In 1977, after the death of her father, she moved to London she went on to work as a
public relations executive for
Phonogram Records between 1980 and 1990; coordinated the publicity for the
Live Aid concert at
Wembley in 1985; and, after leaving Phonogram, started television work as a presenter and film critic. Frostrup presented the
Channel 4 music show
Big World Cafe in 1989 alongside
Eagle Eye Cherry and
Jazzie B. She presented
Thames Television's
Video View from 1990 and, after Thames lost the London
ITV franchise, reprised the role straight afterwards on
The Little Picture Show for
Carlton Television from 1993. Frostrup has interviewed many celebrities, writers and artists and has presented a variety of television programmes, including one on travel, and has appeared in other television shows such as the series
Have I Got News for You and the sitcom
Absolutely Fabulous. She made several guest appearances as herself in the series
Coupling, including an episode where one of the characters fantasizes about her, then meets her in person. She has also appeared in fictionalised form in
Michael Paraskos's
In Search of Sixpence. She has written for
The Daily Telegraph as a travel writer,
The Guardian,
The Observer,
The Mail on Sunday,
Harpers & Queen and the
New Statesman. For almost 20 years until 2021 she was
The Observer's
agony aunt on its relationships page. She is also an art critic and has been on the judging panels for the
Booker Prize, the
Orange Prize for Fiction and the
Evening Standard British Film Awards. In September 2007 she chaired a question-and-answer session with
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the
Labour Party Conference in
Bournemouth, Dorset. In 2008, Frostrup received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from
Nottingham Trent University in recognition of her contribution and commitment to journalism and broadcasting. That same year, she narrated
The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, a documentary about
lesser flamingos. She presented the
BBC Radio 2 show
The Green Room and from 2002 to 2020 was the regular presenter of
BBC Radio 4 programme
Open Book, interviewing authors and publishers and reviewing new fiction and non-fiction books. As the presenter of
The Book Show on
Sky Arts 1, she interviewed an extensive list of guests on their recent works and their "favourite heroes and heroines from fiction". The show was cancelled in 2013. In December 2012, she appeared on the BBC Two series ''
World's Most Dangerous Roads'', in which she and
Angus Deayton were filmed driving along the east coast of Madagascar. She is the voice in lifts on the
London Overground. Her 'gravelly' voice is often used on television commercials and in 2005 was voted the sexiest female voice on television. In 2014, Frostrup hosted an event at the
British Film Institute celebrating 30 years of the TV programme
Spitting Image. Frostrup was one of the celebrities portrayed as a puppet on that programme. In 2018, Frostrup presented a documentary for BBC One called
The Truth About The Menopause. She later published a book on the subject and has spoken of her own experience of
menopause. In 2019, she presented a programme for BBC Radio 4 called
Bringing Up Britain. In June 2020 she joined
Times Radio to present a programme in the early afternoon from Monday to Thursday. It features celebrity interviews, alongside arts, culture and social issues coverage. She left the station in 2024. In 2022, Frostrup was the presenter of the documentary series ''Britain's Novel Landscapes with Mariella Frostrup''; which investigates how British
landscapes have influenced some of the UK's best loved authors. Since July 2024, Frostrup has been a regular panellist on ITV's flagship lunchtime show
Loose Women. On 17 October 2024, Frostrup was announced as the
UK Government's Menopause Employment Ambassador. ==Advocacy==