Telly talk: Alex Jones
The One Show’s Alex Jones is currently presenting The Secrets in My Family on W. She told us about trying to hold back the tears while filming and becoming a first-time mother at 39…
Your new show is very emotional. How do you manage to hold it together?
Not very well! I wear my heart on my sleeve. I’m not good at keeping a lid on things, but I’m sure anybody watching has the same reaction! It’s a very emotive series. These people have been through an awful lot and you do feel a connection with them.
Is the personal side what appealed?
It’s a very different job to the one I do every day. To really know people and speak to them on a very different level is something I really enjoy.
Has it made you think about whether there are any secrets in your family?
Well it did, but I’ve asked around and it’s clear we’re a very straightforward family! My husband Charlie’s family is more interesting, though – his father was born in Shanghai and his mother was born in British Guiana [now Guyana], and now they live in New Zealand!
Since becoming a mum, has family become more important to you?
Yeah, I suppose it has, especially as Ted grows up because he’s got one family here and Charlie’s on the other side of the world! We’re going out to New Zealand at Christmas so he can meet them.
What else is coming up?
Apart from The One Show, I’m doing a new series of Shop Well For Less and a book, Winging It!: A Survival Guide for New Mums
(£14.99, Lagom, out 8 Feb). It focuses on becoming a parent a little later in life! Life is complicated and you don’t necessarily meet the person you want to have a child with, so it’s really about that.