Vicki Butler-Henderson | |
|---|---|
 Butler-Henderson in 2008 | |
| Born | Victoria Jemma Butler-Henderson (1972-02-16)16 February 1972 (age 53) Hertfordshire,[citation needed] England |
| Occupation(s) | Racing driver Television presenter |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Employer(s) | BBC (1994–2001) Channel 5 (2002–2011) Discovery (2012–2014) Quest (2018–present) |
| Known for |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Victoria Jemma[1] Butler-Henderson (born 16 February 1972)[2] is a Britishracing driver, formerpresenter ofTop Gear and current presenter ofFifth Gear.
Butler-Henderson was born into a racing family. Her grandfather used to race aFrazer Nash atBrooklands, her father was in the Britishkarting team and her brotherCharlie is a racing driver.[citation needed] She has an older sister, Lottie, who does not race[citation needed]. Butler-Henderson grew up on the family farm, and was educated at theindependent schoolsSt Francis' College inLetchworth andPerse School for Girls inCambridge.[3] She is the great-granddaughter ofEric Butler-Henderson, a director of the Great Central Railway, after whom the preservedGCR Class 11F locomotiveButler-Henderson is named.
Butler-Henderson started racing karts at the age of 12, being overtaken byDavid Coulthard in her first race.[4]She holds a car race licence as well as a power boat racing licence. After supplementing her income as a racing instructor atSilverstone Circuit, she also undertook a dual career injournalism where she worked on numerous British motoring magazines includingAuto Express,What Car? andPerformance Car. She was the assistant launch editor and mechanic inMax Power magazine, referred to simply as "VBH."[3]
In 1994, she joined theBBC's flagship motoring showTop Gear. After the BBC cancelled the original show in 2001, Butler-Henderson, along with co-presentersQuentin Willson andTiff Needell, moved toChannel 5 in 2002 to continue their work on a show calledFifth Gear. In 2004, she presentedITV's coverage of theBritish Touring Car Championship, in which her brother Charlie briefly competed in 2004; and from February 2006 the ten-part seriesWrecks To Riches forDiscovery Real Time.[5] Also in 2004, she was a presenter forFormula Woman on ITV.
Butler-Henderson has in later years broadened her media career outside racing and cars to become a general presenter. After co-hosting radio shows onVirgin Radio, in 2005, she presented a daytime television show for ITV calledDate My Daughter in which a single man 'dates' three mothers after which they decide if he is worthy enough to date their daughter.[6]
She has recorded voice overs for radio and television advertisements, including Wrigleys Extra Thin Ice andSony Centres. She also provided a voiceover for thePlayStation 2 gameGran Turismo 4 Prologue. In January 2006, Butler-Henderson appeared in a TV commercial for the Kent & Medway Safety Camera Partnership[7] in which she stated that the Partnership "don't want your cash, they just want you to slow down". Butler-Henderson was also a narrator forNational Geographic Channel (UK)'s science documentary entitledI Didn't Know That. In 2009, she starred in several Dutch commercials forToyota. She worked atAbsolute Radio doing traffic news on theChristian O'Connell Breakfast Show. She left the breakfast show on 9 July 2009.[8]
Butler-Henderson lent her views in the Golden Garages Award,[9] a search for the United Kingdom's best garage run by Motor Codes. Butler-Henderson was part of a professional panel of six independent judges including theTelegraph's Honest John[10] and motoring editor ofWhich? magazine, Richard Headland. She later presented the prize in person to the winners of the competition, Kinghams of Croydon.[11]
In 2016, Butler-Henderson's fourteen-year stint atFifth Gear ended after the show was cancelled. In 2018, the programme returned onQuest with all of the original presenters (incl. Butler-Henderson) returning.[12]
Since 2019, Butler-Henderson andAlex Riley have co-presentedThe Car Years; a motoring series shown onITV4.[13]
In 2007 Butler-Henderson married television producer and director Phil Churchward. Churchward worked on several motoring programmes as a producer ofFifth Gear, series director ofTop Gear andThe Grand Tour.[14]
Butler-Henderson owns or has owned aMk II VW Golf GTI, aHonda S2000, aDucati Monster 750 and aFord Ranger (T6) Raptor.[3][15]
AtAutosport International on 15 January 2011, Butler-Henderson'sFifth Gear co-presenterJason Plato announced that she would not be able to attend as she was having a baby girl. Her second child, a son, was born in 2015.[16]
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