Clare Balding is the new face for Wimbledon tennis from 2023 onwards. When legendary Sue Barker stepped down from hosting the coverage of Wimbledon in 2022, she left big shoes to fill, but who better to jump straight into them than Clare? The popular sports presenter has a wealth of knowledge under her belt, having presented on everything from the Olympics to rugby league and BBC Sports Personality of the Year over the years, and has worked on providing the BBC radio and television coverage of Wimbledon since 1995. Now, she’s the main host for the ultimate tennis tournament and can’t wait to get stuck into her new role.
“It’s a huge honour to be given this responsibility but I am very aware that no one person can fill Sue’s shoes,” says Clare. “This will always be a team effort and we’re lucky that the BBC line-up includes former professionals with huge insight as well as wonderful reporters and commentators. It’s my job to bring out the best in them and to help make our viewers feel they have a front row seat on the greatest sporting stage.”
Here’s everything you need to know about Clare Balding…
1. Clare Balding used to be a jockey
Over 30 years ago, Clare Balding was a successful amateur jockey. She rode competitively from 1988 to 1993 and was Champion Lady Rider in 1990. One of her favourite memories from this time was riding a ‘sweet horse’ called Knock Knock, who hadn’t won a race for years, and finishing first at 25/1 at Kempton. “Then he started winning for other people because Dad said to them, “Just don’t touch him with whips, keep saying nice things to him, that’s what Clare does,” recalls Clare.
2. As a child Clare often had breakfast with the Queen
Clare Balding’s father Ian Balding trained horses for the Queen Mother while her uncle, the Earl of Huntingdon, trained for the Queen. As a result, the late Queen Elizabeth II would often come for breakfast at Clare’s family home while the Queen Mother would pop in for lunch. "You'd have that situation where you came back to the house, the Queen was there for breakfast, that was really odd and dad had forgotten to tell us,” recalls Clare. “I thought it was a bit odd because we weren't having breakfast the way we usually had it, it was all a bit smarter. I was meant to curtsey but I forgot because I ran in and thought 'cooked breakfast, fantastic, sausages!'" In fact, the first pony Clare rode as a small child was a Shetland called Valkyrie which was given to her as a present from the Queen. Clare met the late queen on many occasions in a professional capacity. She is part of the BBC's commentary team for the King's Coronation in May 2023.
3. She’s a movie star
Clare Balding made a cameo, playing herself, in the 2020 movie Dream Horse. The film starred Toni Collette and Damian Lewis and was about a group of Welsh neighbours who chipped in to co-own an unlikely racehorse. Clare has also appeared in TV series Dark Money, W1A and Watson & Oliver.
4. Clare is descended from royalty
In 2017 Clare Balding unearthed her family history on the BBC1 show Who Do You Think You Are?. On the programme she discovered her American roots and dug deeper into her LGBTQ history, discovering that her great grandfather, Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Bullock embarked on a close and ‘intense’ friendship with artist Rex Whistler after his wife died. Clare’s grandmother can trace her family line back to Henry VII.
5. She’s an award-winning author
Clare Balding is an established author with quite a few books to her name. Her memoirs My Animals and Other Family was published in 2012 and quickly became a bestseller, winning biography of the year at the National Book Awards. She also wrote another book called Walking Home: Great British Adventures…And Other Rambles and has a series of children’s books, including The Racehorse who Learned to Dance and The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop. She’s also written the inspirational children’s book Fall Off, Get Back On, Keep Going.
6. Clare is responsible for Mo Farah’s ‘Mobot’ celebration
Clare Balding actually came up with the iconic celebration for Olympic track hero Mo Farah, where he makes an M on top of his head, during an episode of A League of their Own. On the show Mo admitted he didn’t have a victory dance, so Clare suggested he use the ‘M’ from the song YMCA by the Village People. Mo took the idea and ran with it, first using it as he won the men’s 10,000m race at the London 2012 Olympics.
7. Her dog taught her to walk
Clare had an unusual upbringing, where she and her younger brother were mainly left to their own devices, coming low in the pecking order compared to the 100+ thoroughbred racehorses, mares, foals and ponies her father was responsible for. Clare credits her childhood boxer dog with teaching her to walk and admits that when she was younger she truly believed she was a dog, and was hugely disappointed to discover she was human. She still presents Crufts for Channel 4.
Later in 2023 dog lover Clare also be presenting a new three-part Channel 5 series Lost Dogs: Live. This warm-hearted show will celebrate the love we have for our dogs, with viewers encouraged to contact the programme to report sightings of dogs who have gone missing and help track them down in a bid to reunite them with their owners. Clare will also be joined by a raft of roving reporters including Michelle Ackerley, Dr Amir Khan, Storm Huntley, JB Gill, Radzi Chinyanganya and Rav Wilding.
8. She suffers from hearing loss
During an interview with Mel Giedroyc on Mel’s show Unforgiveable, Clare Balding opened up about her loss of hearing. She admitted that she has lost 90 per cent of her hearing and often accidentally shouts at her wife Alice Arnold. "I really need to get my ears done. I'm at about ten per cent and I guess the rest," she said. "My wife keeps saying to me, "Stop shouting!" because I'm clearly over-projecting because I can't hear myself.”
9. She’s an Olympic legend
In her career to date, Clare has worked on a whopping seven Olympic games, five Paralympic Games and five Winter Olympic Games. Aside from sport, she’s also covered numerous Royal events, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, the Trooping of the Colour, Queen’s funeral the King Charles' coronation in May 2023.
10. Clare has battled cancer
In 2009 Clare had thyroid cancer and had to have radioactive iodine treatment. She also needed a cyst and her thyroid gland removed, plus a lymph node removed a year later. She first realised something was wrong when she spotted a lump on her throat while watching herself on TV.
“That was a big wake-up,” recalls Clare. “I didn’t for a second think I’m going to die or anything like that, but I did think, ‘Gosh, I really do need to make sure I make the most of this’. Just that, just keep doing new things. That was a bit of a gear-changer.”
11. Dog lover Clare will is helping owners find their lost dogs
In the summer of 2023 dog lover Clare will also be presenting a new three-part Channel 5 series Lost Dogs: Live. This warm-hearted show will celebrate the love we have for our dogs, with viewers encouraged to contact the programme to report sightings of dogs who have gone missing and help track them down in a bid to reunite them with their owners. Clare will also be joined by a raft of roving reporters including Michelle Ackerley, Dr Amir Khan, Storm Huntley, JB Gill, Radzi Chinyanganya and Rav Wilding.
12. Sue Barker has given Clare advice on hosting Wimbledon
After being part of the BBC's Wimbledon team alongside former tennis star and host Sue Barker for many years, Clare has revealed she's spoken to Sue on taking over lead presenting duties in 2023.
Clare says: "Sue is a good friend of mine and has been really supportive, so I will try and do her proud without trying to do what she did. She always said, ‘Do it your own way, do what you do’. She’s a great one for saying, ‘You’ve got this, it’s OK!'"
Clare Balding's Fact File
How old is Clare Balding?
Clare Victoria Balding is 52. She was born on born 29 January 1971.
Is she in a relationship?
Yes Clare has been married to broadcaster Alice Arnold from 2015.
Does Clare have children?
Clare doesn't currently have children.
Where was Clare born?
Clare was born in Kingsclere, Hampshire.
How tall is Clare?
Clare is 1.7m tall which is 5ft 5in.
Twitter: @clarebalding
Instagram: @clarebalding
We work hard to ensure that all information is correct. Facts that change over time, such as age, will be correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of the last article update.
* Wimbledon 2023 tennis begins on BBC1, BBC2 BBCiPlayer and BBC Red Button from Monday July 3 2023.
