Kirsty Gallacher is, for many, an icon of 2000s terrestrial Britain. She presented Sky Sports News, she appeared frequently on the third page of tabloids, and she was the face of numerous strange British TV shows now relegated firmly to the past.
Career-wise, Gallacher’s path through the 2000s was pretty straightforward. But her early (and recent) personal life has taken a series of exceptionally unique twists and turns. The daughter of a professional golfer and Ryder Cup winner, Bernard Gallacher.
Kirsty Gallacher was in close proximity to the sports and presenting worlds from an early age (her childhood neighbour was Bruce Forsyth).
More recently, the 49-year-old presenter has made headlines for a number of reasons. This week, she was banned from driving for a second time, following a speeding offence that occurred near her family home in Berkshire this April. She was driving at 35mph in an area with a 30mph speed limit. In 2017 another incident also saw Gallacher banned from driving. She was found to be driving erratically while three times over the legal alcohol limit.
Kirsty Gallacher at the 2011 AAM Scottish Open
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In 2021, she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour, which she recently said is “growing very fast.” The condition has left her deaf in one ear and has given her tinnitus. Gallacher referenced the tumour during her recent speeding trial, asking to keep her license so she could drive to hospital appointments and drop her children off at school.
As the country weighs in on Gallacher’s driving ban, we take a look back at the British presenter’s colourful life and career.
Scotland-born, Surrey-bred
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After moving from Edinburgh to Windlesham in Surrey at 18 months old, Gallacher enjoyed what she has described as an “idyllic childhood.” Born in 1976, she is the daughter of Scottish golfer Bernard Gallacher, who would go on to lead Europe to victory in the Ryder Cup in 1995.
The family relocated to Surrey due to Bernard’s position at Wentworth Golf Club, where he (and Kirsty) would rub shoulders with legendary golfers Sam Torrance and Sandy Lyle. There was even an early presenting idol thrown in the mix: Bruce Forsyth was one of the family’s nearby neighbours.
Kirsty Gallacher is the eldest of three siblings. She has a brother, Jamie, and a sister, Laura.
Growing up in Surrey, she was educated at Coworth Flexlands and St George’s School, an independent girls’ day boarding school, in Ascot. She was a naturally sporty teen, thanks to her father getting her into golf, but there was more to her than just sports. “I was quite creative at school, and was also interested in fashion , but I was shy — I’m still not the loudest of people, believe it or not,” she told The Guardian in 2008.
As a teenager, Gallacher worked a Saturday job at the local florist, where she learned flower arranging. “There was something incredibly natural about the displays, something wild that I loved. Even today I don’t like set flowers and that idea of picking them from a picture,” she recalled in the Guardian interview.
A quick rise through the presenting world
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Kirsty Gallacher’s career path may have benefited from her father’s place in the sports world, with her first Sky Sports connection forged at a dinner during the Ryder Cup in 1995. Here, she was approached by Mark Sharman, the then-deputy head of sport at Sky. A year later, she began working as a production assistant before eventually moving on to the position of editorial assistant on Sky Sports.
She got her first go at presenting in 1998, when she appeared on Sky Sports News. Her appearance went off without a hitch, leading to time on shows like 0 Minutes, Soccer Extra, Kirsty and Phil (on BBC Radio 5 Live) and Soccer AM.
Gallacher’s first year on TV was so successful that she was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Royal Television Society Television Sports Awards 1998.
In the 2000s, Gallacher took on some less sport-oriented gigs, like Kirsty’s Home Videos (a version of You’ve Been Framed) and game shows Simply the Best and The Games. She continued a run of short presenting gigs until 2011, when she returned to Sky Sports News, where she stayed until 2018. During this time period, she appeared on the 2015 edition of Strictly Come Dancing and was eliminated in week six.
Paul Sampson and Kirsty Gallacher in 2008
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Kirsty Gallacher has had two high-profile relationships during her time in the spotlight. The first was with rugby player Paul Sampson, whom she married in 2010 and with whom she shares two sons — Oscar, 18, and Jude, 15. The couple divorced in 2015, prompting a period which Gallacher has since described as “horrendously lonely”. “When I got divorced, when I separated, obviously the kids would spend time with their father, and me. I was horrendously lonely, (I was) not in a good place, very sad,” she said in a 2024 podcast interview. “Because it was completely different and I actually don’t really love being on my own. I like being surrounded by family and noise.”
Gallacher has since found love again and is currently dating another former rugby player, Darren Clayton, 39, who she was introduced to by Gabby Logan. Describing their relationship in a 2023 interview with OK! Magazine, she said: “I know it sounds cheesy, but he’s just my safe space. He helps me with everything, he’s my sounding board and he makes me laugh a lot. I’ve never been myself with anybody more than I am with him.
“I think we would love to be engaged, but married? It’s such a hard one, because we are so happy right now. Why would we change that? But do we both think it would be nice? Yes, of course – and we’re both on the same page with that.”
“He’ll turn 40 in December, then a month later I’m turning 50, so we’ve laughed about having a 90th birthday party. No one would know we’re 10 years apart and it doesn’t bother either of us.”
A short stint at GB News and a whole lot of headlines
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When Gallacher left her home at Sky Sports in 2018, she was all ready to settle in at right-wing broadcaster GB News, where she would present the channel’s breakfast programme. However, Gallacher left GB News in December 2021, shortly after joining, after discovering she had a benign tumour in her inner ear canal, causing her to develop tinnitus. With the early starts appearing to exacerbating her symptoms, Gallacher felt she had no choice but to step back.
Since the discovery of her tumour, Gallacher has pivoted to radio, hosting on Smooth Radio in 2021 before switching to Gold Radio’s drivetime show from January 2025.
Over recent years the headlines have been dominated by Gallacher’s private life, rather than her professional life, with the presenter weathering several controversies. Most recently, she gained another driving ban after speeding at 35mph in a 30mph zone. “I am broken”, Gallacher has said of the decision, claiming she needs her license to drive to hospital appointments due to her growing brain tumour. Gallacher’s tumour is benign but “growing very fast”, according to her recent court appearance.
