Chick-chat

The Swindon-born 38-year-old turned to presenting following the birth of her first child Morgan. She now has three children with husband Wayne Roberts.

Can you tell me a bit about Live From Studio Five?

IT’S a live chat show that is really about what’s happening in the world, but with a strong entertainment feel to it. It’s hosted by myself, Ian Wright and Kate Walsh, and we talk about what’s going on in the news and our thoughts and feelings about it. There will also be reports on the latest films and new bands, so it should be quite lively and different to anything else around at the moment.

Because you’re voicing your own opinions, do you envisage any fights breaking out between you and your co-presenters?

THERE’S a high risk of bodily harm.

We’ve been going through practice runs and, if we get onto a subject we all care deeply about, we do have to rein ourselves in at times. But I think that’s one of the nicest things about it – that we’re free to say exactly how we feel. There’s also a dangerous element to it as you never know quite how far you’re allowed to go.

Ian has been quoted in the media as saying he can’t get a word in when you and Kate get going.

HE does get silenced a bit, but he then he’s exactly the same when he gets going. All three of us have so much to say and we’ve all got different opinions, so we get hugely engaged in backchat, which is quite fun. The thing about Live From Studio Five is that, because it’s not scripted and very live, it’s quite factual and real.

You first came to the nation’s attention as a glamour model – has that hindered your career as a television presenter?

I WOULD say it definitely hasn’t helped. But I’ve been Wayne Taylor and Appaloosa, Jumpin’ Hot Club @ the Live Theatre IT was the turn of bluegrass music to take the spotlight when Washington DC act Wayne Taylor took to the stage with his four-piece band, Appaloosa.

Taylor, pictured right with his band, possesses a fine musical pedigree and impressed from the moment he went into the song Gonna Ride My Appaloosa.

While bluegrass music is known for its up-tempo tunes, Taylor and the boys didn’t fall into the trap of over-playing, as they blended reflective odes Cold Cold River and freeflowing Dirt Road with a Gordon Lightfoot-sounding Girl From the North Country Fair.

Taylor and the band’s greatest skill was arguably their ability to bring old-fashioned down-home country values to the table and served with organic produce you can pay a king’s ransom for.

Special mention must go to the exquisite dobro of Dave Giegerich on a splendid rendition of Wabash Cannonball, while right-hand man Emory Lester not only picked some mighty mandolin, but with Mark Johnson (banjo) formed with Taylor a tight three-piece harmony unit.

As time began to win the battle and encores were imminent, they did justice to old favourite Everybody’s Talkin’ and turned heads with a superb version of When I’m Gone (500 miles).

Opening for them were localbased up-and-coming Mothers’ Ruin, who were down to a three-piece for the night and, as always, did all that was asked of them.

Maurice Hope Tonight’sTV By Steve Pratt email: steve.pratt@nne.co.uk doing television for the past ten years and I’ve got to do some shows that I really love, so in that sense it hasn’t. But I do think I’ve had to work twice as hard as one else because there’s a lot of prejudice. People think, ‘she’s a glamour model so she’s this type of person’, so I’ve always had to battle that sort of prejudice.

Are there any events that have occurred prior to the start of the show that you would like to have covered?

THERE are loads of things happening right now that we really want to discuss live on air, from Michael Jackson’s death to the war going on in Afghanistan. Ian has got particularly strong views on the whole Katie-Peter saga that’s going on right now, so there’s a whole gamut of really serious stuff with the light entertainment.

There are always great topics to talk about, and you only have to flick through the papers to find something interesting that we all want to discuss.

Would you consider appearing in another celebrity reality show?

I loved Dancing On Ice because it was an amazing experience, but I wouldn’t do Big Brother again, even though I loved it, because I think it’s a completely different kettle of fish now. I would certainly consider them and, from my point of view, reality shows give you an experience in life that you might not ordinarily get to have, so from that point of view they are absolutely brilliant. The one I love to watch but would refuse to go into is I’m A Celebrity (Get Me Out Of Here!).

I’m a really big fan of it, and I really love watching it, but I can’t imagine going on there and having to eat a kangaroo testicle.

You’re 38 and yet you still look fantastic – what’s your secret?

LOT’S of make-up! No, to be honest I try to stay as healthy as possible by eating good food, staying fit. I think doing stuff you enjoy makes you feel good, and then you tend to stay healthier and probably look better.

■ Live From Studio Five, Channel 5, 6.30pm