Matthew Laurence Barbet was born on 8 June 1976 in Chester, Cheshire, England, and grew up in North Wales. Details about his parents are not publicly available, as he keeps his personal background private. He attended the Alun School in Mold, Flintshire, and later studied at Cardiff University before returning to the Cardiff School of Journalism.

Before joining BBC London in 2003, Barbet worked at BBC Radio 1 as a newsreader on the Sara Cox Breakfast Show. He went on to present across multiple BBC programmes including STORYFix on BBC News 24 and BBC London’s Children in Need coverage, and served as an occasional relief presenter for BBC Breakfast.

In September 2007 he left BBC News to join 5 News on Channel 5. In September 2012 until April 2014, Barbet co-presented Daybreak alongside Ranvir Singh, before returning to 5 News for 5 News Tonight. He also presented The Cycle Show for ITV4 and The Saturday Show for Channel 5.

On 4 December 2017 it was confirmed that Barbet would leave 5 News. Since 2018 Barbet has been a partner at London PR firm Freuds. Matt has covered many of the world’s biggest stories. He was embedded in Afghanistan with British armed forces, witnessed the effects of the Haiti earthquake, and covered shocking terror attacks in the UK and France.

Sky News announced Matt Barbet joining as a regular presenter in February 2024. Starting on Sky News covering the Breakfast show, Matt presents across the week, standing in on The News Hour from 5pm, The UK Tonight from 8pm weekdays and Sky News Today, among other shows. Matt also presents a weekly Sunday show from 10am–2pm. He lives in Lewes, East Sussex with his wife and two daughters.