Ed Chamberlin is — like so many of us — looking forward to returning to the office or, in his case, an audience. He spoke to Rosie Paterson about winning a BAFTA and filming behind closed doors
Ed Chamberlin’s CV is quite something — bookmaker, journalist, the face of Premier League football alongside Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher — though he claims he got into television by accident.
Since 2017, he’s been ITV’s racing correspondent, fronting coverage at Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood and The Cheltenham Festival. Off-screen he has his own media training company — Chamberlin Sports — and spends hours preparing and researching for whatever it is he’s presenting that week, though he says only 10% of that material might appear on air.
During lockdown the broadcaster took up cycling and developed an obsession with the Tour de France. He returned to work (sort of) on June 1, filming from his spare room and in empty racecourses, something he describes as ‘eerie and soulless.’
The crowds, it seems, cannot come back soon enough — last month, ITV announced that it will continue as the exclusive free-to-air broadcaster of British horse racing until 2023. That’s roughly 100 days of racing, every year. And Chamberlin has a lot of new ideas up his sleeve, though he won’t admit to what they are, quite yet.
ITV racing set up with presenter Ed Chamberlin as they broadcast the racing from the St Leger Festival at Doncaster.
Career highlights include the Grand National, which he presents to 10 million people in the UK alone and hundreds of millions worldwide, and winning a BAFTA in 2017. Royal Ascot also gets a mention. Chamberlin describes the phenomenon as a ‘global monster which the ITV team spend months preparing for.’
Go to office uniform
Jacket and tie — or a tailcoat for Derby Day and Royal Ascot
Work soundtrack
The Champions theme tune — one of my better decisions was to bring it back on Grand National day!
Messy or tidy desk?
Too messy! There is often a battle for space — pre-social distancing — with my wonderful co-presenter Francesca Cumani
Best piece of career advice you’ve ever been given
Gary Neville, with an ethos from Sir Alex Ferguson, always said ‘never stand still.’ Even when things are going well, look to improve
Your Instagram hero(es)
Southampton Football Club, Hampshire Cricket Club and ITV Racing
