My first ever interview for ‘Blue Peter’ was a film with JK Rowling.
Increased tariffs and a weakened pound would mean higher food prices, hurting the poorest families – and the women trying to make ends meet at the heart of them – the most.
Mental health really is a search to be happy, I think that’s what people want in life – and if you’re happy you’re winning.
I’m the youngest of three children and grew up in Ealing, west London. My eldest sister, Nutun, is nine years older than me, and my middle sister, Rupa, is three years older.
The one thing more important to my parents than my career is that I am happily married.
I think relaxation is escaping from your everyday encounters. You can read the words on a page and be transported to somewhere else. And the more consumed you are with it, the more you’re cocooned.
My A-levels were physics, chemistry and maths. Science is fascinating but I wouldn’t say I have used it since then. I decided to do economics.
Life in ‘Blue Peter’s’ world is always presented as happy, positive and fun. It’s an adventure that you have to make the kids believe they want to join in. There are no marks for being a scaredy-cat.
In general, I think we’re more or less shaped and formed by our late 20s. Things come along during that time that make us cynical. By the time you’re in your 30s, it’s hard to unpick those mindsets that have formed. It takes years of therapy to undo them.
Growing up in a Muslim family, I didn’t eat pork and was tactically vegetarian at school in a bid to avoid accidentally dining on swine, a galling prospect.
A problem shared is a problem halved, but as with so many problems affecting women – periods, menopause, post-natal depression – we often feel embarrassed, as if we’re moaning or just plain wrong to air them.
Pages: 1 2
