About Kate
Kate Silverton is one of the UK’s most familiar faces
A much-loved and trusted broadcaster and journalist, Kate's covered conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, rubbed shoulders with Hollywood’s finest at the Oscars, and shone brightly as one of the stars on Strictly Come Dancing. Now, with a bold career change and a return to her first passion, she’s a qualified child therapist and highly-celebrated best-selling author.
Rediscovering a life's joy
A qualified child counsellor, Kate now spends her time supporting her family, volunteering in clinical practice to support children with complex needs and working privately to help parents find their joy and harmony at home. She feels fortunate to have received support from her own therapists and has learned much from the world's leading psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists and neuroscientists in their fields.
Kate was compelled to write her two books, There's No Such Thing as 'Naughty' and There's STILL No Such Thing As 'Naughty', to share what she's learned and help as many families as possible. Both Sunday Times best-sellers, she takes great joy in hearing from the families who share that their lives and the lives of their children have been transformed simply by feeling more understood and finding more harmony at home.
Background and early years
Kate was born in Waltham Abbey in Essex, the middle child of three girls. Her father was a hackney carriage licensed driver (one of the famous London black cab drivers!) and her mum was initially a “stay at home mum”, then later a nursery school teacher.
Her parents inspired her to work hard, to be kind and to enjoy life. Her father would say "nothing should stop you from achieving what you want from life, so long as you’re prepared to work for it".
He had been in the Merchant Navy and encouraged her to travel to gain life experience. After high school, she took a two year "gap year". She backpacked around Europe, lived on a Kibbutz in Israel, hitchhiked into the Sinai desert - stopping briefly to spend time with a Bedouin family - before trekking across Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Journalism
Following the death of a close friend, Kate confronted her 'fear of failure' and leaped into journalism. She gave up a high-paid corporate job and committed to work experience at the BBC, making sandwiches on the side to pay the rent.
She worked hard to secure several 'scoops' that saw her progress to become one of the BBC's leading national news anchors. She produced and presented numerous documentaries for the BBC's flagship current affairs programme, Panorama, and reported from the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan. She covered the glitz and glamour of the Oscars in Hollywood, and ultimately, at 48, she stepped out beneath the glitter ball as a contestant for the BBC's much-loved entertainment show Strictly Come Dancing.
Charities
Kate is an Ambassador for a number of children's mental health charities and organisations, such as Place2Be, The Anna Freud Centre, and Trauma Informed Schools UK. She also supports the work of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales' Shaping Us campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of the Early Years in child development.
