Laura Woods

Infobox Person
name = Laura Woods
birth_name =
birth_place = Dublin
residence = Dublin
nationality = Irish
education = Sociology and French at Trinity College, Dublin
employer = RTÉ
occupation = Radio and Television presenter
religion = Catholic

Laura Woods is an Irish television and radio personality.

Biography

Early years

As a teenager Woods was involved in acting with the Trinity Players Drama Society; she also studied dance for 16 years. She studied sociology and French in Trinity College, Dublin, and obtained a post-graduation diploma in journalism and media from Griffith College Dublin.

Career

Whilst in her third year at Trinity, Woods began her broadcasting career by working as a continuity announcer on RTÉ Radio. In 1999, she presented the "Breakfast Show" on Trinity FM. She joined RTÉ Television as a continuity announcer in 2000.

Moving from continuity announcing in September 2002, Woods became the face of "iD" [" [http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/motoring/me-and-my-carlaura-woods-489934.html Me and My Car/Laura Woods] "Irish Independent". URL last accessed 2008-03-16] (renamed "iD Two" in late 2004, and becoming "TTV" in September 2005) and remained there until May 2005. In 2004 she began co-presenting three series of "The Café" with Aidan Power. Woods anchored RTÉ's coverage of the Festival of World Cultures in 2005 and 2006, and joined Dave Fanning in Hyde Park to cover Live8 in July 2005. In September 2005, she began hosting "SMS", but left the show to concentrate on presenting the Irish National Lottery game show "Winning Streak" from January–March 2006 while regular presenter Derek Mooney was presenting "You're a Star". [" [http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/lauras-winning-streak-with-tv-role-118477.html Laura's winning streak with tv role] " "Irish Independent". URL last accessed 2008-03-16]

Woods hosted another Irish National Lottery game show "Fame and Fortune" in June 2006, and went on to present the show's successors, "The Trump Card" from June–August 2007, and "The Big Money Game" from June–August 2008. [" [http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/news/antonio-comes-up-trumps-on-gameshow-1065793.html Antonio comes up trumps on gameshow] " "Wicklow People". URL last accessed 2008-03-16] In 2007, she also began presenting an event guide on 2fm's "The Will Leahy Show" and made an appearance on the People in Need Telethon. She appeared as a judge on "It's My Show" [" [http://www.rte.ie/tv/theden/itsmyshow/index.html It's My Show] " "It's My Show website". URL last accessed 2008-03-16] and participant on "Anonymous" [" [http://www.rte.ie/tv/anonymous/ Anonymous] " "Anonymous website". URL last accessed 2007-03-16] in the first half of 2008. Over the years, she has interviewed a wide variety of celebrities, including Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Ben Affleck and Cate Blanchett.

Personal life

On September 1 2008 Laura announced on "The Will Leahy Show" that she had gotten engaged to her boyfriend, Mark on August 28. Describing it as "very romantic", she said Mark had the ring with him but also said that she had been wearing a tracksuit at the time. She plans to marry in summer 2009 after the next series of "The Big Money Game" - coincidentally the previous series had finished over the weekend and Laura wore her engagement ring on the final show.

References

External links

* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/ttv/webchat/laura_woods.html Webchat with Laura Woods]
* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/ttv/sms/presenter.html Laura Woods' Profile]