If you see Lara and she's wearing six health trackers at once, don't worry she's fine. She loves comparing and testing the tech and gadgets that aim to help us live our healthiest lives. Her BBC documentary "Forever Young?" even looked at how science is trying to reverse our biological ages, and increase our "healthspans", to live the healthy years of our lives for longer. She also fronted "Healthy Ageing" for ITV1, filled with take-aways for how to best live our later years.

She joined BBC Click in 2011 as a reporter, travelling the UK and around the world, before taking on the co-presenter roll each week in 2018.  Whether it's standing on a mammoth solar panel island in the North Sea, exploring the impact of robot pets on those with dementia, or investigating tech abuse where phones are misused for stalking, she is passionate about what she does. 
 

Lara's made a Panorama for BBC One, "Beyond Human: Artificial Intelligence and Us", and her radio credits include Radio 4's "A Documentary: By ChatGPT". It illustrated some of the challenges and potential that generative AI brings - as well as finding out whether it could make a good documentary of not. Spoiler alert: it couldn't.

 

Having studied and been involved with AI ethics for some time, she is regularly called upon by other programmes (including Radio 4, Five Live, ITV's Good Morning Britain, ITV's Lorraine) to talk about what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence. She also spent four years writing a tech column for Woman magazine.

 

Where Lara's tech affair began...

Lara was born in Chichester, West Sussex.  Her first job, at 14, was in her father's sweet shop on Bognor Regis pier. She was a whizz with the candyfloss and Mr Whippy machines, then speedily totting up the value of people's goodies.  Sadly, though, she didn't have a sweet tooth, so the opportunity was somewhat wasted on her. Even now she'd choose a green juice over a choc ice.

Family moves saw her gravitating towards London, living in both Twickenham and Richmond-Upon-Thames. 
 

Whilst studying she worked as a runner on It's a Knockout –cementing her love of the broadcast industry. She continued gaining experience at LNN Factuals, Endemol, and more. 

Then her first big break came in 2003, when Lara became Channel 5 News’ daily weather presenter, and one of the faces of the channel. 

The bosses were keen to get her on air more, so it became glitz, glamour and gadgets. As well as interviewing Hollywood A-listers, Lara started doing tech reviews on the Five News sofa.

That struck a cord, she realised it was the direction she wanted to move in, and eventually an opportunity arose at Click. 

Outside the world of work...
 
If Lara isn't at the gym, she'll be out running, if not running, doing pilates (all of course tracked on various gadgets). When resting, she's probably listening to science books on double speed, whilst making, or eating, a smoothie bowl - trying to figure what concoctions sneak in the most veg and nutrients whilst still tasting acceptable. Her "green bowl" is legendary.