Born in Preston and educated at Kirkham Grammar School, she graduated with a degree in English and Creative Writing from Lancaster University in 1998.

She joined BBC Radio Lancashire in 2002 as a reporter, before moving to BBC Greater Manchester to cover the Commonwealth Games.  She worked on the BBC regional news programme North West Tonight from 2005, becoming a popular anchor for that show alongside Gordon Burns.

In 2012 she joined ITV’s Breakfast programme, Daybreak, where she presented the show's news hour until April 2014.  Later she joined Daybreak's replacement programme, Good Morning Britain, making her debut on the show in May.