Aasmah Mir
Aasmah Mir | |
|---|---|
| عاصمہ سائرہ میر | |
| Born | Aasmah Saira Mir 7 October 1971 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Broadcaster, journalist |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Spouse | Piara Powar (2007–2021)[1] |
| Children | 1 |
Aasmah Saira Mir (/ˈæzmə ˈmɪər/ Urdu: عاصمہ سائرہ میر; born 7 October 1971) is a Scottish television and radio broadcaster and journalist who co-presents the Monday-Thursday breakfast programme on Times Radio.
Early life
[edit]Mir was born in Glasgow to first-generation Pakistani immigrants on 7 October 1971[2][3] and brought up in the affluent suburb of Bearsden from the age of ten, where she attended Bearsden Academy.[4][5][6] She graduated from the University of Bristol with an honours law degree in 1993.[7]
Journalism
[edit]In 1995 Mir had a brief stint as a reporter for the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, then became a radio researcher. In 2005 and 2006 she was a columnist for the Sunday Herald.[7]
Broadcasting career
[edit]Television
[edit]Mir, whose sister Uzma was already working for BBC Scotland, first appeared in an episode of a 1992 BBC Scotland show called The Insiders presented by Gordon Kennedy.[2] After graduation she joined Scottish Television aged 21 as a trainee and read the early morning news bulletins[2] and later presented the main news show.[2]
She presented a couple of editions of an Asian documentary strand for BBC Two called East[7] in 1996 and some items on Desi DNA.[7] In 1998 she became a reporter for Central Television in Nottingham.
Mir also presented episodes Just Write on Channel 4 and Around Scotland on BBC Two.[7] In 2010 she was a newspaper reviewer on GMTV with Lorraine and Lorraine.[4]
Radio
[edit]In 1999 Mir moved to London as a producer for BBC Radio London and started doing freelance news-reading shifts for the national radio station BBC Radio 5 Live. She joined the station full-time in July 2001.
In April 2006 she covered the weekday morning phone-in programme on BBC Asian Network for a fortnight between Sonia Deol leaving and Anita Rani becoming presenter. She has presented items on the BBC Asian Network Report.[7]
Mir presented the Midday News on 5 Live, Monday to Friday, until 9 January 2009. In 2009 she presented some Friday editions of Good Morning Scotland.[2] Also in 2009 she presented a series of programmes for BBC Radio 4 on Scotland's Year of Homecoming,[2][8] as well as Colour Me White for Radio 4, and Gay Life After Saddam for Radio 5 Live. In 2010 she replaced Anita Anand as a presenter of Radio 5 Live's Drive programme. For one week in March 2012 she sat in for Jeremy Vine on his BBC Radio 2 programme.
On 27 September 2012 Mir announced on Twitter she was leaving BBC 5 Live after 11 years with the station. Mir presented her last 5 Live Drive on 9 November 2012. On 29 October 2012 Mir presented an edition of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and for a while replaced Julia Hartley-Brewer on the LBC 97.3 afternoon programme.
From 2012 to 2020 she was a copresenter of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live.[9]
In April 2020 she was announced as a presenter for Times Radio when the station launched on 29 June 2020. She copresents Monday to Thursday breakfast with Stig Abell.[10]
In November 2024 she announced she was to leave Times Radio Breakfast in January 2025.
Bibliography
[edit]In 2023, she released her memoir A Pebble in the Throat.[11]
Personal life
[edit]Mir is a fan of Celtic F.C.[12]
She was married to Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe.[12][13] She gave birth to a daughter at the age of 43. In 2021 Mir divorced Powar, stating that "this was my decision so I cannot wallow for too long".[1][14]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Mir, Aasmah (8 April 2021). "I want a fairytale ending that allows me to sing". The Times.
- ^ a b c d e f Aasmah Mir: Scotland’s not my home any more Times Online, 22 November 2009
- ^ "5 Writers on Starting New Festive Traditions This Christmas". British Vogue. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ^ a b Barry, Maggie (31 October 2010). "Scots drivetime BBC radio host on fighting talk fuelling on-air duels". Sunday Mail. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ Williams, Tessa (7 January 2013). "At home with... Aasmah Mir". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019.
- ^ "School pain for Aasmah". Evening Times. 24 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Aasmah Mir Biography Archived 30 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine BBC Press Office, May 2010
- ^ A Very Scottish Homecoming Archived 19 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine Radio Listings, November 2009
- ^ Waterson, Jim (25 April 2020). "Radio 4's Aasmah Mir quits amid rumours of Times Radio role". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ Martin, Roy (27 April 2020). "Times Radio schedule revealed ahead of summer launch". radiotoday.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ Davies, Helen (16 July 2023). "Why Times Radio presenter Aasmah Mir was silent for years". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Sectarian row chief married to Celtic fan". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
- ^ Powar condemns high profile remarks Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine; British Eurosport
- ^ I want fairytale ending that allows me to sing Retrieved 13 March 2022