Ruth Wignall

Ruth Elizabeth Dodsworth, OBE (born 21 May 1975) is a British broadcaster, journalist and weather presenter, best known for her work at ITV Cymru Wales.

Career

Dodsworth began her career in radio, working as a researcher for BBC Radio Wales in the mid 1990s.

She joined ITV Cymru Wales (previously HTV Wales) in June 1996, training as a news reporter and presenter. She switched roles to become a weather presenter in 2000.

She has also presented a wide range of local programmes for ITV Cymru Wales, including The Ferret, Grassroots, coverage of the Royal Welsh Show and the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, Wales This Week, A Little Piece of Paradise and the BAFTA-nominated Coast and Country.

Dodsworth is also a relief weather presenter for ITV's English regions, including London and Central, and for ITV National Weather.

In September 2015, Dodsworth joined regional radio station Nation Radio as co-presenter of the station's breakfast show, The Big Welsh Wake Up, alongside Niall Foster.

In November 2016, she began co-presenting a weekday breakfast show for Nation's five local radio stations in south and west Wales – Radio Pembrokeshire, Radio Carmarthenshire, Radio Ceredigion, Swansea Bay Radio and 106.3 Bridge FM. Dodsworth left Nation the following year.

On 5 May 2022, Dodsworth presented the factual documentary Controlled By My Partner? The Hidden Abuse for ITV's peak-time current affairs programme Tonight.

On 1 December 2022, Dodsworth made her debut as a guest weather presenter for Good Morning Britain on ITV Breakfast.

Personal life

Born in Worthing, West Sussex, Dodsworth graduated from university with a degree in communications, before studying postgraduate journalism at Cardiff University through an ITV-sponsored course. They met at the 'Escape into the Park' festival during filming of Dodsworth's HTV Wales series, The Night Before the Morning After, in 2001. Following a miscarriage, the couple had two children

Dodsworth left Wignall in October 2019, after he called her over 150 times in a single day, and threatened to take his own life as well as controlling her daily life. The following day, he was arrested on suspicion of harassment. Following his arrest, it later emerged Wignall had planted a tracker device on Dodsworth's car, linked to an app and a laptop computer.

Charity work

Dodsworth is an ambassador for Cancer Research Wales.