Trevor Phillips was born on 31 December 1953 in Islington, London, to parents who emigrated from British Guiana (now Guyana) to the UK in 1950. He is the youngest of ten children, among whom is his brother Mike Phillips, a renowned crime writer. The family returned with him to Guyana during his childhood, where he attended the prestigious Queen’s College in Georgetown before completing his A-levels.

He returned to England and enrolled at Imperial College London, where he studied chemistry and was elected President of the National Union of Students in 1978. He entered broadcasting in 1980, joining London Weekend Television, starting as a researcher on the regional current affairs series Skin and between 1982 and 1985 working as a producer on documentary series. He also worked on Channel 4’s magazine programme Black on Black in 1985, and fronted The London Programme before being promoted as Head of Current Affairs at LWT in 1992.

Phillips served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2003, then led the Commission for Racial Equality from 2003, and chaired its successor, the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He has presented Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News since 2023. He previously covered Sophy Ridge on Sunday from 2021 to 2022 as maternity cover.

Trevor Phillips married Asha Aline Francine Bhownagary, a Parsi child psychotherapist of Indian ancestry, in 1981. The couple separated in 2008 and divorced in 2009. In 2013, Trevor married Helen Veale, a television producer. He has two daughters from his first marriage: Sushila, born 1983, who tragically passed away in April 2021 after a prolonged battle with anorexia; and Holly, born 1985.