Who is Liz Bonnin? Animals Behaving Badly, Wild Alaska Live and Countrywise presenter
Liz has worked on TV in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, but not many will know that she once started a career in pop with an Irish pop band
COUNTRYWISE fans will already be familiar with Liz Bonnin, but now that she's presenting Wild Alaska Live we take a more in-depth look.
Liz, 41, has worked on TV in both Ireland and the UK, but not many will know that she once started a career in pop with an Irish band.
How did Liz Bonnin start her career?
Liz began her showbiz career by joining an Irish girl pop group named Chill, who were signed to Polydor records - but broke up before recording.
After this, Liz was offered a job hosting the IRMA Awards which led to presenting roles on Irish TV channel RTÉ Television.
Jobs included presenting The Den, Telly Bingo, Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000 and Off the Rails.
In 2002 the budding presenter moved to London where she went on to host a variety of UK shows, such as Channel 4 morning show RI:SE and Top of the Pops.
More recently, Liz has presented ITV series Countrywise, alongside Paul Heiney and Ben Fogle.
Other more recent projects include: Bang Goes The Theory, How the Earth Works – Can Krakatoa Stop Time, Animals in Love, Stargazing Live, Big Blue Live, Cats v Dogs: Which is Best? And Should We Close Our Zoos?
She featured on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? in December 2016.
The programme saw Liz describe herself as “a mongrel” because of her parents’ ancestries on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Martinique.
Liz visits Trinidad, as well as Martinique where her paternal ancestors are said to have owned plantations… and slaves.
What is Liz Bonnin’s background?
Liz was born in Paris, September 16 1972 to a Trinidadian mother of Indian Portuguese descent, and a French father.
When she was just nine-years-old, the family moved to Ireland – where Liz then grew up.
Animal lover Liz has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry as well as a master's degree in Wild Animal Biology from the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Veterinary College – for which she tracked tigers in Nepal.
She still carries out work on the conservation of big cats.
When is Animals Behaving Badly on?
Animals Behaving Badly is on BBC1 on the 18th July at 8pm.
In the first episode Liz looks at the weird and wonderful ways some animals try to attract a partner in 'The Mating Game.'
She discovers some shocking mating habits along the way as she tries to unearth the science behind the behaviour.
