Cover story
Broadcaster Sara Cox, 48, on career gratitude, turning 50, her friendship with Zoe Ball and why the big Radio 2 shake-up is natural evolution
Howuncanny. The central London hotel where Sara Cox is shooting her w&h cover is on her shortlist of 50th birthday bash venues. ‘Have you seen the room next door for parties? It’s amazing,’ enthuses the BBC Radio 2 weekday teatime-show host, who is just over a year away from the milestone. Settling into a velvet sofa, she sips a morning coffee – welcome refreshment after cycling in from north London where she lives with her tech boss husband Ben Cyzer, 48, and their children Isaac, 15, Renee, 13, and – from her first marriage – Lola, 19.
Between cycling, four-times-a-week horse rides and at-home gym sessions, Sara’s late 40s are a wellness world away from her boozy days of ‘excess’ hosting Radio 1’s breakfast show, when she says school-night partying was encouraged to generate showbiz tales for listener amusement.
‘I listen to Radio 1 sometimes and it’s much kinder now, which is good,’ says Sara. ‘Back then, we were more mickey-taking, acidic and irreverent. It’s all part of life’s rich tapestry.’
The Bolton-born star grew up with four siblings on her dad’s cattle farm before starting a modelling career at 18, which catapulted her onto catwalks in Milan, New York and South Korea. At 21, Sara landed her first TV presenting job on C4’s iconic The Girlie Show, and she went on to present The Big Breakfast before joining Radio 1’s Breakfast show in 2000, presenting to eight million daily listeners.
Then came a ‘tricky’ chapter. Shortly before falling pregnant with Lola, Sara was shifted to the drive-time slot before being demoted after maternity leave to weekend shows.
‘I’d be working at weekends for Radio 1, then hustling for other presenting gigs during the week, trying to keep my career going,’ she recalls. ‘I was like that little animal at the start of Ice Age, clinging on to the nut that’s nearly slipping from my hands.’
Fast forward to now and Sara has returned to the top of her career game. As well as hosting Radio 2’s daily 4pm-7pm show and hosting at Radio 2 in the Park, the station’s flagship live event, she regularly co-presents BBC1 Daytime’s Morning Live and hosts BBC2’s Between the Covers. She is also writing her second novel. It’s fair to say that Sara is a busy lady.
Being on-air feels nourishing. There’s some sort of magic about when you first open your mic. It’s a mixture of adrenaline and excitement, but a fondness is also released as I speak to the listeners and, more importantly, as they speak to me. It feels like a symbiotic relationship. I’m clearly overthinking it! The listeners probably think, ‘We just pop you on for 20 minute
