SARAH STIRK
The Sky Sports golf presenter spills the tee about climbing the career ladder and learning to own her sexuality
Probably should have checked with Sarah Stirk that she is OK with dogs before she arrived at the studio for her photoshoot, where she is, um, warmly welcomed by a chorus of yip-yaps from the photographer’s super-cute, but supernoisy pooch, Freddie. (You know, in case she is allergic, or, worse, has a Cruella complex; to be fair, Freddie would barely make a decent glove, let alone a coat.)
Fortunately, Sarah is a dog lover — she has two Labradors of her own — and isn’t the least bit irked, nor distracted, when Freddie starts sniffing around while she is striking a pose for the camera. Then again, this is what the seasoned television presenter does best; remaining cool, calm and collected, whether she is dealing with the pressures of live TV, picking the brains of the planet’s biggest sport stars — Usain Bolt is a highlight *dab* — or, in this case, a curious canine.
It is all par for the course for the official ‘face of golf’ on Sky Sports, who is more than happy to spill the tee (groan) about her most memorable interviews. “Tiger Woods is still the biggest name. The buzz of speaking to him, particularly the first couple of times… he’d probably be my number one, in terms of interviews you look back on and think, wow,” she says. “I love the psychology of sport and what people have been through, and I think Tiger’s story, the personal issues and the numerous back injuries and surgeries, what he’s come back from to achieve success again [is remarkable].”
Sarah has become an expert, too, at navigating the minefield that is interviewing a player after they’ve suffered a gutting loss; egos that aren’t being massaged are always in danger of detonating: “You have to be quite careful about that. [English golfer] Ian Poulter, he’s one of my favourites, I love him, but if he’s had a bad day, you have to be careful about how you approach him and what you ask him, because he doesn’t suffer fools.”
Full disclosure: I know very little about golf (except that it involves filling lots of holes, so I imagine more gays should be into it than they probably are). That said, I have heard people being asked about their handicaps. “I haven’t had an official handicap for a few years because of work and commitments,” she responds. “[But] my lowest was six.” Which is impressive (I think).
Before carving out a career on the small screen, Sarah dreamt of smashing it as a professional tennis player – until her plans were scuppered by a troublesome shoulder injury: “It was heartbreaking, because at that age [16/17] you think if you work hard enough and you want it, then it’ll happen. It was my first realisation, growing up, that things don’t always work out the way you want them to in life; it was a massive lesson.”
She continues: “That’s how the journalism started because I thought, if I can’t play sport, what’s the next best thing? Everyone talks about the buzz and pressure of competing, and I think the buzz and pressure of performing when the red light goes and you’re live, you can recreate that [same feeling].”
Name-checking Clare Balding, Sue Barker and Hazel Irvine as the industry figures she most admires, Sarah is now one of Sky’s most respected and revered broadcasters, and last year she launched the new series Life Lessons Through Sport, featuring the likes of loud and proud ice-skating champion Adam Rippon. However, she still remembers her early days of climbing the ladder in a much more male-dominated, testosteroneclogged world.
“It suddenly became ‘trendy’, didn’t it, to have a female presenter or reporter; we were kind of seen as the token,” she recalls. “That used to be the case at Sky, but absolutely not now. If you look at all the women who are fronting programmes and hosting sport, there is a lot of gender balance. It’s not about sex; it’s about whether you know your stuff.
“When I started out, I think there was an element of you have to prove yourself. I feel that way less, but of course, I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I don’t have the same insecurities. For young female reporters coming up, I’m sure they don’t have the same pressure that we felt 15 years ago.”
Has she faced any explicit instances of sexism within the workplace? “I have, but nothing bad. I can’t recall anything, so that tells you, doesn’t it? Generally, I
“It was my first realisation, growing up, that things don’t always work out”
feel quite lucky that I’ve been unaffected by that.”
Sarah — who runs a women’s leadership network called Reach — adds that she is pleased women’s sport is finally getting the attention it deserves: “It’s about time… They’re [Sky] pushing more women’s sport than ever before. It’s massively high on their priority [list] and so it should be.”
Describing herself as “quite a private person”, the 43-year-old has been ‘out’ at work and to her family and friends for “a long time”, but she has never felt the desire to publicly discuss her sexuality.
Inspired by her Sky Sports colleague and Attitude sports editor Mark
McAdams (“the messages he got [after coming out in 2014] were amazing”), Sarah has decided that now is the right time to open up about her experiences as a gay woman.
“I have definitely struggled with it [my sexuality] for many years and I was quite guarded and closed, but I think that’s my personality,” she explains. “The last few years, I’ve just become really comfortable and much more [pauses] — I don’t have an issue talking about anything now.”
Everybody comes to terms with their sexual ‘awakening’ at their own pace; for some it’s a sprint, for others it is more of a marathon. (Me? I came wriggling out of my mother’s womb in a pair of Kylie’s gold hot pants.)
“It sounds clichéd, but everyone has their own journey,” Sarah shrugs. “I look back [to when I was growing up] and the world was a completely different place, the acceptance wasn’t there… I feel like societal change has made it easier to be [yourself] and I don’t feel scared about the response.”
Initially, she wanted to draw a very distinct line between her private and personal life: “I didn’t want to be talked about. I didn’t want the athletes or the golfers that I was speaking to, I didn’t want them to be, like, ‘Have you seen the new Sky Sports presenter? She’s only into girls’ or whatever. I wanted to be talked about for being professional.”
She notes: “I do wish I’d been comfortable with it and more open earlier, because I know suppressing it a little bit, that’s caused me some issues, definitely; not being open and honest with people. But at work it was a case of, I just want to do my job, I didn’t want to be a label.”
Aside from a few teething problems, Sarah’s family rallied round her:
“I’d say my dad struggled with it at the beginning — not struggled, but he’s quite a blunt, straight-talking Yorkshireman, and it wasn’t his world. Whereas my mum has worked in TV; she’s styled for lots of food programmes over the years and used to do some presenting on This Morning, so she’s been around, particularly gay men, that was her world.
“One thing I do regret is, even at the beginning it was, like, ‘OK, this is my girlfriend’, but we [my parents and I] didn’t really talk about it enough, and I wished — I wish I’d had more of a conversation with my mum and dad at the time, sat and had a conversation and maybe got a bit of help, therapy-wise, at that age as well, because I do think I’ve internalised a lot of stuff, bottled a lot of stuff up, and it’s affected me the last few years. I’m naturally not an open person.”
Sarah is learning to let more people in, though. “I remember telling two of my good mates at work, we were in a strip club — it was a really bizarre night out,” she grins. “I ended up telling them and they were brilliant. I should have told them ages ago.”
Owning her sexuality as an important part — but not the entirety — of her identity, Sarah is ready to come out swinging for the LGBTQ+ community:
“I don’t really have a voice in the community, and I want to [have one].”
She goes on: “I am proud of who I am, and if I can be more a part of the community – [as I said] I shied away from it, because I didn’t want to be labelled, whereas now I think, but I am part of the community, and I’m also Sarah, I’m a presenter, these are my interests. I’ve led quite a selfish life in the job I do. As a lot of sportspeople would say, it’s all about you, and if I can give back and help people, I’d really like to do that. I have a platform, so why not use it?”
It would be remiss not to ask Sarah, a sports journalist, about the subject of why more queer people aren’t ‘out’ in sport, and she dives in. “It’s about the safety in your sport and how you feel,” she argues.
“In women’s golf, there’s Mel Reid… She said, ‘I want to use my platform, I’m a visible athlete, this is who I am, I don’t want to hide it any more, I want to get involved and help.’ She was worried for a long time about backlash, but also [the cost] in the commercial world, and actually now it’s such an inclusive space for everybody.
“It’s a lot to do with your arena. In the
Premier League, we’ve just seen with Marcus Rashford and racism, there is still a pocket [of fans] there trolling and [spouting] hate online. I don’t think they [closeted players] feel comfortable. Even though in so many different sports we’ve come a long way, there’s still that missing link with top-flight football, with a very big name coming out.
“I don’t think we’re too far away,” she says, optimistically.
Gracing the pages of Attitude’s special summer Pride issue isn’t lost on Sarah, either. “Life’s too short, isn’t it? If somebody doesn’t like me, or whatever, fine. I only care about the people I care about. I’ve had to learn that. I think that is part of this as well. I want to feel proud of myself for doing it; if it’s there in black and white, I can say, ‘Here’s an interview I did in Attitude,’” she smiles. “The bottom line is: I don’t give a shit any more!”
Cheers – and a few yip-yaps from Freddie – to that.
“If I can give back and help people, I’d like to do that. I have a platform, so why not use it?”