Sir Trevor McDonald has been active in his UK career since 1973 and ever since he has been praised as a beloved broadcast journalist, working on a long association with ITN and becoming a very prominent face on TV. He was the sole presenter of News at Ten in 1992 and became a well-known face across UK TV with his current affairs programme, Tonight with Trevor McDonald, and a series of documents with ITV.

In 1999 he was knighted for his services to journalism and was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Greater London in 2006. In 2006, he was ranked as number 31 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars, so it's suffice to say that Trevor is a truly beloved part of on-screen journalism, but what is he really like behind the screens? Express.co.uk found out via actress Jess Impiazzi, who said she had watched him from a young age.

Speaking about her new film Jitters, Jess spoke to us about the famous faces that she's met over the years, but none quite so memorable as Sir Trevor McDonald. She said: "I met Sir Trevor McDonald at the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) because my mum's blind and she got invited. I was in awe, he was this lovely wise man, I've always thought he was so wise, this incredible news reader I've watched my whole life at my nans when she made me watch the news.

"I was just in the presence of greatness. I've watched him from such a young age." Jess added: "I have met lots of people before, but I was utterly impressed with Sir Trevor McDonald and I was desperate to get a photo with him." She explained what it was like to meet Trevor in person and how she instantly saw exactly what kind of person he was really like.

She added: "He's a really lovely man, so polite and so kind. When I asked for a picture, the first one didn't come out right and he could see the disappointment on my face, so he let me do another one. He's so lovely."

The broadcaster announced in 2008 that he was stepping down from his role as co-presenter of News at Ten, but continued to take on other hosting duties outside of that.

At the time, he said: "I've tremendously enjoyed the opportunity to help re-establish News at Ten over the last year and to work alongside Julie Etchingham, who is a fantastically talented journalist, but I've made no secret of the fact that I cannot be in the presenter's chair forever. Anchoring ITV News's live coverage of a hugely exciting and historic US election seems the opportune moment to leave on a high."