Kay Burley recently announced her retirement (Image: (Image: Sky News))
, the renowned reporter, has spent over three decades covering some of Britain’s most significant events. Her impressive portfolio includes 12 General Elections and major Royal events such as the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the birth of Prince George.
Born in Wigan to working-class parents who worked in a local cardboard factory, Kay, now 63, proudly identifies herself as a “Wigan street fighter.” She recently retired from Sky News after 36 years working for the channel.
She began her journalism career at the tender age of 17 with the Wigan Evening Post and Chronicle before moving on to local radio and Tyne Tees Television.
Before joining the core team that launched Sky News in 1989, Kay was married to fellow reporter Steve Burley. The couple got hitched in 1980 when Kay was just 19 years old.
However, their marriage ended six years later, and Kay went on to marry her second husband, Steve Kutner, at the age of 28. Kutner, a former agent of retired footballer Frank Lampard, and Kay had their only son, Alexander Kutner, 31, in 1993.
They divorced a year later. Kay claimed in a 2011 interview with MailOnline that despite her two divorces, she’d “had two successful marriages.” Although she rarely shares images of Alexander, in March 2022, she used to promote his collector car market consultant business, Wolf Hub.
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Kay Burley first tied the knot when she was just 19 years old (Image: (Image: INSTAGRAM))
“Check out my son’s new business and maybe give him a follow? I maybe biased but its excellent,” she wrote at the time. (Sic).
A decade on from her split with her second husband, Kay Burley found love with ex-political editor turned PR guru George Pascoe-Watson. However, their romance ended in 2009, and George tied the knot with Natalie Pascoe-Watson (nee Kirby), a former secretary to William Hague, two years later.
In a heart-wrenching revelation in 2018, the Sky News presenter opened up about the devastating impact of breast cancer on her family, claiming the life of her mother at the age of 57.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Kay recalled the painful memory: “My mum died when she was my age. My little boy was eight months old. It still makes me sad actually just to think about it.”
She shared her mother’s poignant words: “I remember her saying, ‘I’m going to die’ and I said, ‘I can’t live without you mum’, but she said I would have to and told me to look after my daddy.”
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Kay Burley and her rarely-seen son Alexander (Image: (Image: GETTY))
The loss of female relatives to breast cancer has been a recurring tragedy in Kay’s life, with her grandmother passing when her mother was just 18 and her aunt shortly after her mother.
As reported by the Evening Standard, Kay is vigilant about her health due to her family history, undergoing various preventative measures against the disease.
She expressed her hopes for the future and confessed: “I want to see my grandchildren grow up,” adding, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to, but please God I will.”
Determined to fight the odds, Kay revealed: “My mother and my grandmother, my aunt, all died of breast cancer. I do everything I can to try to make sure I won’t. I have regular screenings. I have MRI scans, I have mammograms.”
Last year, the broadcaster announced on social media that her younger sister Jacqueline had also been diagnosed with cancer.
The TV veteran shared her emotional turmoil, penning: “Jacqueline, who has been stoic in her determination to take on a disease that claimed both my mother and grandmother,” she wrote.
During an emotional chat with The Times, the broadcasting legend disclosed: “She’s my kid sister, she’s got three grandchildren under three and, to be honest, I wish I had it instead of her. I would rather it was me than her.”
Earlier in the year, the star gave her followers something to cheer about, revealing that she took a break from her breakfast programme to relocate to the country.
In May, the much-adored presenter took to her social platforms to post a photo from inside her new Victorian-style residence.
The image showcased one of the house’s vast rooms, featuring exquisite brown floors, a sparkling glass chandelier and elegant wooden shelves, captioned simply with: “New home”.