Pinkham was born in Buckinghamshire to parents Joy, a barrister, and John, a property developer. She was raised alongside her older brother, Sam Pinkham, a DJ for Virgin Radio, in Northamptonshire. She was educated at Queenswood School, where she attended with fellow presenter Georgie Thompson, and later at Rugby School. Pinkham then studied politics at the University of Nottingham.
Following graduation, Pinkham joined Endemol as a researcher on Ready Steady Cook before becoming an assistant producer on International King of Sports. She then worked for IMG/TWI as an assistant producer on Superstars.
Pinkham moved in front of the camera, hosting coverage of the Isle of Man TT races for Men and Motors and reporting from the Tennis Masters Cup in the United States for Sky Sports. She also fronted Chelsea F.C.'s Blues News. In 2006, she co-hosted ITV4’s World Cuppa with Christian O'Connell and Steve Bunce, and presented an internet World Cup show for Nobok Sports. She hosted the International Rugby Awards with Joel Stransky in 2004, the SALSA fashion show with Craig Doyle in 2004, and GOAL’s Aura of Asia fundraising event with Liz Bonnin in 2005. In 2006, she covered the Euro Beach Soccer League and the Beach Soccer World Cup Draw with Eric Cantona for the Extreme Sports Channel. Pinkham also hosted the ITV Fixers ‘The Big Fix’, The Salon Prive dinner, and the Boodles Tennis Invitational, all in 2010.
Pinkham was the face of The Poker Channel for two years, hosting the British Poker Open, the World Cup of Poker, and the Scandinavian Poker Awards with Mads Mikkelsen in 2007. She also created a How to Play Poker DVD for Virgin Games, and filmed the European Poker Tour for Challenge and Eurosport.
In 2008, Pinkham competed on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice, partnered with Andrei Lipanov and trained by Torvill and Dean, earning a reported £35,000. She was eliminated in Week 2 after a skate-off with Tim Vincent.
Pinkham co-hosted The Goodwood Festival of Speed with Steve Rider in 2009, and The Goodwood Revival with Craig Doyle in 2009 and Ben Fogle in 2010. In 2010, she guest presented Channel 5’s Live from Studio Five and continued as a regular panellist on The Wright Stuff. She also hosted the World Series of Poker Europe for ESPN. Pinkham contributed regular pieces to the Mail on Sunday in the Health, Travel and Review sections.
In January 2011, Pinkham joined BBC Radio 5 Live’s Formula 1 commentary team as a pit lane reporter, beginning with the 2011 Australian Grand Prix. In December 2011, she began working for Sky Sports covering the 2012 F1 season, initially as a pit reporter. She became host of The F1 Show in 2013, and has since become a key member of the Sky Sports F1 team.
Pinkham is married to Owain Walbyoff, the Managing Director at Endemol Games. They became engaged in November 2010 and married in Portugal in July 2012. The couple have two children: a son born on 17 January 2015, and a daughter born on 20 June 2016. Australian Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo is the godfather to their son.
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