Aggie MacKenzie

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Agnes (Aggie) MacKenzie (born 12 October 1955),^{[citation needed]} is a Scottish television presenter. She is most prominently known for co-presenting the Channel 4 series How Clean Is Your House? with Kim Woodburn.

Biography

MacKenzie was born in Rothiemurchus, Aviemore in the Cairngorms mountain region of the Scottish Highlands and went to school at Kingussie High School.^{[citation needed]} It was here that she discovered her aptitude for languages. MacKenzie attended Aberdeen College of Commerce where she attained a bilingual secretarial degree which earned her a job at the Foreign Office.^{[citation needed]} After being security-screened and undergoing background checks and interviews, she signed the Official Secrets Act and transferred from the Foreign Office to work with the Secret Intelligence Service, more commonly known as MI6, based in London. She worked in the organisation for a number of years and, even though she has now left, she is bound by the Official Secrets Act for life. She then took up a post at the National Union of Students Press Office. From here she moved to work at many women's magazines and then took the position of Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Good Housekeeping Magazine.^{[citation needed]} Part of her responsibilities there was to review cleaning products and gadgets and write about household appliances as well as to create new recipes. She claims to have learned many of her domestic, cooking and cleaning skills from her mother who knew many remedies for removing stains.

It was this position with Good Housekeeping which led to her being asked to take a screen test for a new show that would become How Clean Is Your House?. MacKenzie's screen test was successful and she was teamed up with professional cleaner Kim Woodburn in August 2002.^[1] MacKenzie is known for her down to earth approach to cleaning with her Scottish, no nonsense voice, as she and Woodburn educate people on how to keep themselves and their houses clean, hygienic and tidy. The duo have produced books, games and DVDs due to the popularity of their shows. MacKenzie has also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the US, where How Clean Is Your House? is airing on the BBC America.

She also appeared in the third series of ITV's Dancing on Ice with her dance partner Sergey Malyshev.^{[citation needed]}

MacKenzie has labelled Wikipedia "Stupedia" for including unreferenced "ridiculous rumours" about her being offered multi-million pound television contracts.^[2]

Aggie appeared as a guest presenter on STV's daily lifestyle show The Hour, alongside main anchor Stephen Jardine for two days in September 2009, and for four days in April 2010. The Scottish magazine programme airs weekdays at 5pm.

She participated in the 2011 series of Celebrity Masterchef.

Charity work

MacKenzie has her own charity called Ukuthasa, which supports people in townships in South Africa; helping them with healthcare, education and housing.^[3] In an interview with Channel 4 she said: "Whenever I can, such as with this interview, I donate my fee to [the charity]".

Filmography

• How Clean Is Your House? - Channel 4 (2003–2009)
• V Graham Norton - Channel 4 (2003)
• Children in Need - BBC One (2003)
• The Terry and Gaby Show - Five (2003)
• Hogmanay Live - STV (2003)
• National Television Awards Party of the Year (2004)
• Hell's Kitchen - ITV (2004)
• BBC Breakfast - BBC One/BBC News 24 (2004)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - BBC One (2004)
• Too Posh To Wash - Channel 4 (2004)
• This Morning - ITV (2004)
• EastEnders - BBC One (2004)
• Today with Des and Mel - ITV (2005)
• Dirty Tricks (2005)
• The Paul O'Grady Show - ITV/Channel 4 (2005/2006)
• The F-Word - Channel 4 (2005)
• The 100 Greatest Family Films - Channel 4 (2005)
• Grumpy Old Women - BBC Two (2006)
• Richard & Judy - Channel 4 (2006)
• Come Dine With Me - Channel 4 (2006)
• The Mint - ITV Play (2006)
• Hogmanay Stories - STV (2006)
• Dancing On Ice - (2008)
• Loose Women - (2008)
• Hider in the House - (2008)
• The Hour - (2009)
• All Star Family Fortunes - (2010)
• Celebrity MasterChef - (2011)

Bibliography

• How Clean Is Your House? with Kim Woodburn (2003) ISBN 0-7181-4699-9
• Too Posh to Wash: The Complete Guide to Cleaning Up Your Life with Kim Woodburn (2004) ISBN 0-7181-4769-3
• The Cleaning Bible: Kim and Aggie's Complete Guide to Modern Household Management with Kim Woodburn (2006) ISBN 0-7181-4906-8

References

1. ^ Biography of Aggie Mackenzie, Penguin Books website
2. ^ The Express Aggie says Wikipedia entry's a bit rich 2 May 2009
3. ^ http://www.ukuthasa.org/

External links

Biography portal

• Aggie MacKenzie at the Internet Movie Database
• Aggie MacKenzies' charity, Ukuthasa.org