For a decade, the racing presenter Rosie Turner lived a life that many girls could only dream of. At the age of 15, she was scouted on a school trip to The Clothes Show by five modelling agencies. After being signed by Storm Management, she was sent to Paris to walk for Nicolas Ghesquière, then the creative director of the Parisian fashion house Balenciaga; Rosie remembers fellow models fainting at the sight of him.
Two weeks later, she was in New York shooting for the brand, before becoming a cover girl for some of the biggest magazines in the world.
It was a world away from her childhood in the countryside, where she had grown up riding horses from a young age – in fact, she was scouted while wearing a pair of jodhpurs and riding boots.
“I thought the designer was one of the girls; I had no clue,” she says. “You’ve taken me from being on a farm to fashion. I didn’t know how to walk. I’d never worn heels, never worn make-up in my life.”
In the “whirlwind” that followed, Rosie, now 30, juggled school and then university with shoots with the fashion photographer Tim Walker, campaigns for Topshop and Selfridges and lavish industry events such as parties with Robbie Williams.
She recalls going on a school trip to London in which she passed “massive billboards” on either side of the motorway with her face on them. “I remember the entire bus screaming as we went past. I just hid under my seat going: ‘Oh my God, this is awful.’”
The vocation wasn’t for her. “I never wanted to be a model,” she says. “But I’m so grateful for the modelling industry because it’s got me to where I am now.”
Rosie also recalls spending years worrying about her weight. “I got down to 49kg and I was called fat. You think: ‘I might be phoned tomorrow and told to go to Paris and I’m not going to fit the clothes.’
“I definitely starved myself. I’d go on the treadmill for hours on end.”
At the time, horses and racing offered a way out. At the Longines World Racing Awards, Rosie spoke to someone who asked her if she’d ever thought about riding a racehorse. “The next day, he messaged me and said: ‘Any chance you want to do the Magnolia Cup [charity race] at Goodwood?’”
Rosie signed the contract without telling her agency. “I knew they wouldn’t be happy, because I’d have to get strong and build some muscle rather than be super-thin,” she says.
She “loved” the experience, competing in the 2018 race and signing up to another charity race at Ascot the same year; she was thrilled to meet the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, as Charles and Camilla were then, when they handed out the prizes.
“I was lucky enough to go up and shake their hands and say hello, and I got to go to the box afterwards and chat to them,” she says. “They had so much time for all of us girls who had made an effort to raise money for the charity and be there.”
New chapter
The joy of racing – coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, when “the whole world stopped” – prompted Rosie to quit modelling at the age of 24, after eight years in the industry.
“I was like: ‘I think I’m done,'” she says. “I was really worried about sending the email, because I was effectively ending a ten-year career.” At the time, she was sitting with a friend, who told her: “‘I want you to press send on that email and eat a slice of cake without feeling guilty for the first time in ten years.’ And I did it. It’s giving me goosebumps [to think about it now].”
Presenting had been a dream since she was a young girl looking up to Clare Balding, so when Rosie was asked to be a fashion presenter at Ascot in 2021, she jumped at the chance.
“I went to Royal Ascot and learnt everything I could about racing,” she says. Her enthusiasm paid off and she was asked to present at various courses, commenting on the runners and riders.
Now, she’s a regular on the summer circuit, with stints as an on-course presenter at the biggest events in the calendar: Ascot, Goodwood and the historic Epsom Derby, which takes place this weekend.
“It’s the most iconic race of the entire season,” says Rosie, who previews her green Derby Day look by Suzannah London in this exclusive photoshoot for hello! at Epsom racecourse.
“It’s unbelievably special for a race to have been running for nearly 250 years. It’s got the best horses, with the best jockeys, trained by the best trainers, in one race. The Derby is the big one.”
Last November, Rosie gave birth to her son, Oliver – her first child with her husband, Ross Turner, 37, a professional adventurer. The couple, who married in 2024 and live in Berkshire, met at the Cartier Queen’s Cup, which Ross attended with his twin brother, Hugo.
“Apparently I never spoke to my husband, but I thought I’d spoken to both of them because they’re identical,” she says. “It took me a while to figure out which twin was which.”
Rosie is relishing motherhood. “It’s the hardest thing in the world, but it’s heaven. I can’t wait for number two; I want a big family,” she says.
She has big hopes for her career, too, with dreams of presenting a game show as well as athletics at the Olympic Games. “I grew up watching Davina McCall on Don’t Try This at Home. I’d love to do something like This Morning or The One Show.
“I feel really lucky,” she adds. “Life’s pretty good.”
Rosie presents the Betfred Derby Festival at Epsom Downs Racecourse from 5 to 6 June; thejockeyclub.co.uk/epsom-derby/
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