TRISHA GODDARD Talk Show Host

Trisha Goddard was a television unknown to British viewers when she arrived at Anglia in September 1998 to become ITV’s new Queen of Chat. She was immediately plunged into a hectic round of studio recordings for the five-days-a-week Trisha show. For the first few weeks, her feet hardly touched the ground. But the public took her to their hearts and her show has been a ratings winner from the outset.

Despite her anonymity in Britain, Trisha was ideally qualified for her new role. She had lived and worked in Australia for 13 years as a TV reporter/presenter and government advisor on mental health.She is also a trained counsellor, a distinct asset when dealing with guests on her show who have troubles to tell. She had more than her share of personal problems in Australia - two broken marriages, a seriously ill baby, and her sister’s suicide all of which culminated in Trisha herself suffering a nervous breakdown.

Born in London to a West Indian mother and British father, Trisha spent some of her childhood in Norfolk. Her father, a psychiatric nurse, came from Narborough, near Swaffham, she went to school at Heacham for a while and still has family in the county.

In her teens she attended grammar school at Chertsey, Surrey, passing 11 O levels. But she quit sixth form to play keyboards with a girl band called Eve on a tour of Germany. After making a record, the band split up and Trisha returned to England.

Her television career had taken off within two years of her arrival Down Under when she landed the prestigious job of presenter on ABC’s primetime current affairs programme, 7.30 Report - so becoming the first black news anchorwoman on Australian TV. She also presented one of Australia’s best-known children’s programmes, Playschool.

For years she led a hectic, high-profile celebrity life. But personal heartache seemed to shadow her.The birth of Trisha’s second daughter Madison was followed by a double whammy. The baby developed a life-threatening respiratory illness.

The strain caught up with her, however, and she spent a month in a psychiatric hospital. During the long recovery period that followed, she devoted much of her time to helping and counselling others with mental health problems. She also gave up most of her TV work and concentrated on looking after her daughters.

Through her work in mental health, she met and fell in love with Peter Gian-Francesco, a psychiatrist. In January 1998 they married.

Seven months later Trisha got the call from Anglia and the chance for her, Peter, and daughters Billie and Madi to start a new life in Norwich, Britain.

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