DJ TURNED YOUNG PEOPLE’S CHAMP TALKS ABOUT TH
Sunday Mail
The 34-year-old Scot has built a reputation as one of the most articulate voices of her generation, winning critical acclaim for her frank and honest approach to tackling difficult issues affecting young people.
But straight-talking Gemma has revealed it was a chat with Annie Lennox which gave her the confidence to embark on the path that’s brought so much success.
The half-Scottish, half-Jamaican presenter, who shot to fame as a Radio 1 DJ when she was 23, said: “I was just starting out in radio when I met Annie Lennox.
“She launched me on my feminist journey by saying a few words to me that made me believe in myself. She told me I was an absolute dynamo and should continue to use my strong female voice to powerful effect by asking and tackling difficult questions.
“It’s a sad truth but if you are a woman of colour, if you didn’t go to Oxbridge or if you’ve had trauma in your life, you don’t really believe that your voice is worthy and important.
“Being told by an icon and legend like Annie that you are on the right path is invaluable, especially when you are full of guilt and self-doubt. When amazing women like her tell you to keep going, you have to take it and run with it and that is exactly what I have done.”
Gemma, who is hosting next year’s Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards, admits Annie is not the only strong, opinionated Scots woman to have influenced her rise to respected activist and human rights campaigner.
The former celebrity stylist never knew her biolog ical Jamaican father, who died from alcoholism when she was 19, and was raised by her mum Hazel, who was the daughter of Glasgwegians Jim Cairney and Martha Cowie.
She said: “My mum is an incredibly strong woman. She brought me up on her own and