Shefali Oza : biography

Shefali Oza (born 24 September 1967) is a news presenter on BBC Birmingham’s Midlands Today, the regional news programme broadcast in the Midlands of England. She is now one of the programme’s main anchors but began her career with the team as Midlands Today‘s first ever weather presenter in January 1993.

Career

Oza is said to have been "discovered at an audition day" which had been organised by the BBC’s Multi-Cultural Programmes Unit, who were actually in search of new faces for Network East.

Oza was one of the first frequent Asian faces on television in the region and has become the most recognisable of weather reporters on local news programmes. Since joining Midlands Today in 1993 her role has evolved from simply reporting the weather to producing weathe-related news and community features. One of her major recent achievements came as part of one of her features when she became the first female civilian to spend a week on the Royal Navy submarine HMS Splendid. She was awarded an Honorary Masters for ‘her contribution to the region through her many broadcasts’.

Along with weather reporting and news presenting, Oza has fronted regional contributions to the BBC’s live national programming and campaigns such as Children in Need.

Oza recently presented a paranormal series, Shef to Chef and now has her own website.

Personal life

During her time on Midlands Today, Oza met her husband Jamie Knights, who worked as her cameraman. Their wedding ceremony was featured on the news programme, although she is now divorced. Before her media career, Oza trained as a solicitor. Her father is a GP based in Nottingham. She currently resides in Birmingham.