In April 2006, then-model Chung was offered the job of co-host on Popworld on Channel 4, a music show known for its irreverent and awkward style of interviews. Chung and co-host Alex Zane also presented a weekly radio show called Popworld Radio in conjunction with the TV programme. The last show aired in July 2007, after Channel 4 decided not to recommission the programme, which had been on air for nearly seven years.
In April 2007, Chung became a co-presenter with Ben Elton on ITV’s “Get a Grip”, described by the production company as “a new weekly observational comedy series which sticks it’s head above the parapet of 21st Century Britain, sticks it’s head straight back down again and screams “Get A Grip”.
Following this, Chung signed a year-long “golden handcuffs” deal with Channel 4 in August 2007, worth £100,000. As part of this deal, she guest presented Big Brother’s Big Mouth and appeared as a panellist on quiz show 8 out of 10 Cats. She hosted a number of T4 Movie Specials, 4Music Specials, T4 Holiday Mornings along with T4′s coverage of many music festivals.
In January 2008, Chung became one of the four anchor T4 presenters. She hosted T4’s Vanity Lair, a reality show investigating the concept of “beauty”. When the show was mentioned in a later interview, “Chung raises her eyebrows, indicating embarrassment”.As well as her work on T4, she became a long-time host of Channel 4’s early morning music programme Freshly Squeezed, beginning in September 2007.
In addition to her Channel 4 commitments, Chung presented the ITV1 series Get a Grip (2007) and BBC Three’s The Wall (2008).
In mid-2008, Chung began to host more fashion-oriented programming. She was the “roving reporter” on Channel 4′s “Gok’s Fashion Fix”. On the programme, Chung roadtested the latest fashion trends with members of the public, and interviewed fashion designers such as Roberto Cavalli, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier, Margherita Missoni and Christian Lacroix. She described it as ‘pretty much my dream job’.Chung also hosted a T4 fashion and music show called Frock Me, with fashion designer Henry Holland.
Chung has also hosted industry events including the Hair Magazine Awards 2007, Diesel U Music Awards 2007 and the Elle Style Awards 2008 and 2009.
She was awarded the Elle Style Award for Best TV Presenter in 2009. Also in 2009, she received Glamour’s award for Best TV Presenter at the magazine’s annual award ceremony.
Chung left Channel 4, and the United Kingdom, in April 2009 in order to pursue a stateside career. She presented It’s On with Alexa Chung for MTV. The live, daily show – billed as TRL’s replacement- featured celebrity talk, live music and online interaction with viewers, ran until December 2009.
She returned to UK TV screens in April 2010 with a second series of the T4 flagship fashion and music series Frock Me alongside fashion designer Henry Holland and style scout Gemma Cairney.