Who is Charlene White and who is her partner?

Viewers have been asking 'Who is Charlene White and who is her partner?' ahead of her stint on I'm A Celebrity 2022. 

The TV star is no stranger to the screen having hosted an ITV documentary and several Loose Women appearances since Charlene was announced as the new host of the ITV daytime chat show Loose Women, following the shock departure of Andrea McLean and Saira Khan, who also left the show.

At the time, speaking about joining the panel, Charlene said, "I'm absolutely stoked, I've been buzzing all this time to reveal that I'm the new anchor on Loose Woman," she said.

Just 10 months after landing her new job, Charlene had a new documentary airing on ITV called Charlene White: Empire's Child, as part of Black History Month in which she delves into her family history.

And in November 2022 she is confirmed as one of the campmates going into the jungle. She thinks going on I’m A Celebrity will be the perfect opportunity to show viewers what she is really like. Explains Charlene, “I love music, dancing and clubbing and I want to show I am just a regular girl from South London who reads the news."

But just who is Charlene White and who is her partner? Here's everything you need to know about her...

Who is Charlene White?

Charlene White, 41, is a British journalist and newsreader from Greenwich in South London. She was born on June 22, 1980.

She attended Blackheath High School in southeast London before going on to graduate from the London College of Printing. After graduating, Charlene went on to become the youngest senior journalist at the BBC, aged just twenty-two. In 2008, she joined ITN as a newscaster and, in 2014, became the first black woman to present ITV News at Ten.

In her new documentary, Charlene grew tearful and was full of pride after hearing how her four-times great grandparents Andrew and Elsey Pusey were freed from slavery in 1834.

Mum-of-two Charlene's grandparents, Byron, and Ruby Stanbury, arrived in England from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation in 1961.

Their children remained with family in Jamaica until they could afford to bring them across to England. Charlene's Aunty Eleanor came first followed by her mum Dorrett, and the family settled in London.

Charlene was also shocked to find her five times great-grandad, John Stanbury, was a white plantation owner in Jamaica in the 18th Century.

She said, “He was a slave owner, he owned people who looked like me.

“And that is within my bloodline, which is a weird thing to get my head around and he is responsible for my families’ lighter skin.

“Is it a nice history? No, but I feel it is something I needed to know.”

Having been a guest presenter on Loose Women on various occasions - including when she was part of Loose Women's first all-black panel with Brenda Edwards, Kelle Bryan and Judi Love - Charlene became a regular anchor on the show in January 2021.

And as she steps into the jungle in Australia, she admits, "It’s going to be very strange not being able to find out what is happening in the world. The UK is on a constant cycle of change and by the time I have come out of the camp, we could have had another change of Government or another change of leader! Anything could happen in that time and I am going to find it very frustrating. I have a genuine love of current affairs and the first thing I do is check all the papers when I wake up. I will desperately be playing catch up when I come out.”

Who is Charlene White's partner?

Charlene has been in a long-term relationship with a man named Andy for five years. The couple is not married but they live together in south London. Charlene and Andy met at a friend’s party in 2015, and she previously wrote in the Guardian, 'I knew from the moment I met him at a friend’s party the year before, that he was 'the one'.'

Speaking about how it will feel leaving her family behind to take part in I'm A Celebrity, Charlene admitted, "My partner is also mostly shocked I am doing this. We made the decision together but he was like, ‘I have no idea how you are going to cope!’ I am not a ‘need to wear make-up, nails’ kind of girl but I am not very outdoorsy. “In fact, I know the fact I am volunteering to choose to sleep outside will come as a massive shock to everyone at work, too!”

Does Charlene White have children?

Charlene and Andy share two children, son Alfie, five, and daughter Florence, three, who they live with in south London. Charlene's baby boy, Alfie was born in August 2017, and his sister Florence arrived in October 2019. Charlene regularly shares pictures of her family on Instagram, and she revealed how much Alfie and Florence had bonded during the coronavirus lockdown.

She wrote, 'They love playing together, and Alfie loves being in charge and telling her off. And Florence mostly just kills herself laughing every time he has a tantrum.

'Amongst all the bad stuff… watching these two getting to know each other has been the good stuff.'

The mum of two recently admitted, however, it will be tough not being able to see or speak to her children whilst she is in the camp. “I will definitely get teary,” confides Charlene. 

“It’s a foregone conclusion. I am going to miss our daily routine with the kids, I am going to miss waking up with them and having quiet time before the school run and that’s what is going to get me tearing up. It will be weird."

What did Charlene do before she joined Loose Women?

Before Charlene joined Loose women she has appeared on TV and radio - having been the lead newsreader on ITV News London since 2019 and she expanded her broadcast career as a reporter on Radio 1's Newsbeat and its sister digital station, BBC Radio 1Xtra, back in 2002.

The journalist then went on to become co-presenter on 1Xtra's two-hour news programme TX in 2005. Since 2014, Charlene has appeared on ITV Lunchtime, Evening, and Weekend News, and has been been a contributor to the Guardian.

I'm A Celebrity airs on ITV at 9pm on Sunday 6th November.

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