Born in Ireland in 1966, Donal MacIntyre studied in Dublin and London before starting a career in print journalism, working as a news reporter for the Sunday Tribune and later with the Irish Press in Dublin. His first television work was in 1993 with the BBC's investigative sports strand; On The Line, in which he went undercover as an adventure sports instructor to report on the lack of employment standards in the sector. Since then, he has become one of the most recognisable faces in investigative reporting and fronted the major series, MacIntyre Undercover, in 1999. During production, he had to go undercover to investigate subjects such as football hooliganism and the fashion industry. In 2003, he joined Five and has presented various strands including MacIntyre's Millions and MacIntyre UK Undercover, as well as Big Stings and Can You Trust..?