Post by Di on Sept 17, 2010 8:24:13 GMT -5
Hi Guys,
The below was in the Sunday Express magazine a couple of weeks ago, is a nice read about Sophie.
Sophie Raworth is a high-profile news presenter
WITH a high-profile career and a flourishing family life, news presenter Sophie Raworth is sitting pretty – as Ann Riley reports...
I will never forget the day I was sitting at my desk at the BBC, watching Anna Ford reading the news,” says Sophie Raworth.
“Suddenly she lost her voice. I was asked to stand in, and of course I said yes, without thinking that I had no make-up on and my hair was fresh out of my cycling helmet.”
In a world of match-stick celebs with manufactured images, Sophie is a welcome relief.
Away from the camera she wears hardly a scrap of make-up and her skin is glowing even though she has had just one facial – a surprise birthday treat – in the past two years.
“I simply don’t have enough time,” says the mother of three. “I love my job and I want to be with my family, so finding a spare hour to go to a spa is out of the question.”
I’m not a slave to the gym. Trying to keep up with my children is a pretty good way to stay fit
Sophie Raworth
Not that she’s unglamorous. Search her name online and you’ll find quite a few pages dedicated to her legs.
A glance at them, encased today in skinny black jeans, tells you why. “How hilarious,” she says (clearly this girl has never Googled herself – another plus point).
“But I’m not one of those people who’s a slave to the gym. I’ve done the Great North Run twice but I haven’t done a lot of training since – I need a goal to get me motivated for something like that. I might have a go at the London Marathon next year, but watching what I eat, cycling to work every day and trying to keep up with my children is a pretty good way to stay fit.”
Seeing Sophie at work it’s obvious that she’s well liked. She says hello to anyone who passes her in the corridor and they all smile back.
So what of that BBC memo, leaked at the end of last year, hinting that she lacked “sparkle”?
“I didn’t dwell on that,” she says. “And if it was true, why was I being signed up for programmes outside the news? I also do radio and quite a bit of presenting on other current affairs shows, like the recent financial series Money Watch (which ends on Tuesday, BBC2, 11.20pm). The BBC treats me really well.”
Clearly her bosses – or at least most of them – like what they see, but Sophie is still surprised by the successful turn her career has taken. “I grew up quite close to the world of TV – my parents are friends with John Stapleton and Lynn Faulds Wood – but I never thought I’d end up on screen,” she says.
Nevertheless, after studying languages at the University of Manchester and journalism in London, Sophie joined the BBC in 1992, and within five years she was reading the breakfast news.
Then, in 2006, she took over the One O’Clock News from Anna Ford.
Anna has been outspoken about the ageism in broadcasting, but Sophie reports no problems so far.
“I got my first on-screen job at 27, and I thought, ‘Great, perhaps I’ll be able to do this until I’m 40’. Well I’m 42 now and I’ve never been busier.”
And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love working in news because you have to keep your brain focused at all times,” she adds.
“If you relax, you’ll miss something, because it’s totally unpredictable. The Cumbria shootings in June are an example of how suddenly a story can break. I was in the morning meeting when the wires reported that someone was randomly killing people. Horrified, I turned to my editor and we all started to try to find out more. I looked up the numbers of some local shops online and rang them, hoping to find people to talk to, anyone who could tell us what was happening. As we went on air the police called the BBC, asking us to tell local people to stay inside. It was something I’d never done before and I hope I never have to do it again.”
Her unflappable performance that day won’t have gone unnoticed, but it takes a lot to rattle a woman who can juggle a high-profile career with the demands of three children under six.
Sophie and estate agent husband Richard share their home with Ella, six, Georgia, four, and Ollie, two, and life in the Raworth household sounds pretty full-on.
“My children wake me up at 6.15am, every day of the week, even on Saturdays and Sundays, unfortunately – so there’s no chance of a lie-in,” says Sophie.
“By 6.30am I’m listening to the Today programme in bed with the kids, having a cup of tea and trying to read the paper before getting ready to leave for work.
“My nanny – who has been with me since the children were born and is fantastic – arrives half an hour before I get on my bicycle. I’ll be at the office by 8.30am for the morning meeting where the team will discuss what’s happening and we’ll begin to think about what to prioritise.”
It sounds like a pretty well-oiled routine, so is there any chance of a late addition to the brood?
“Having three children and doing a job I love I can just about manage, but another child would push it,” says Sophie.
“Most of time I feel as if I have the best of both worlds, but with a fourth it would not be easy.
“The girls are already quite independent but my little boy, well, he’s a little boy. He’s surrounded by dolls but all he’s interested in is heavy machinery. There are a lot of roadworks on the way to their school and it can take quite a long time to get home because Ollie insists that we stop and look at every single digger.”
But although Sophie has most aspects of working motherhood down to a fine art, she admits that the emotional side is difficult.
“I feel very guilty that work takes me away from my children,” she says.
“When I did a programme about working women and parenting, it made me think so much about my own family.
I remembered how much time my mother spent with me, and I thought, ‘Do I do the same for my own children?’ Probably not, but at least I get home early enough to pick them up from school and nursery.
“And that can be quite funny as some people do a complete double-take in the playground. They’ve just seen me presenting the news and now I’m trying to wrestle school bags, gym kit and three small children, just like everyone else.”
Well, not quite like everyone else –the other children don’t have a mummy who appears on TV.
“They’ve grown up with that and they’re completely indifferent to what I do,” smiles Sophie.
“If they are asked, ‘Do you want to watch Mummy on television?’ they say yes, but in fact it’s just a ruse to get the TV on; after about a minute they’ll turn over to cBeebies.”