti. Naturally, having worked through the night and dealing with live news, they are all devastated. ’ How does she decompress? “I go to makeup and take it all off,” she says. “I hate makeup, especially on TV. When I get home, she plans her day and sees if there’s anything she needs to read.”
when she is not working – at BBC breakfast Or on 5 Live, which hosts the radio station’s morning program Monday through Wednesday – Manchetti might be at the gym, playing golf with friends or settling in to do a jigsaw puzzle. I’m very happy to be doing something like that at my company,” she says.
With a career like Manchetti’s, it’s easy to understand the appeal of such quirky pastimes. I have been interviewed. “You have to convey the news as responsibly, calmly, and reassuringly as best you can, even if it leaves you as petrified as someone hearing it for the first time,” she said. says. She is most touched when the public shares their personal stories on the show. “People open up to us who have gone through this kind of pain and want to do good,” she says. “People who lost their families and want the system fixed”
Manchesterti has strong memories of covering the Grenfell fire that killed 72 people in 2017. “I remember coming in that morning and being very upset,” she says. I remembered the image of jumping off from Grenfell and I was sitting there trying to stifle a wave of emotion imagining how scared the people in the tower were. So, I was taking videos and photos at the live, so I couldn’t help but think, “What if someone jumps?” I was so conscious that I was broadcasting to a breakfast audience watching the kids getting ready for school. In fact, it doesn’t matter if it’s the child you’re looking at, it’s just a human being. And I remember being petrified about it. It wasn’t about me or what I see, it was about how I take my audience through something live and traumatic. , the BBC is a brand you can trust and the one you visit. And that’s where my sense of responsibility grows. “
Live TV poses many challenges for presenters. Whether you need to hold back your tears or stay in the pulse of the ongoing story. Another part of the job is dealing with unpredictable interviewees. “I love them,” Manchetti says. “I absolutely love them. As much as you have a persona when you’re on TV as a host, you have to be human.” Scottish musician Lewis Capaldi (notoriously naughty) Interviewee) recently made headlines after talking about rimming on the show before 9am on a Saturday morning. “When Lewis said it was really funny,” Manchetti says. “But you also have to be mindful of your audience’s sensibilities, so you’ll admit it was a little disrespectful too. Our viewers are smart and understand it’s live.”
I think it’s really important for young people to know that all of us on TV don’t look like that in real life.
Another headline-making incident was the baby breaking the wind in the air. “Imagine how nervous those parents must have been…if a little baby puffed on the couch, I would admit it, smile, and try as much as possible to make them feel somewhere comfortable. You can relax about being on TV.
Munchetty isn’t afraid to be himself on and off the air. she is outspoken You know where you stand with herThe week we speak has a lighthearted discussion BBC breakfast About British politeness and whether it’s okay to tell someone if the meal they serve you is cold.Guests and Stayt say they’re unlikely to complain. says get up, go to the microwave and put a plate of food in there so you can ride and enjoy your meal. said like You’re passionate about me… taking it. X. On Instagram, her profile is filled with sweaty post-gym selfies. I think it’s really important,” she says.
She is also a staunch interviewer and has the power to explain. “One of her things I will never forget is that my work allows me to ask questions that the audience wants to ask,” she says. “And I keep asking those questions.”
Manchetti’s doctrines and politics have been in trouble with his employers in recent years. She was slammed by the BBC in 2019 after she commented on Donald Trump’s call for a group of women Democrats to “return” to their country. , “As a woman of color, every time I was told to go back to where I came from, it was embedded with racism. You know what I mean.” The company initially ruled that the presenters violated editorial guidelines, but then-Executive Director Tony Hall later reversed the decision. He was forced to apologize for liking a “offensive” tweet about a Tory MP with a Union Jack flying in the background of the call. While those topics are off-limits in this interview, Manchetti previously said she and Hall had a “very solid” conversation after Trump’s fall, she added: , go ahead. “
After all, Manchetti is very well-behaved compared to the former good morning england Rival Piers Morgan left the show in 2021 after an on-air brawl about Meghan Markle (her obsession continues. Earlier this month, he announced that the Duchess and her husband, Harry How does Manchetti think of his return idea? “Would you like to hear my candid opinion?” “I’m not thinking about it.” Doesn’t that keep you up at night? “No, I’m sorry. Should I?” she said, holding back a laugh. “Look, I like Piers. Good luck to him. He’s a very good broadcaster, but what he’s doing is his business, not my concern.”
Manchetti also enjoys competition. In 2022, it might help that she’s getting this. good morning england The average number of consolidated viewers is 2.3 million, BBC breakfastof. “I wish you good luck GMB,” she says. “Competition is great. Come on!”
‘BBC Breakfast’ airs daily at 6am on BBC One
A spokesperson for ITV told The Independent that in 2014, the year GMB was launched, it achieved overnight volume equivalent to 38% of the BBC’s audience. So far in 2023, that figure has increased to 55%.
