RUBBING shoulders with celebrities like Russell Crowe then announcing breaking news live on air is all in a day's work for Faye Barker.

Ever since she was a child growing up in Exeter, Faye always dreamed of becoming a television presenter, but the reality isn't perhaps always as glamorous as she had hoped.

In January, the 33-year-old was appointed a presenter of ITV Morning News and is now a familiar face at breakfast time — should you be up at 5.30am — and on local morning bulletins.

Faye's early half-hour broadcast means her shift actually starts at 10.30pm the previous day and any breaking news during the night is covered by her.

Faye, a former Exeter College student and pupil at Uffculme School, said: "It's fun and nerve-racking, but because it's your job you do it every day and get used to it. Even if you don't know many facts about something you learn how to make it sound like quite a lot.

"I've always done slightly strange hours so my body is used to it. I do seven days on and seven off and can pretty much sleep anywhere!"

Faye, now living in Teddington, London, has spent more than 10 years in television, working her way up from being a runner to presenter for Sky News, Five News, ITV News and Setanta Sports News.

As a rolling news presenter she's covered major international events including the Boxing Day tsunami, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the search for Madeleine McCann.

She has even turned her hand to undercover journalism for three series of the ITV1 consumer programme Package Holiday Undercover.

During her career she has enjoyed many memorable moments, including being aboard the last Concorde flight while working for Yorkshire Television.

She recalled: "It was an amazing opportunity, but when we were waiting for the plane to land a still photographer bumped into our cameraman and snapped part of his camera. We had to fix it with gaffer tape — it's amazing what you can use it for — and it was okay."

While in the same job, Faye reported one of the hardest stories she has dealt with.

"There was a really nasty murder in Leeds and the man who was killed was the partner of a friend of mine," she revealed.

"It was quite bizarre to be reading the news and knowing the person.

"In some ways I think professionally it was good for me because it makes you think about what you're saying instead of getting blase."

As well as reporting hard news, Faye has enjoyed working on many light-hearted stories and showbiz interviews.

Recalling her encounter with Russell Crowe, she said: "He has got a bit of a reputation of not liking journalists and it was the first time I had done a junket, which is where they sit in a hotel room and journalists are wheeled in one by one to interview them for three to four minutes.

"He was actually fine but it was quite weird.

"Meeting celebrities is very exciting, but there are a lot of normal people who have had extraordinary things happen to them and it's them who are interesting to speak to.