Vicki Butler-Henderson was born into a racing family, so you could say the sport is in her blood. Her brother is a racing driver, her father was in the British karting team, and his grandfather used to race a Frazer Nash. She first took up racing at the age of 12, racing karts against legends like David Coulthard.
Her career started as a racing instructor at Silverstone Circuit, then she combined this with journalism, working on magazines such as Max Power and Performance Car.
She has presented the global launches of many road cars – in the real and virtual world – from the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One car to a Bentley Bentayga. The world of simulating racing has also come calling as she has presented The Real Race for Lamborghini and the SRO E-Sport GT AM series.
Notable TV drives include a Formula One car, a 1,000bhp racing lorry, an A1 GP car to 198mph, BMW M5 whilst blindfold to 158mph, and a passenger in a Jaguar Jet fighter plane. She was the first journalist to be invited to drive the Pagani Zonda Roadster, and the first woman to get behind the wheel of a Renault Laguna British Touring Car as part of a magazine test.
Her love for the sport saw her in high demand for automotive programmes. She joined Top Gear in 1994 until its original cancellation in 2001, where she moved to Channel 5 to work on Fifth Gear. Vicki is also the host of ITV’s classic car show The Car Years (2019-21.)
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Her other presenting credits include The One Show (2009-17) and GMTV. She has also been a television critic for The Big Breakfast, presented items for Countryfile, and hosted segments for This Morning. She has worked as the main or co-presenter for Wrecks to Riches (2006), Date My Daughter (2005), Formula Woman (2006), and The Biggest Loser (2005-06).
She has also presented the coverage of the British Touring Car Championship, the Power Boat Championship, and the Farnborough Air Show.
She has also presented non-motoring shows on the radio for Virgin Radio and Absolute Radio’s’ breakfast shows, XFM’s Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show, and Radio 2’s Steve Wright in the Afternoon.
In 2010, Vicki published her first book, Vicki Butler-Henderson’s 100 Sexiest Cars, where she reviewed her all-time favourite 100 motorcars.
Since 2020, she has hosted the Auto Express Podcast in connection with the magazine of the same name. She has welcomed guests including Mark Webber, Jay Leno, Nick Mason, Sir Chris Hoy, Mike Brewer, Tiff Needell, Elfyn Evans, DJ Carl Cox, and Jason Plato, to name a few, where they discuss the latest car reviews and behind-the-scenes titbits from the automotive industry.
She has featured on the Drive With Jim Farley podcast, talking about her love of cars, from her grandfather’s racing days to her own karting adventures, her thought on the UK’s car culture, and her memories from the racetrack to her role as a pioneer or women in the industry.
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As well as her work in presenting, Vicki has recorded voiceovers for, and starred in, advertisements for companies including Kent & Medway Safety Camera Partnership, PlayStation 2, Sony Centres, Toyota, and Wrigleys Extra.
She is an experienced event host, award ceremony presenter, and interviewer, having interviewed the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. She has worked for major car manufacturers such as Bentley, Mustang, and Scuderia Ferrari.
Other clients include Bosh, the Co-Op, O2, Petronas, Royal Mail, and Vodafone.
Vicki became the first female to win a Maserati race in the history of the marque in 2004, finished with two podium places in the 2009 GT Cup, racing a Ferrari 430, and gained top ten finishes in the 2016-19 Mini Challenge.
Unsurprisingly, she has owned many impressive and collectable cars, including a Honda S2000, Mk II Golf GTI, Ford Ranger (T6) Raptor, and a Ducati Monster 750.
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