Escape to the Country star Denise Nurse had a very different career before TV

While Denise is best known for her appearances on Escape to the Country and Morning Live, the broadcaster began her career as a lawyer before turning to TV. 

"I first got interested in law when I was about 14," Denise told The Lawyer. "I enjoyed English and history at school, and I was on the debating club, usually as the chairperson. I liked to win!

"And I also liked novels about the legal process and TV dramas – LA Law, quite frankly. The legal arguments, the idea of winning a case – I liked all that," she added. 

After studying Law at the University of Liverpool and then at the University of Law, Denise went on to train at the London law firm, Charles Russell. She then worked in-house at BSkyB before co-founding a legal consultancy and resourcing firm called Halebury in 2007. 

According to her website, Denise is a business and life coach, as well as a lawyer and presenter. "I teach harmony, symphony and orchestra," Denise writes on her page. "Sometimes one part of the band has to play loud and hard whilst the other is quiet."

Whilst working at BSkyB, Denise entered a Sky Talent competition to discover new on-screen talent and made it through to the top ten. "As a prize we were sent to the National TV and Film School for a week and got training. We all came out with a showreel and everyone in the company voted for their favourite," Denise told The Lawyer. 

She quickly caught the attention of Sky's Head of News and was encouraged to present the weather. She made her TV debut on Sky Weather in 2005 and went on to present weather forecasts on Channel 5 and Sky Travel. 

In 2008, Denise joined Escape to the Country and has been a regular face on the programme ever since. She's also advised on consumer and legal issues on the BBC's Watchdog and Morning Live.

Denise has many strings to her bow. Not only is she a lawyer, life coach and TV presenter, but in 2020 she became the co-founder of Black Founders Hub, a peer networking group for ambitious Black founders of service businesses.

In the same year, she co-founded the non-profit organisation Support SEND kids, which supports SEND (Special educational needs and disabilities) children and their families, providing access to educational rights.