Catherine Elizabeth Moran (; born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster at The Times, where she writes three columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, a TV review column, and the satirical Friday column "Celebrity Watch". Moran was named British Press Awards (BPA) Columnist of the Year for 2010, and both BPA Critic of the Year 2011 and Interviewer of the Year 2011. In 2012, she was named Columnist of the Year by the London Press Club, and Culture Commentator at the Comment Awards in 2013. Early life Moran was born in Brighton, the eldest of eight children; she has four sisters and three brothers. Her father, who is of Irish extraction, was a "psychedelic rock pioneer" drummer who "did session work with many well-known bands in the Sixties" later "confined to the sofa by osteoarthritis". Moran lived in a three-bedroom council house in Wolverhampton with her parents and siblings, an experience she described as akin to The Hunger Games. Moran attended Springdale Junior School and was then educated at home from the age of 11, having attended Wolverhampton Girls' High School for only three weeks. She and her siblings received no formal education from their parents; the local council allowed this, as home education is legal in England. Moreover, according to Ms Moran, they were "the only hippies in Wolverhampton". The children frequently occupied their time with simple games, such as throwing mud at their house. Moran describes her childhood as happy, but revealed she left home as soon as she was able to do so at the age of 18. Journalism and writing career Throughout her adolescence, Moran was certain that she would pursue a career as a writer. At the age of 13 in October 1988 she won a Dillons young readers' contest for an essay on Why I Like Books and was awarded £250 of book tokens. At the age of 15, she won The Observer'''s Young Reporter of the Year. She began her career as a journalist for Melody Maker, the weekly music publication, at the age of 16. Moran also wrote a novel called The Chronicles of Narmo at the age of 16, inspired by having been part of a home-schooled family. In 1992, she launched her television career, hosting the Channel 4 music show Naked City, which ran for two series and featured a number of then up-and-coming