Plenty of early nights are beckoning the new co-presenter of Breakfast, Natasha Kaplinsky.

The former co-presenter of Sky News' Live At Five was up at 0320 GMT on Monday to take her place alongside Dermot Murnaghan on the Breakfast sofa.

But early starts should not present too much of a problem for Kaplinsky, 28, following her stint on Sky's early morning Sunrise programme.

"I find it's best to be out of bed before the alarm stops ringing," she said. "The snooze button is a dangerous thing."

Bleary-eyed

Kaplinsky replaces Sophie Raworth, who has left Breakfast to present the BBC's Six O'Clock News.

"It will be very difficult to follow Sophie," she said.

"She is a fantastic presenter and journalist and has done a wonderful job making Breakfast what it is today.

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"But she deserves a lie-in after five years - it's my turn to get up in the middle of the night."

Raworth's departure from Breakfast closely followed that of her former co-presenter Jeremy Bowen.

He left in September to concentrate on writing a book, before returning to foreign reporting.

Before joining Sky News in 2000, Kaplinsky worked as a presenter on London Tonight alongside Alistair Stewart.

Kaplinsky was also the face of the lunchtime show London Today as well as the presenter of LWT's live Sunday morning current affairs programme Seven Days.

She has an Oxford degree in English and after leaving university worked as a political researcher for then Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

Tips

Kaplinsky says she is looking forward to setting the news agenda for the day, as well as presenting "the softer side" of the news.

"I'm looking forward to the mix of hard news and lighter items which makes the programme so watchable for the bleary-eyed," she said.

Kaplinsky says she will be looking to fellow presenter Dermot for a few tips.

"He has promised to show me which camera to look at, which makes all the difference in television, so it will be fun to work together."

Breakfast's editor Richard Porter said he was "delighted" with Kaplinsky's appointment.

"We are sure the partnership with Dermot will prove extremely popular with viewers," he said.

"Replacing Sophie was never going to be easy, but we think we've found the ideal combination of journalistic skills and friendly personality in Natasha."