Priya-Kaur Jones
Encyclopedia
Early life
Kaur-Jones was born in 1979 in WaltonWalton, Wakefield
Walton is a village and civil parish in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near Wakefield. It has a population of 3,377. It is on the Barnsley Canal and includes Walton Hall, West Yorkshire, the home of Charles Waterton, the man who made Walton Hall into the first nature reserve in the country...
near Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, and attended Wakefield Girls High School
Wakefield Girls High School
Wakefield Girls' High School is an independent school in Wakefield, England established in 1878 in Wentworth House, its current location. The school has grown from 59 pupils when it first began to nearly 750 in the present day .-Education:...
. After completing her A-levels in French, Chemistry, General studies and biology, she began a three-year Genetics degree at Nottingham University, graduating on 14 July 2000. She subsequently completed a postgraduate degree
Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...
in Broadcast Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University is a higher education institution in South Yorkshire, England, based on two sites in Sheffield. City Campus is located in the city centre, close to Sheffield railway station, and Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away, adjacent to Ecclesall Road in...
.
Her father is a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
from England and her mother is a Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
from Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
; she was raised as a Sikh.
Career
Kaur-Jones began her career in 2001 when she worked at Fosseway RadioFosseway Radio
Fosseway Radio was a local commercial radio station based in Leicestershire, and owned by Lincs FM Group. It served the south-west of that county, as well as North Warwickshire. It was based on Castle Street in Hinckley. The name of the station referred to the nearby Fosse Way, which marks the...
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. Later in 2001 she was a runner up in the Miss India UK competition. In 2002 she started work at BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...
Radio where she read the news bulletins and was soon made the reporter for the East Midlands. She then moved to BBC East Midlands Today, where she presented the breakfast and lunchtime news, and filed news reports.
In December 2005, she joined Five News
Five News
5 News is the news programme of British broadcaster Channel 5, produced by Sky News. From 1 January 2005, Sky News was awarded the contract to provide the news for Channel 5, replacing ITN, which had provided the channel's news service from the channel's launch in 1997...
, claiming to be the youngest national news reader. After a year with Sky
British Sky Broadcasting
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephony services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in the United Kingdom and the Ireland....
, she returned to the BBC to present the BBC Politics Show in the East Midlands. In 2004 and 2005, she presented the Miss India UK competition.
She joined GMTV in August 2007, initially as a correspondent. In 2008, she was given the role of newsreader (6am-7am each weekday). She left in September 2009 and moved to the Middle East. She is currently making documentaries and working in advertising.
In 2011 Priya joined France 24
France 24
France 24 is an international news and current affairs television channel. The service is aimed at the overseas market, similar to BBC World News, DW-TV, NHK World and RT, and broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the channel started broadcasting through...
as a Newsreader.
Personal life
Kaur-Jones currently resides in the Middle East. She is a qualified holisticAlternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
massage therapist . She completed the London Marathon
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...
in 2009 in a time of 7 hours 58 minutes carrying a 7ft by 14ft model of a submarine with three other individuals, including well known charity fundraiser Lloyd Scott.