Simon Thomas

Simon Thomas is the current presenter of Sky Sports’ legendary and flagship football results show, Soccer Saturday.

A highly respected broadcaster with 25 years’ experience, Simon began his career on Blue Peter when he became the 27th presenter on the iconic BBC children’s show, which he fronted with Katy Hill, Konnie Huq, Matt Baker, and Liz Barker. ​

After six years with Blue Peter, Simon moved into sports broadcasting and joined Sky Sports as one of the faces of Sky Sports News. Along with being a regular presenter on the Afternoon Report with Georgie Thompson and Kirsty Gallacher, Simon also presented Sky Sports News’ World Cup Report in Cape Town and anchored their coverage of the 2010 Ryder Cup and the 2010-11 Ashes Series in Australia. He also played a big part in the presenting team at the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and in early 2013 Simon presented Sky’s live launch of the FA 150th Anniversary at the Connaught Rooms in London.

​Simon’s versatility as a presenter also saw him become the first ever presenter of Sky Sports’ Cricket AM programme, where he presented the Saturday morning summer magazine show for four years alongside Anita Rani and Sarah-Jane Mee.

Simon went on to become the lead presenter for Sky Sports’ Football League coverage, before going on to present the Premier League for Sky at the start of the 2016-17 season.

In 2017, Simon experienced a life changing event when his first wife, Gemma, died very suddenly, just three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Four months later, he made the hard decision to leave Sky Sports and devote his time to looking after his son, Ethan. Since then, Simon has become President of Blood Cancer UK, written his first book, Love Interrupted, about his journey through grief, and has written a number of blogs on his site A Grief Shared. To date, his posts on grief and mental health have been read by over a million people.

Simon had his own podcast series with Global, Life Interrupted, which ran for three series, in which he spoke to the likes of Fearne Cotton, Andrea Corr, Billy Billingham, and many more about how they found a way through some of life’s toughest challenges and found hope again.

After a period away from broadcasting, Simon returned in 2019 to present a series of films for ITV’s This Morning and has also presented several films for BBC’s Morning Live and Sunday Morning Live. In 2020 he returned to sports broadcasting and became one of Amazon Prime Video’s lead presenters for their Premier League coverage. He has also been a regular panellist on Channel 5’s The Jeremy Vine Show.

Away from the camera, Simon is equally at home with live events. At London 2012 he hosted the Olympic Stadium morning warm up and post show in front of 80,000 people. He also compered the ECB Twenty20 Cup, as well as hosting a number of end of season dinners for clubs, including Chelsea, Norwich City, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has hosted a number of awards ceremonies, including the Football League Awards on three occasions.

Simon has also become a popular speaker on mental health, grief, and sobriety, and has spoken to organisations such as Asda, Aviva, the Home Office, and Linklaters.

“Just wanted to say thanks for Simon's support during the mental health filming on Tuesday, we were all really happy with the outcome” Mongoose Agency

“Simon was brilliant, he is a really eloquent and moving speaker. I felt like he had everyone’s full attention and everyone in the room was impacted by his story.”  Linklaters

“We invited Simon to join Nomad Foods’ first celebration of International Men’s Day on November 19th 2019 to support us in driving awareness of changing roles in the workplace, and the need to ensure an open and supportive culture around mental health. Simon spoke eloquently and engagingly for 45 minutes about his own experiences which transcend gender…around imposter syndrome, depression, grief and recovery.  A highly emotive session which has had a real impact at both personal and business levels whether you are familiar with Simon’s career or not.  We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him as a speaker to any other businesses.” Nomad Foods

“Our thanks to Simon for the incredibly inspirational talk that he gave at our staff conference last Friday. He made such an impact with our staff and they are still talking about it now”  Great Well Homes

“We invited Simon to the Cabinet Office to do a talk for staff as part of January’s Wellbeing Month. Simon gave a very honest account of his personal experiences with grief and poor mental health, speaking eloquently and ensuring everyone in the room was engaged throughout. Although the situation he found himself up against is not applicable to everyone, the challenges that he spoke of are certainly true to many people suffering from mental health, and he provided some useful tips for anyone who may be suffering. Simon’s inspirational talk really helped to open up the discussion about mental health (and in particular, men’s mental health) in the Cabinet Office. I would definitely recommend Simon for any event where mental health and wellbeing is a priority.” Cabinet Office

Feedback from Virtual Events: 

“The event was fantastic, Simon was really engaging with lots to take away and I've received some really encouraging feedback.”  National Grid

“The session with Simon had a real impact on the business. Simon really connected with so many of our staff who are experiencing issues and a number came forward to seek help after the event. It had more of an impact than we ever thought that it could. Simon's honesty and vulnerability were inspiring for our staff and we are very grateful for him sharing his story with us” BHP