Bernadette Anne "Pixie" McKenna,[1] (born 20 January 1971)[citation needed] is an Irish doctor and television presenter. She is best known for her work on theChannel 4 series Embarrassing Illnesses and its successor series Embarrassing Bodies and BBC Three's Freaky Eaters.[2]
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[hide] *1 Education and training
Education and training[edit][]
McKenna attended medical school at University College Cork, Ireland[3] graduating in 1995. After qualifying as a general practitioner in 1999, McKenna moved to the UK and practised in Notting Hill, London for three years. She then set up a GP practice in Ireland while continuing sessional work at Harley Street. In the public sector, she acts as a clinical assistant in sexual health and dermatology for the NHS and has worked at a number of London teaching hospitals.[2]
Television career[edit][]
In 2007 McKenna began to appear on Freaky Eaters, a show which helps individuals overcome eating disorders. That same year she went on to co-presentEmbarrassing Illnesses, a show which highlights common conditions that people are reluctant to discuss with their doctors, and in 2008 co-presented with Christian Jessen its sister series Embarrassing Bodies. This has, on numerous occasions, led her onto The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM to discuss the various embarrassing illnesses endured by the programme's listeners.
In December 2010, McKenna was a contestant on BBC's Celebrity Mastermind;[4] she finished in last place.