Scarlett Archer: Sheffield teenager becomes the UK’s youngest female F1 commentator with Sky Kids gig

At age just 16, Scarlett Archer has already met more celebrities and politicians than most people ever will after securing a gig with the First News and Sky Kids’ show FYI in 2020.

The BAFTA award-winning weekly news show, produced by Fresh Start Media, has seen Scarlett present feature-length documentaries and interview key politicians along with four other talented young people. 

The Sheffield Girls’ pupil has also become the youngest female F1 presenter in the UK after taking up the post at Sky Sports’ F1 Juniors. Last year, Scarlett and two other commentators were given the chance to travel to the Hungarian Grand Prix where they then met some of the biggest names in racing.

Scarlett, who lives in the Hunter’s Bar area of Sheffield with her mum, dad, and dog Bella, said: "I'd seen my dad watching F1, but I never saw a woman in it, and I just thought women didn't do it.

"It was really interesting to find out that women can do it, it's just that there's none in F1 currently. You would think girls would be the best at motorsports because on average girls are lighter than men so the cars would be able to go quicker, but there's no females currently in F1."

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She even said she’d love to get in the driver's seat someday, and "hopefully inspire some women to get involved".

The chance to work on the Sky Kids show came during the pandemic after Scarlett, a keen actress, began taking part in online plays that would livestream on Youtube. This then got picked up by Sky News who asked Scarlett to record a video diary of her rehearsing for the play as part of a news segment. Scarlett’s talent clearly impressed the team, and she was asked to be a part of the FYI show.

Scarlett is now juggling GCSE revision with learning scripts and travelling to London every Wednesday to film the weekly show, and embarking on trips around the world for documentaries.

Just one month after the Ukraine Russia war broke out, Scarlett travelled with the team and her mum Gina to the Polish border to meet young Ukrainian refugees as part of a feature-length documentary. They then filmed a follow-up of when refugees using the Homes for Ukraine scheme reached the UK.

Scarlett said: "It was really difficult to see. A lot of people think that when you escape a warzone that you’re safe, but you’re not. A lot of their families were still in Ukraine, and they're always going to have that worry on their mind.

"I just can't imagine being moved to a whole new place, not knowing anyone, never being there before, so that was really upsetting. But I think it was important that someone my age went because it's important that kids understand what's happening there. Things as terrible as that can happen to you, it can happen to anyone."

Scarlett has also had the opportunity to interview key politicians such as Boris Johnson while he was Prime Minister, Labour leader Kier Starmer, Home Secretary James Cleverly, and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

The school girl now has ambitions of studying English literature and politics as A-levels, and then a degree in politics and international relations before moving into journalism. 

"I know that presenting is what I want to do when I'm older," she said. "I love interviewing people and being able to meet all different people and try and understand the things that they're experiencing, so I really hope that I stay in the field.

"It's really given me confidence, especially as a younger person, because like a lot of people don't get these opportunities."