Laura Jackson



PRESENTER, fashion aficionado and working cook - Laura Jackson (b. 15th March 1986) is adding new weight to the term It-girl. She started her career alongside Nick Grimshaw on T4's music show Freshly Squeezed and is now one of the presenters of ITV's new Saturday morning entertainment show, Scrambled, which started on January 18 2014 - the first of its kind since the popular SMTV, which ended 10 years ago.

"I have four siblings, so talking has never been a problem for me," Jackson told us. "I loved television and fashion growing up, and I thought 'Well, presenting looks glamorous. That's what I'll do.' And it means you get to meet such interesting people; Snoop Dogg was pretty memorable, he introduced himself as Mr Dogg. Colin Farrell was really nice, too, he treated me like his mate. I love meeting designers too, that always really inspired me."

"My mum always used to give me Turkey Twizzlers when I was little, so I guess I'm rebelling against that," she said. "The idea of my cookbook came from wanting to give my mum a list of recipes for Christmas. So I went to get them all printed in a book, and the guy in the shop said, 'Look you can't make just the one, the minimum we'll do is 50.' So that's how it started. I gave them all to my friends and family and it went from there."Jackson, who hails from Huddersfield, got her big break when working on reception at Shoreditch House, when a friend and regular offered her a screen test for Freshly Squeezed. She got the job and went on to host her own self-titled radio show for Radio Hoxton in London, and hosted a segment called Rate or Slate on ITV's This Morning before her latest role emerged. Presenting aside, she loves to cook, culminating in her book,We Like To Cook, an online cookery series (which was recently snapped up by American talent agency William Morris), and her own London pop-up restaurant, opening on January 25. The 27 year old will house her eatery in her Hackney warehouse once a month with fellow radio host Alice Levine - where they will serve up hearty winter dishes.

Like all true It-girls, Jackson has an affinity for both music and fashion. She has an understatedly feminine, Parisian-inspired style ("If I'm not sure what to wear, I just Google pictures of Françoise Hardy and Jane Birkin - that always sorts me out"), and hates to look overdone - Chanel has recently taken to dressing her. Musically, she loves listening to Northern Soul, but also The Smiths, Pulp and New Order. So with her brown hair, Sixties fringe, relaxed chic and penchant for music, she has inevitably been compared to Alexa Chung - who is represented by the same agency, Liz Matthews.