Hayley Hassall is an award winning investigative journalist, TV and Radio Presenter. Hayley has been presenting News and Current Affairs across the BBC and ITV’s flagship programs for almost 20 years.
Hayley currently presents her own show on BBC radio 5live. The Hayley Hassall show is from 1am-5am Friday – Sunday; in this 4 hour live programme, Hayley covers the big news stories from the week, and speaks to the people behind the headlines. Hayley also runs the BBCs first Mental Health clinic where, together with guest Doctors, she delves deep into a mental health issue and asks listeners to share their experiences and advice on things like depression, PTSD or loneliness.
Hayley connects with listeners from all over the world and brings her warm and approachable personality to some of the most serious and heart-breaking issues.
This year Hayley has been nominated for two Aria awards and a Prix Europa for her documentaries and podcasts. Hayley’s series of audio documentaries uncovering the Post office Scandal lead to national news headlines and her intimate interviews with post office workers lead to some ground-breaking interviews including where she took one wrongly convicted post office worker back to the prison cell for the first time since her release.
Hayley also made the ground-breaking documentary on Raynhard Sinaga; Britain’s most Prolific Rapist, which has since been made into a BBC2 documentary: Catching a Predator.
Hayley is also the anchor of BBC Newsround, for which she has presented for over 12 years. Hayley has led young people of the UK through massive world events, such as elections, royal weddings, war, conflict and a global pandemic. When Manchester Arena was bombed in 2017 Hayley went to visit the children and families who were devastated by the attack. She is passionate about bringing social affairs to a younger audience and has travelled to South America and beyond to report on the refugee crisis. She has made award winning documentaries following the stories of unaccompanied children who seek refuge in the UK. She has also been campaigning for free school meals for hungry children and in 2018 she got the Children’s commissioner to meet hungry children and get meals in the school holidays on the governments agenda.
Throughout the Covid Pandemic, when children were unable to go to school, Hayley presented BBC Bitesize daily, the daily education show for children who can't get to school. This was watched by over 6 million children in the UK and kept many families going through this crisis.
Hayley has previously won a RTS award for best presenter and reporter after she went undercover in Britain’s maternity hospitals for Panorama: Undercover Midwife. She has won a BAFTA for her Panorama Documentary: Brains homecare scandal, for which she went undercover for 9 months working as a carer for elderly and vulnerable people around the UK. She has won a Sandford St martins award for her documentary on Refugee children and is currently nominated for an Aria and Prix Europa for her audio documentaries on The Post Office.
Hayley has appeared across 5Live presenting with tony Livesey on the Drive show and on the Midnight show with Colin Murry. Hayley has also reported for BBC Breakfast covering the special Olympics, the winter Olympics and many more live events.
Hayley’s investigations into child anorexia, homelessness, male rape and grandparents carers, to name just a few have been picked up and hit headlines across the BBC News channels, Newspapers and social platforms.
Hayley started her presenting career after being an undercover reporter for Panorama, since then she has reported and presented on BBC Panorama specials, The One Show, Sunday Live, ITV Tonight, BBC1 Radio 4 and 5Live.
Hayley now has 20 years’ experience of presenting on live national TV and Radio shows, she is a trained counsellor and has a friendly and non-patronising way of interviewing a broad rage of people from victims, to royalty to criminals. Hayley has had a speech impediment since she was a young child but she has not let this hold her back, in fact she believes it makes her a better journalist. From being bullied at school for the way she speaks, she now speaks to millions of people live on the TV and radio every day.
Hayley is a mother of two, a proud Northerner who comes from Blackpool and she uses her free time to work at a soup kitchen and food bank and help the local Sunday school.
Credits include:
Hayley Hassall show BBC Radio 5Live (Chief Presenter)
Newsround CBBC (Senior Presenter)
File on 4 Radio 4 (Senior Reporter)
Drive BBC 5 Live (Co-presenter)
Women’s Hour (Presenter)
Bitesize daily BBC1 (Presenter)
Tonight ITV (Presenter)
Christmas City BBC 1 (Presenter)
Winter Olympics BBC Sport (Presenter)
BBC Breakfast BBC 1 (Reporter)
The One Show BBC 1 (Reporter)
Panorama BBC 1 (Reporter)
Sunday Life BBC 1 (Presenter/Reporter)