Isla Traquair

Early life

Traquair was born in Aberdeen on New Year's Day 1980 to parents Ian Traquair, a software developer, and Maureen Traquair, a school teacher. She has 3 brothers. She is the great great granddaughter of Phoebe Anna Traquair, the first important professional woman artist of modern Scotland.

At the age of 15, Traquair began working one day a week at a press agency fitting it in around her studies. During this work placement, Traquair wrote a front-page story in a national paper about job losses due to the beef crisis.

Newspaper journalism career

In 1996, after cutting short her final year at school, Traquair was selected from hundreds of entrants to take part in an in-house training scheme with Aberdeen Journals. She stayed with the newspaper group for nearly five years; for the last two she was the crime and court reporter for local Aberdeenshire broadsheet The Press and Journal.

Grampian Television

Traquair joined Grampian Television (now STV North) in early 2001 as a reporter, presenter and producer for North Tonight, Grampian Headlines, Grampian News and North Today.

Unsolved TV Series

Traquair's interest in crime also led to STV North and Central's TV series Unsolved which looked into Scotland's most intriguing murder mysteries. Traquair was involved in all three series, writing and producing the final series. The series sold worldwide.

ITV News

Traquair left STV for ITV News in November 2006, reportedly after her application for a two-month secondment to ITN had been blocked by her bosses. She became a national correspondent in London covering stories all over Europe.

Five News

Traquair left ITN to join Five News as a news correspondent and presenter. In June 2008 it was announced that she and Matt Barbet would stand-in for Natasha Kaplinsky whilst she was on maternity leave. Traquair continued to be the anchor of the 7:00 pm news programme after Kaplinsky's return. After Traquair left Five News, the slot was taken over by a chat show.

Movie Special Programmes

Traquair has also hosted movie special programmes for Channel Five, Fiver and Five USA in which she interviewed Hollywood A-list celebrities including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio, who were promoting their films in Europe.

Buy.o.logic

Traquair moved to Canada in January 2011. She is the host of Buy.o.logic which is filmed in British Columbia and airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The 13-part first series aired in Spring and Summer 2012.

Charity work

In 2005 Traquair and four colleagues took part in a ten-day challenge through the dense Sangklaburi jungle in Thailand. They raised almost £30,000 for Children's Hospice Association Scotland and Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. The team were trained by an ex-marine for several months prior to the trek in order to get fit enough for the gruelling challenge.

Awards

In 2009, The Scotland on Sunday named Traquair the second most eligible woman in Scotland.

Personal life

Traquair separated from her husband in 2007 and later divorced.

Traquair's interests out of work include films, music, golf, drumming, swimming, skiing, painting, and cooking. She loves baking cakes and has on occasion baked specially designed cakes for her celebrity guests.

Traquair is a lifelong fan of Arsenal and is a member of the Arsenal Scotland Supporters Club.