Presenting had never been part of my plan. I was in a BBC Sunday night drama called
The Swish of the Curtain (1980) and was interviewed on
Blue Peter (1958). Unbeknown to me, one of the hosts, Tina Heath, was leaving, so they asked me to audition. My agent said, 'Do not do this. You will get sucked into presenting and never act again.' So when I was offered the job, I panicked over whether to take it. My mum was working in the West End with Richard Briers, and he said: 'Darling, do it - it's regular work.' That's the best advice I've ever been given.