Ellie Costello: GB News Breakfast Anchor with a Rising Career

Ellie Costello is a British journalist, television presenter and news anchor best known for her work on GB News Breakfast. She has built a strong public profile through live broadcasting, political interviews, national reporting and calm presentation during major breaking-news events.

Her professional journey shows a clear rise from student media and radio production to national television. She has worked for respected media organisations including the BBC World Service, BBC News, the Victoria Derbyshire programme and GB News. Today, she is recognised as a familiar face on morning television in the United Kingdom.

Ellie Costello Age and Real Name

Ellie Costello’s registered name appears as Elisabeth Costello in Companies House records. The same record lists her date of birth as November 1993, which means she was 31 years old at the time of her London legal wedding ceremony in April 2025. Her public birthday posts also suggest that she celebrates her birthday on 20 November. Based on the available information, she turned 32 in November 2025 and is 32 during most of 2026.

Ellie Costello Career at GB News

Breakfast Anchor

Ellie is currently a Breakfast Anchor at GB News. From January 2025, she became one of the main anchors of the channel’s weekday breakfast output. She presents Breakfast with Eamonn and Ellie alongside Eamonn Holmes from Monday to Wednesday, and Breakfast with Stephen and Ellie from Thursday to Friday.

Her role requires confidence, speed and composure. Breakfast television is fast-moving because presenters must handle live headlines, breaking stories, interviews, viewer reaction and developing events while keeping the programme clear and watchable.

News Anchor and National Correspondent

Before becoming a full breakfast anchor, she worked as a News Anchor and presenter on the GB News Breakfast programme. She also appeared on Saturday Morning Live with Peter Andre and Ellie Costello, adding a lighter magazine-style presenting format to her experience.

Earlier at GB News, she served as a National Correspondent from October 2022 to October 2023. In this role, she covered major national stories and breaking news across the UK. She also worked as a South East of England Reporter from May 2021 to October 2022, covering stories across London and the wider South East region.

Major Events Covered by Ellie Costello

Ellie has anchored and reported on several high-profile events. She anchored coverage of Pope Francis’s funeral in 2025, covered the UK General Election in 2024, and fronted coverage of the US election 2024. She also anchored special coverage of King Charles III’s Coronation in 2023, D-Day 80 live from Normandy, and Trooping the Colour from London. These assignments show her ability to handle ceremonial, political and international news with professionalism.

Court Cases and National Stories

Before her main presenting role, she covered several major legal and public-interest stories. These included the trials of Boris Becker, Wayne Couzens, Kevin Spacey and the well-known Wagatha Christie case.

She also narrated large sections of the third episode of the Disney documentary Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story. This added documentary narration to her list of media skills and showed her connection to one of the most talked-about British celebrity legal stories of recent years.

Ellie Costello at the BBC

Before joining GB News, Ellie worked at the BBC for several years. She was a Broadcast Journalist from 2017, producing radio programmes across BBC World Service shows such as Outside Source, BBC Minute and The Newsroom.

She later became a Radio Reporter, presenting news bulletins for a youth audience on BBC Minute and reporting live for The Newsroom on the BBC World Service. From 2019 to 2021, she worked as a Television News Reporter for the Victoria Derbyshire programme and BBC News.

Investigative Work

At the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Ellie worked on investigations into influencers being solicited for sex online and bullying in the British beauty industry. These reports attracted millions of views and became some of the programme’s most watched films. Her BBC work also reflected her interest in fashion and beauty, especially when those industries became part of wider social, ethical and safety-related stories. In 2020, she was recognised as a BBC Rising Star for her reporting and her ability to connect with contributors.

Education and Early Media Experience

City University London and Southampton

Ellie studied Broadcast Journalism at City, University of London from 2016 to 2017. Before that, she studied English Literature at the University of Southampton from 2013 to 2016, including modules in American Literature and Politics, and Irish Literature. Her education helped shape her communication style. English Literature strengthened her writing and analysis, while broadcast journalism gave her professional training in reporting, presenting and news production.

Student Television and Radio

During university, she was deeply involved in student media. She worked with Surge Radio as a radio presenter and DJ from 2013 to 2016, and also served as Assistant Station Manager. At SUSUtv, she worked as a presenter and later Head of Events.

She successfully auditioned as the main female presenter for Elections Night Live 2016, one of SUSUtv’s biggest broadcasts. The programme reached a live audience and thousands of viewers at home, giving her valuable early experience in live election coverage.

Awards and Honours

Ellie’s talent was recognised before her national television career began. In May 2016, she won Best Presenter at SUSUtv’s Annual General Meeting. In April 2016, she placed third for Best Onscreen Female at the National Student Television Awards. The award was judged by broadcaster Alice Levine, who praised her confidence and sense of humour.

She also won Best Female Presenter at the Surge Awards in 2014. Earlier, in 2011, she received the Jack Petchey Award for Leadership and Communication after being nominated by classmates for her leadership as Form Captain and Year Representative.

Ellie Costello Wedding

Ellie Costello married Gerard Durkan in a London legal ceremony at Chelsea Old Town Hall in April 2025. She shared wedding photos publicly and described the occasion as their “London legal ceremony”. She wore a white mini dress for the ceremony and thanked the photographer and the team involved in her outfit, hair, make-up and flowers. She also mentioned that the countdown had begun for a further wedding celebration in the South of France.

Ellie Costello Husband and Children

Ellie Costello’s husband is Gerard Durkan. Publicly available information confirms their marriage, but there is no reliable public confirmation that she has children. Her Instagram bio describes her as a dog mum to her dog, Monty, whose account is also mentioned in her profile.

Ellie Costello Wikipedia

Social Media and Public Image

Ellie uses the handle @elliecostellotv on Instagram, TikTok and X. Her Instagram bio describes her as a journalist, “Ellie on the telly”, and an anchor of the TRIC award-winning GB News Breakfast programme. On X, she describes herself as a weekday breakfast anchor at GB News, with previous experience at BBC News, Victoria Derbyshire and BBC World Service. Her social media presence reflects her professional broadcasting life as well as selected personal moments, including birthdays, wedding posts and life with her dog.

Company Record

Companies House lists ELLIE COSTELLO TV LIMITED with Elisabeth Costello as director. The company was incorporated in September 2023 and is now listed as dissolved. The record also lists her nationality as British and her country of residence as the United Kingdom. This record is useful because it supports her registered name and birth month/year, but it does not replace her professional biography as a journalist and presenter.

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Why Ellie Costello Stands Out

Ellie has developed a reputation for being warm, calm and natural on screen. Viewers often respond to her approachable presentation style, especially during morning news programming. Her career is notable because it combines live television anchoring, investigative journalism, radio reporting, documentary narration, political interviewing and major-event coverage. From student media awards to national news presenting, her journey shows steady growth built on communication skill, confidence and hard work.

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Conclusion

Ellie Costello is one of the recognised presenters in British breakfast television. With experience across the BBC, Victoria Derbyshire, BBC World Service and GB News, she has built a broad career in journalism and broadcasting. Her story includes strong academic preparation, early student media success, award-winning presentation work, major national coverage and a growing public profile. As a GB News Breakfast anchor, she continues to be known for her calm delivery, warm screen presence and ability to handle live news with confidence.

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