Mariella Frostrup Age, Husband & Biography

Mariella Frostrup is 63 years old and was born on November 12, 1962, in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian-born British journalist and presenter is married to human rights lawyer Jason McCue, and the couple have two children. Frostrup wrote for The Observer as its agony aunt for almost 20 years, presented BBC Radio 4’s Open Book for 18 years, and was appointed the UK Government’s Menopause Employment Ambassador in October 2024. On November 10, 2026, ITV confirmed Frostrup as one of the 11 campmates for I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! series 26, which starts on November 16, 2026, on ITV1.

Quick Facts

Who Is Mariella Frostrup?

Mariella Frostrup is a Norwegian-born British journalist and presenter. She has written for The Daily Telegraph as a travel writer, The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, Harpers & Queen, and the New Statesman. For almost 20 years until 2021 she was The Observer’s agony aunt on its relationships page.

She presented BBC Radio 4’s Open Book, interviewing authors and publishers and reviewing new fiction and non-fiction books, from 2002 to 2020, and The Book Show on Sky Arts. She joined Times Radio in June 2020 and left the station in 2024, and since July 2024 she has been a regular panellist on ITV’s flagship lunchtime show Loose Women. In October 2024 she was announced as the UK Government’s Menopause Employment Ambassador.

Early Life & Background

Frostrup was born in Oslo, Norway, to Peter and Joan Frostrup. In 1969, when she was six, the family moved to Ireland, living in Kilmacanogue, a small village near Bray in County Wicklow. Her Norwegian father was a journalist, including foreign editor, for The Irish Times, and her Scottish mother an artist. Her father died aged 44, when Frostrup was 15.

In 1977, after the death of her father, she moved to London to work in the music industry. She trained as a tape op for the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, during which she worked with Simple Minds on their Real to Real Cacophony album, and went on to work as a public relations executive for Phonogram Records between 1980 and 1990, coordinating the publicity for the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985.

Career

After leaving Phonogram, Frostrup started television work as a presenter and film critic. She made several guest appearances as herself in the series Coupling, including an episode where one of the characters fantasizes about her, then meets her in person. She has also appeared in fictionalised form in Michael Paraskos’s In Search of Sixpence.

As a journalist, Frostrup has written for The Daily Telegraph as a travel writer, The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, Harpers & Queen, and the New Statesman. For almost 20 years until 2021 she was The Observer’s agony aunt on its relationships page. She is also an art critic and has been on the judging panels for the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Evening Standard British Film Awards. In 2008, Frostrup received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of her contribution and commitment to journalism and broadcasting. That same year, she narrated The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, a documentary about lesser flamingos.

Frostrup presented the BBC Radio 2 show The Green Room and from 2002 to 2020 was the regular presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme Open Book. As the presenter of The Book Show on Sky Arts 1, she interviewed an extensive list of guests on their recent works. In December 2012, she appeared on the BBC Two series World’s Most Dangerous Roads, in which she and Angus Deayton were filmed driving along the east coast of Madagascar. She is the voice in lifts on the London Overground. Her gravelly voice is often used on television commercials and in 2005 was voted the sexiest female voice. In 2018, Frostrup presented a documentary for BBC One called The Truth About The Menopause, and she later published the book Cracking the Menopause: While Keeping Yourself Together in 2021. In 2022, she presented the documentary series Britain’s Novel Landscapes with Mariella Frostrup, which investigates how British landscapes have influenced some of the UK’s best loved authors.

Frostrup has been active in the charity sector for two decades, having worked on Band Aid and Comic Relief, along with various fundraising initiatives for Oxfam, The Children’s Society, and Save the Children. In 2022 she founded Menopause Mandate with Davina McCall, Penny Lancaster, and others, to campaign for greater awareness of the impact of the menopause. In 2024 she was appointed Government Menopause Employment Ambassador, working with an independent Menopause Advisory Group whose role is to help businesses better support people experiencing menopause symptoms.

Facts About Mariella Frostrup

• She coordinated the publicity for the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985.
• She was The Observer’s agony aunt for almost 20 years until 2021.
• She presented BBC Radio 4’s Open Book for 18 years, from 2002 to 2020.
• She was appointed the UK Government’s Menopause Employment Ambassador in October 2024.
• She received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Nottingham Trent University in 2008.

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