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Gail Porter

Gail Porter (1971), sometimes known by her married name Gail Hipgrave, is a British television presenter who became widely known after presenting Fully Booked in the late 1990s.

Porter has tended to present family-friendly television programmes, or ones aimed directly at children, for example The Movie Chart Show, Top of the Pops, Live & Kicking and How 2. She currently presents Dead Famous.

In the late-'90s she began to pose for photos in men's magazines such as FHM and Loaded. She has appeared on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World list four times (1999-2002), ranking her highest in 1999 at number 8.

Probably the best-known product of her many photo-sessions is one particular still in which she is seen completely nude from behind, but turning her head back to make eye contact with the camera, thus permitting a simultaneous full view of her face, back and bottom, and a glimpse of one of her breasts from the side. The image earned its near-iconic status due to the events of one night in 1999, when FHM famously beamed an enormous projection of it onto the exterior of the Houses of Parliament, with an accompanying message urging people to 'Vote Porter'. This stunt coincided with a period of plummeting turnouts in British elections, with particular concern being expressed about a so-called 'lost generation' of young people showing themselves to be less interested in serious political issues than in the allegedly vacuous currents of modern celebrity culture, of which the seemingly unquenchable craving to see someone like Gail Porter without her clothes on was offered as a prime example. There were thus suggestions by commentators that FHM's stunt had a deeply symbolic significance, with the world of escapist celebrity-fetish managing to appropriate the very seat of power to exalt its triumph. Other commentators responded by suggesting that the political class, rather than simply bemoaning developments, ought instead to see if it could learn any lessons from the evident inclination of so many to accept the invitation to 'Vote Porter'.

In 2003, Gail appeared in the Channel 4 reality TV show, The Games, although injury truncated her participation.

Gail Porter is married to Dan Hipgrave, and in 2002 they had a daughter, Honey. The relationship however has since broken down, and Gail has spoken publicly about her battle with post-natal depression. In 2005 she began to suffer from alopecia [1] [2].

Porter once commented on her 30DD breast size to the media. "When I was pregnant they were huge and poor Dan was in fear of his life. He thought he'd die in bed. He was like: 'Don't roll over—please.'"

Porter is named in the lyrics of The Streets' song The Irony of it All.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2005.

Gail Porter Facts

OccupationTV Host, Model
BirthdayMarch 23, 1971 (53)
SignAries
BirthplaceEdinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Height5' 4" (1m63)  How tall is Gail Porter compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Billy the Kid
De-Lovely
De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields
Ali G, Aiii
The President's Mistress
Whiz Kids: Volume 1 Basics
The Other Side of Nashville
How 2
Celtic Pride
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