EMOTIONAL TIES

TV presenter and journalist Kate Thornton on crocodiles, candles and almost breaking the internet

with TV presenter and journalist Kate Thornton

these travel trinkets are from holidays to morocco, Bangladesh and nepal. growing up in a small town in gloucestershire, i’d study world maps for hours, desperate to get out and see everything. i’ve been drunk on wanderlust ever since.

i’m a scented-candle junkie – i always travel with them when i’m away because they immediately transform a dank hotel room into something familiar. this true grace natural sage candle is a current favourite.

as a single mother with a very sporty son [Ben, eight], i found that roller skating was an activity we could do together. secretly, i also wanted to impress him with my tricky manoeuvres – i’m great at doing wheelies off the kerbs!

this dolce & gabbana scarf is a reminder of one of the most incredible nights of my life, hosting madonna’s first webcast at Brixton academy in 2000. it was groundbreaking at the time – apparently we almost broke the internet when millions of people logged on.

Ben painted this crocodile for me when he was around three. he is my first thought in everything and my greatest teacher – he has taught me how to see beauty in the simplest things.

This light box is one way Ben and I communicate with each other – we’re always leaving one another little messages.

my mum sandra and dad dennis have been together for 51 years and still walk down the road holding hands. if i can be ten per cent as good a parent as they were to my brother and me, i will consider myself one of life’s winners.

this photograph was taken when i went to Uganda for comic relief in 2007. it was heartening and humbling to see how the spirit of a people with so little could teach me so much about living with dignity and kindness.

i recently started collecting vintage glass. there is something about the colours and shapes that really pleases the eye.

i wore this asos jacket for our tBseen launch campaign, photographed by helena christensen, earlier this year. i started tBseen to make online shopping smarter and better value, giving women money back on their purchases so they don’t feel guilty about treating themselves.