Gracie joined the BBC World Service in 1987 as a trainee producer, soon becoming a correspondent as well as on assignment, including African, Chinese and Asia-Pacific regions. She became a correspondent for BBC World Service and then for domestic radio and television in Beijing in 1991. Gracie moved back to the UK in 1999 as a presenter on BBC News and on World Service. For six years from January 2008, she was the main morning presenter for the BBC News Channel on Tuesdays – Fridays alongside Simon McCoy. She is also a presenter for the BBC World Service programme "The Interview".