Magenta Devine

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title: "Magenta Devine" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1957-births", "2019-deaths", "british-television-personalities", "english-television-presenters", "english-travel-writers", "british-women-travel-writers", "english-voice-actresses", "mass-media-people-from-hertfordshire", "music-promoters", "people-educated-at-dr-challoner's-high-school", "people-from-hemel-hempstead", "women-music-promoters"] description: "British TV presenter and journalist (1957–2019)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magenta_Devine" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British TV presenter and journalist (1957–2019) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Magenta Devine
birthname	Kim Taylor
birth_date
birth_place	Hemel Hempstead, England
death_date
death_place	London, England
occupation	Television presenter and journalist
years_active	1986–2019
credits	Network 7,
Rough Guide,
Reportage,
Young, Gifted and Broke
::

|name = Magenta Devine |image = |caption = |birthname = Kim Taylor |birth_date = |birth_place = Hemel Hempstead, England |death_date = |death_place = London, England |occupation = Television presenter and journalist |years_active= 1986–2019 |spouse = |children = |relatives = |credits = Network 7, Rough Guide, Reportage, Young, Gifted and Broke Magenta Devine (born Kim Taylor; 4 November 1957 – 6 March 2019) was a British television presenter, and music promoter best known for presenting the travel programme Rough Guide and youth programme Reportage on BBC2 in the 1990s.

Career

Devine originally worked for Tony Brainsby, a publicist for Queen, Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake. While still living with boyfriend (ex-Generation X bassist) Tony James, she became the music promoter for James's new band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Following her breakup with James, producer Janet Street-Porter booked Devine to be a presenter on Channel 4's youth programme Network 7. She then moved after Street-Porter to BBC2 to present DEF II, of which Rough Guide was a feature before it became a separate programme.

Devine appeared on Richard & Judy in 2004, and on Extreme Celebrity Detox in 2005. In 2006, Devine fronted an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) campaign that urged consumers in the travel market to book with a member of Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA). In 2001, she narrated a BBC Four programme, The New Romantics – A Fine Romance, on the New Romantic movement.

Apart from being a television presenter, she also was UN Goodwill Ambassador in 1998, and campaigned for women's rights.

Later life and death

Devine sought treatment in the 1990s for heroin addiction and depression. In 2003, she was declared bankrupt by London's High Court.

Devine died on 6 March 2019, after a short illness for which she was undergoing treatment at a central London hospital. She was 61 years old.

Television programmes

• BBC Wales's pop music show Juice, presenter
• Channel 4's youth programme Network 7 (1987)
• BBC2's DEF II
• BBC2's Rough Guides to the World
• BBC2's Reportage (1988—94)
• Young, Gifted and Broke ITV documentary series
• This Morning with Richard & Judy (1996) interviewee
• Extreme Celebrity Detox (2005)
• BBC Four programme The New Romantics – A Fine Romance (2001) on the New Romantic movement as narrator
• Big Mouth (2005), an aftershow of Big Brother, as guest panellist

References

References

1. McFadyean, Melanie. (17 October 1993). "How We Met: Magenta De Vine and David Okuefuna". The Independent.
2. (7 March 2019). "Magenta Devine obituary".
3. Pollock, David. "Magenta Devine, TV presenter known for Network 7 and Rough Guide". The Herald (Scotland) – Newsquest Media Group.
4. (6 March 2019). "Magenta Devine, presenter of Network 7 and Rough Guide, dies aged 61". The Guardian.
5. (6 March 2019). "'Aylesbury legend' Magenta Devine dies aged 61".
6. (24 October 1998). "Media hypocrites fuelled by cocaine". The Independent.
7. "Magenta De Vine – Filmography". British Film Institute.
8. Stubbs, David. (6 March 2019). "Magenta Devine: an 80s TV icon of effortless style and substance". The Guardian.
9. (24 April 2009). "Juice". TV Cream.
10. (27 November 2003). "Rough times for TV's Magenta". Evening Standard.
11. (20 January 2006). "OFT launches ABTA consumer code of practice". TravelDailyNews Media Network.
12. "BBC One – The New Romantics: A Fine Romance". BBC.
13. "Reportage". [[IMDb]].

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