Channel 4 Hunted’s Lucrezia Millerini's life-changing holiday fall and 'profound experience' of surviving eating disorder
Lucrezia Millerini is a familiar face for millions of viewers across the UK, reading the news for ITV. But she will soon be taking to the spotlight trying out something different as she is set to appear on the new season of Celebrity Hunted, real-life thriller where 12 celebrities go on the run from an elite team of hunters for 14 days.
The hunters use a variety of tools to catch the celebrities and as Lucrezia is never one to shy away from a challenge, there will surely be plenty in store for her when the new season on Channel 4 begins on January 5 at 9pm.
Lucrezia is best known for her role as a presenter on ITV News, and has built a reputation for delivering some of the biggest stories in the UK. But over the years, Lucrezia has proven that she can show different sides of herself by stepping into the world of reality TV.
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Behind her confident on-screen persona, she has also faced personal challenges, including a serious accident during a holiday, which had a lasting impact on her life and career. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter
Early life
Lucrezia Millerini, 48, was born in London and has shared that she comes from a working class background. Her father is Italian and worked in restaurants, and her mum, Jane is English and is a former social worker.
She went to nursery at Dallington School, an independent school in London and moved to St John the Evangelist Catholic primary school in Islington. She then went to La Sainte Union Convent School for Girls, which was a state-run comprehensive, and studied for her A-levels at Woodhouse College in North Finchley.
As a child, Lucrezia was a huge fan of the news, which would later inspire her career in journalism. However, her first career path was very different from what she does today.
Mental health struggles at university
After finishing school, Lucrezia decided to study law at Bristol university. But she has reflected on this, previously sharing with the Daily Mail that she developed an eating disorder at this time as a knock-on effect of the pressure.
She said: “Being away from home and having the pressures of a challenging degree, I deteriorated mentally and developed an eating disorder. Surviving that has been one of the most profound experiences of my life. I built back from that knock.”
She earned her degree and trained as a solicitor. But while working in the legal profession, a life-changing event made her realise this it wasn’t the right path for her.
The holiday fall which changed the course of her entire life
During a holiday in Greece, she had a serious fall off a balcony. The exact details of the accident have not been widely shared, but she has shared that she nearly broke her back at the time.
The fall became a turning point for Lucrezia as she said it made her “reassess her life.” During her recovery, she reflected on how fragile life can be and decided to take on new opportunities that might have seemed daunting before.
It was at this time that she decided to bite the bullet and retrain as a journalist, as she once explained in a TV appearance: “Before I did law I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a journalist.”
Determined to follow her childhood passion, Lucrezia started her journalism career working for a local radio station based in Oxford then joined ITN’s digital team in London, which saw her reporting for the brand’s online department.
She then landed a new position at ITV News London as an Entertainment Correspondent and has become a regular presenter for the 6pm programme and has covered a wide range of important stories, from local news to national events over the years.
Some of her career highlights include covering the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, reporting on general elections, and coverage of the Olympic Games.
In relation to her journalism career, when asked if there was anyone on her bucket list to interview, Lucrezia said: “I would love to meet Madonna. I’m a big Madonna fan. I think it would be an amazing moment and also a bit scary.
Reality TV history
In 2020, Lucrezia joined the cast of Dancing on Ice, switching up her style of TV appearances. Lucrezia was partnered with Brendyn Hatfield, and although Lucrezia didn’t make it to the final rounds of the competition, she earned plenty of praise as audiences enjoyed seeing her step out of her comfort zone and take on a completely different challenge.
She said while she was on the show: “When I walk out into the news room I know exactly what I’m doing. I’ve been doing it for long enough now that I feel very confident doing it but this is different.”
Later that year, she also won an episode of Celebrity Catchphrase, the popular quiz show where famous faces solve animated puzzles to win money for charity. Lucrezia’s appearance gave viewers another chance to see her in a more relaxed environment.
In December 2021, the news presenter was also featured as one of the contestants on the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, with the new host Romesh Ranganathan.
