Profile: Claudia Winkleman, TV presenter and Queen of quirky

A whirlwind of neuroticism, fun and self-deprecating wit, who once confessed she'd like to scrawl "W***er, we didn't want the war" on her neighbour Tony Blair's wall, this week the heavily pregnant Winkleman unveils her new Channel 4 comedy, King Of...

With her tiny frame, dark glossy mane and huge kohl-rimmed eyes, Winkleman isn't a natural fit for primetime TV. Dorky and awkward growing up, the disarmingly charming star's style lies in poking fun at herself and sharing everything, including her most embarrassing secrets. She confessed to having uncomfortable sex in a field in Bath and described the time when, as an undergraduate at Cambridge, she walked into a bar for a dare in nothing but her "horrible grey underwear. I got a few funny looks, but they were of the 'Go home and put your clothes on' variety, rather than 'Cor, come over here'."

The 39-year-old presenter portrays herself as sweet and kooky, a klutz whose success is nothing but a happy accident. Those close to her know better. According to a former TV colleague: "Claudia once said the key to success was not to let anyone know how ambitious or smart you are." In interviews she claims that she is nothing special and that anyone could do her job, saying, "I don't work very hard and I earn very good money. All I have to do is not fall apart, get ill or be completely hungover".

The Londoner was born into journalism royalty as the daughter of publisher Barry Winkleman and Eve Pollard, Britain's first female Fleet Street editor. But despite the fact that ink runs in her veins she had a far from auspicious start in journalism. Her first TV job came when a friend asked her to do some presenting at Kelvin MacKenzie's Live TV!. "It was hideous.

Hours to fill in with no autocue. I was dreadful," she said. But it proved invaluable training for what was to follow. Along with stints on Talking Telephone Numbers and a host of obscure game shows, she was taken on as a reporter on This Morning, before moving to BBC3's Liquid News. Her big break came in 2004 fronting Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. Since then, she has covered high-profile events, including Eurovision, the Oscars and Let's Dance For Comic Relief, while guest slots on Have I Got News For You and Never Mind The Buzzcocks allowed her to display her smarts and comic timing.

TV insiders say she's never been afraid to push for the high-profile gigs. According to a crew member who worked with her on Hell's Kitchen: "She's nice to everyone, from drivers to receptionists, but the fact is she does have a certain power and she's not afraid to use it. She always makes out she's just like you and me, but she's not." She was offered The One Show on BBC1 after Christine Bleakley left but Winkleman had her eyes on a bigger prize.

Last year, she ruffled a few feathers when it was announced she was taking over Film 2010 from Jonathan Ross. Her credentials were questioned after she confessed that her favourite film of all time was E.T. But, after insisting that the programme be broadcast live for the first time in its history ("people are a lot more forgiving if it's live," she quipped), Winkleman quickly won over her critics with her witty, irreverent style.

While Wossy was often criticised for fawning over his high-profile guests, Winkleman promptly made her mark by insulting some of film's biggest stars, dismissing Harrison Ford as "dull" and George Clooney as having a huge ego. Some critics mocked her for blinking excessively; in fact the chronically short-sighted presenter needed eye surgery before she could read the autocue.

Born in 1972, her Jewish parents divorced when she was three. Both remarried several years later. A good student, Winkleman attended the City of London School for Girls which she loved and where she was dubbed "Little Winkle". She went on to Cambridge – which she hated – where she obtained an MA in History of Art.

She was brought up in a loving and intellectual household by Eve Pollard and her stepfather, Sir Nicholas Lloyd (who edited the Daily Express and the New York Post). She said recently: "Had I not met my husband I'd still be living at home – why wouldn't I? It's so cosy, there are people who are really funny and know about the news."

Former colleagues of Pollard's on the Sunday Express's fashion desk recall being asked to source designer gowns for a teenage Claudia to wear to balls. According to one: "She was groomed from a young age, both literally and metaphorically. There was a lot of expectation on Claudia." Pollard regularly told her daughter she could achieve anything she put her mind to. After graduation Winkleman had plans of her own, to "fart around looking at pictures" but the family work ethic soon took hold.

In 2000 she married PR man-turned-film producer Kris Thykier in the South of France. She played the service down as an intimate, low-key affair but it was chic and high-powered: Matthew Freud was best man, and guests included Greg Dyke, Ross Kemp and Elisabeth Murdoch. Winkleman and Thykier have two children, eight-year-old Jake, and Matilda, who is five this month. Winkleman is now seven months pregnant with a third child.

So what makes her tick? Friends say she is light-hearted, funny and supportive. But behind the scatty facade is a control freak, plagued by self-doubt and filled with the need to prove herself. She came up with the idea for her new comedy TV show on a family holiday.

King Of ... is described as a show in which she and her celebrity guests "deliberate and debate to find the definitive, the top, the crme de la crme – the king of just about everything." Reflecting on the show's launch, she said: "I'm incredibly nervous. I'm also incredibly pregnant, which means that I'm incredibly unhinged. This might be the worst thing you've ever seen in your life ... I'll just wear a lot of black eyeliner and hope for the best." It's a typically self-deprecating line for a woman who's rapidly becoming queen of British TV.