Born on 17 December 1960,[3][4] Burley was brought up in Beech Hill, Wigan, Lancashire,[5][6] the daughter of parents who worked in a cardboard-making factory.

[3][4] Burley worked for BBC local radio and Tyne Tees Television,[3] before joining TV-am in 1985 as a reporter and occasional newsreader.

In 2005, she was prominent in Sky News's coverage of both the general election and the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

Burley was a contestant for the second series of the ITV reality television show Dancing on Ice, beginning on 20 January 2007.

[19] On 10 December 2020, Burley was suspended from presenting her eponymous show for six months, because she had breached London's tier 2 coronavirus restrictions.

[24][25] In a 2008 interview with the former girlfriend of serial killer Steve Wright, Burley was criticised for asking her whether, if the couple had enjoyed a better sex life, he would not have committed the crimes.

[4] Images from 2008 showed Burley appearing to strangle photographer Kirsty Wigglesworth, outside a court hearing for Naomi Campbell, who was sentenced for assaulting two police officers at London Heathrow Airport.

During the 2010 general election, Burley's interview with electoral campaigner David Babbs from 38 Degrees was criticised for "bias and aggressive behaviour".

[33] On 5 October 2012, Burley was accused of insensitivity after she broke the news of the probable death of missing five-year-old April Jones live on air to volunteers who had been assisting in the search for her.

Burley repeatedly questioned Ed Miliband about his relationship with his brother David, at one point telling him: "Your poor mother".

[37] In June 2015, Burley was criticised through social media for her interview of Nick Varney, the chief executive of Merlin Entertainments.

[39] Her interview with Varney began a negative reaction over social media, prompting 1,816 complaints to Ofcom and also led to over 55,000 signatures on a petition to have Burley sacked.

[42] In March 2015, Burley repeatedly asked Cerie Bullivant of CAGE how he felt about the beheading of Western hostages by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Her actions allegedly included meeting up to nine individuals outside of her household, breaking the 11pm curfew, and socialising inside two restaurants and her own home.

Burley was later suspended from Sky News until June 2021, and withdrawn from consideration for the Royal Television Society's journalism awards.

In October 2023 Sky News issued a retraction after Burley misquoted Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Husam Zomlot multiple times as saying "Israel had it coming" which gave a misleading impression that he believed they deserved it.

[51][52] Burley later issued a statement stating that she "raised a controversial view from an earlier guest to allow another to respond", emphasising a mission to fairly present the news of the war.