Mariella Frostrup (born 12 November 1962) is a British journalist and presenter, known in British television and radio mainly for arts programmes. Early life Frostrup was born in Oslo, Norway, to Peter and Joan Frostrup, but moved with her family when she was six to Ireland in 1969, living in Kilmacanogue, a small village near the town of Greystones in County Wicklow. Her Norwegian father, who died aged 44 when Frostrup was 15, was a journalist (including Foreign Editor) on The Irish Times, and her Scottish mother an artist.<ref>Mariella Frostrup: "Mariella Frostrup: Everyone's best friend (especially George Clooney)", 'The Independent, Sunday, 06 July 2008.</ref> She has four siblings. Career After the death of her father, in 1977 she moved to London. There she worked as a public relations executive for Phonogram Records between 1980 and 1990; coordinated the publicity for the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985; and, after leaving Phonogram, started television work as a presenter and film critic. Frostrup presented the Channel 4 music show Big World Cafe in 1989 alongside Eagle Eye Cherry and Jazzie B. She also presented Thames Television's Video View from 1990 and, after Thames lost the London ITV franchise, reprised the role straight afterwards on The Little Picture Show for Carlton Television from 1993. Frostrup has interviewed many celebrities, writers and artists and has presented a variety of television programmes, including one on travel, and has appeared in other television shows such as the series Have I Got News for You and the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. She made several guest appearances as herself in the series Coupling, including an episode where one of the characters fantasizes about her, then meets her in person. She has also appeared in fictionalised form in Michael Paraskos's In Search of Sixpence. She has written for The Daily Telegraph as a travel writer, The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, Harpers & Queen and the New Statesman. For almost 20 years until 2021 she was The Observer's agony aunt on its relationships page. She is also an art critic and has been on the judging panels for the Booker Prize, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Evening Standard British Film Awards. In September 2007 she chaired a question-and-answer session with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth, Dorset. In 2008, Frostrup received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from