Yours chats to Jasmine Harman from A Place in the Sun
A Place In The Sun’s Jasmine Harman (42) chats to Yours about family, fun, making things happen and living each day as if it were your last
■ You have to take risks
If you want something, you have to make it happen, such as when I got my job presenting A Place In The Sun. I’d never worked in TV before but I decided that I wanted to. I spent all my savings on putting together a show reel which I sent to Freeform, the company which makes A Place In The Sun, and they invited me to a screen test. Risking all my savings was an enormous gamble but sometimes you have to take them in life!
■ Step out of your comfort zone
My mother’s friend Nicky Porter has always been a mentor to me. She told me that I have to go out of my comfort zone every day; do that thing I’ve been putting off doing because it makes me nervous or uncomfortable. Things are rarely as bad as you think they are going to be.
■ Live each day as if it were your last
This was brought home to me when my sister-in-law died over Christmas 2016. It was completely out of the blue as she was fit and well, and only 40. Her death was attributed to SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome). It shows that you never know what’s around the corner. You have to live each day as if it were your last and do the things that make you happy.
■ Children are precious
My husband Jon and I had a really hard time trying to have children. After trying unsuccessfully for years to conceive naturally, we’ve been lucky enough to have two children through IVF; my daughter Joy who’s four and my two-year-old son Albion. I take them with me when I film A Place In The Sun. I just won’t leave them for days on end while I work abroad!
■ Me and my mum
When I was growing up my mum had a huge problem with hoarding and she still does to an extent. It was the subject of a BBC1 documentary in 2011 called My Hoarder Mum And Me. But we’re now at a place where we understand and respect each other a little more. She comes away with me and the children when I film A Place In The Sun. It’s nice for us to be together in a different environment, a neutral area if you like.
■ I’m a passionate vegan
I’ve been a vegetarian all my life and vegan since I was 38. I made the change when I realised how bad dairy farming is for animals such as cows and especially calves. When I looked into how dairy products are produced, I stopped right away. Dairy was no longer a temptation for me – and bear in mind I had a cheese-themed wedding!