Liz Bonnin

Early life and education

Bonnin was born in Paris to a Trinidadian mother of Indian and Portuguese descent, and a French-Martiniquan father who was a dentist.

The family moved to Ireland when she was nine years old. She has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Trinity College, Dublin, and also holds a master's degree in Wild Animal Biology from the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Veterinary College (2008), for which she tracked tigers in Nepal. She continues to work on big cat conservation programmes at the Zoological Society.

Career

Bonnin began her career by joining an Irish girl pop group named Chill, who signed to Polydor but broke up before recording. The band had performed on Dustin the Turkey's third album Faith of Our Feathers, duetting on "We Are Family". She was offered a job hosting the IRMA Awards which led to presenting roles on RTÉ Television in Ireland, on The Den, Telly Bingo, Millennium Eve: Celebrate 2000 and for two years, Off the Rails with Fiona McShane. At the time she was in a relationship with the publisher John Ryan. In 2002 she moved to London to present on a number of TV channels.

In 2002 she became one of the presenters of the Channel 4 morning show RI:SE, specialising in reporting on entertainment-related stories. In the same year she became a regular presenter on Top of the Pops in the UK.

In 2004 Bonnin was locked in a giant kennel along with MPs Paul Burstow, Evan Harris and Ivan Henderson and actress Liza Goddard, BBC Newsround presenter Lizzie Greenwood and DJ Becky Jago in a stunt to launch the annual RSPCA Week to raise awareness and funds.

Since 2005 Bonnin has been involved in science broadcasting. She presented the show Gadgets, Gadgets, Gadgets in 2005 and co-presented the BBC science series Bang Goes the Theory on BBC One from 2009 until 2014. In 2008, Bonnin presented a documentary series Science Friction on RTÉ One which looked at taboos in discussions of scientific topics (such as paedophilia and nuclear power) in Ireland. She also contributed to BBC Two's series on the work of the London Natural History Museum, Museum of Life.

In October 2010 she joined the cast of Autumnwatch and in January 2011, she presented segments of BBC Two's Stargazing Live from various areas of Hawaii including atop Mauna Kea. In May 2011, she co-presented BBC One's Egypt's Lost Cities. She was a guest presenter from the Pitsea landfill site in Essex, England for June 2011's Springwatch on the BBC.

Her programme on animal intelligence, Super Smart Animals, was filmed in mid-2011 in Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Australia and Germany, and broadcast in February 2012.

On 11 April 2013 Bonnin presented a Horizon special on BBC Two that looked at technology of the future.

In June 2013 she presented the two-part documentary Operation Snow Tiger, working alongside Russian and other scientists in the Ussuriysk Reserve in the Russian Far East.

Since 2013 Bonnin has been a presenter of the ITV series Countrywise, alongside Paul Heiney and Ben Fogle. In November 2013 she presented Animal Odd Couples on BBC One.

She was a co-presenter along with Martin Pepper on the series How the Earth Works that aired on the Discovery Channel in the USA starting on 10 September 2013.

In October 2014 she presented a three-part Horizon series looking into the life of cats. In February 2015 she presented a two-part documentary series called Animals in Love on BBC One, looking at the emotional lives of animals including elephants, monkeys, geese and alligators.

In March 2015, Bonnin presented episodes of Stargazing Live on BBC Two. In August 2015, alongside Matt Baker and Steve Backshall, she co-hosted a series of three programmes for BBC One, Big Blue Live, featuring marine life in Monterey Bay, California. Early 2016 saw Bonnin return to Stargazing Live, where she reported from the European Space Agency's astronaut training centre. She also co-presented the BBC Two series Cats v Dogs: Which is Best? with Chris Packham.

On 17 April 2016, Bonnin presented BBC Two programme Horizon – Should We Close Our Zoos? in which she reported on issues concerning zoos and their keeping of large mammals and their role in preserving endangered species.

Bonnin featured on the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? on 8 December 2016. In the programme she traced the ancestry of both her parents on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Martinique.

Starting on 30 March 2017, Bonnin presented a new BBC One series called Galapagos exploring the species found on the islands and in the seas around. In July 2017, she co-presented Wild Alaska Live with Matt Baker and Steve Backshall on BBC One.

Personal life

Bonnin grew up with her older sister Benni, while she said that "I was extremely close to my granny, who passed away in 2003." She has moved back to London and said in 2015, "It's a big culture shock when I come back to London after a month away in somewhere like Botswana. I love walking in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens just to look at the trees and breathe a little before adjusting to life back in the big city."

Liz is a role model for EDF Energy's Pretty Curious programme, which is aimed at encouraging teenage girls to study science-based subjects at school. She has said in a 2016 interview, "FHM offered me a spread but I said no."

Filmography