I’m worried by the fact that everybody thinks they need to look ‘selfie-ready’
Gaby Roslin, 54, is back with Shop Smart Save Money, which sees her and Fiona Phillips share cash-saving tips with viewers. She talks to CIARAN WILLIS and GEORGIA HUMPHREYS about shopping, social media and Strictly
Shop Smart Save Money helps consumers make sense of confusing deals and offers. Why do you think it’s been so popular? IT’S filmed live 24 hours before it goes out, so it’s very up to the minute; the latest things to look out for.
We’re not pulling the wool over anybody’s eyes. It’s a very straight, honest show. We’re taking the brands to task, which I think is important.
Also, it’s incredibly real. It’s filmed in a shopping centre, so real people are involved in it.
Shopping is something that we all do. Some love it, some hate it, but everybody has to do it.
What can we expect from the new episodes?
WE WILL look at Halloween, Bonfire Night, and we will look at Christmas – it’d be crazy not to, it’s the time that people spend the most money.
I think in these very uncertain times, everybody is worried, and with so many of the big stores having problems...
And (then there are) the haves and have-nots... I hate that expression, but people who don’t have as much as others – the gap is vast.
People who have excessive wealth, some of them have no concept of what it’s like for people to choose between heating and eating.
Have you ever been tricked into buying something yourself?
I’VE been caught out with BOGOF. I remember when I was doing the last series, taking my youngest to get new gym gear for her school kit.
We were in a shop and it said ‘3 for 2’, so I picked up three, and then my daughter looked at me and said, ‘Mum, I only need one’.
I’d completely fallen for it.
You have a 17-year-old daughter. Have you taught her to be realistic about money?
YES. She earns money, goes babysitting quite a lot.
They know that we have to work.
I love my job, but I can’t not work, because I have to pay for mortgages and bills.
Like everybody else, money comes in and money goes out, and it’s frightening how fast that happens.
Do you worry about your daughters using things like Instagram? ABSOLUTELY. My youngest isn’t on it, because she’s too young. It’s vitally important that they’re aware. It’s very different for me, you know – that’s what I do. I do television, I do radio, and I use it (Instagram) to have a laugh, actually.
I’m not doing face-tuning, or whatever they are, those filters.
I’m very worried by the fact that everybody thinks they need to look ‘selfie-ready’.
I walk everywhere, I walk about seven miles a day, but I see – without fail, every day – people taking selfies, and posing and pouting.
What has changed the most since you started your career in TV? PEOPLE are more accepting of women in the industry.
When I started out, I was one of the first women to have her own Saturday night entertainment show, because there weren’t women that did it.
There was Cilla Black on ITV, and there was me on the BBC doing a show called Whatever You Want, which I did for four years. (TV) was very male dominated.
There are times when my kids say, ‘Oh mum, do you have to go to work?’ The only day off I have is a Saturday.
I think it’s important that they see their mum goes out to work just as much as their dad.
You’ve worked in TV for three decades, shooting to fame in the 1990s as a presenter on The Big Breakfast. What would you still like to do?
MY DREAM job would be going back to doing live television. That’s what I want to do more than anything else, and it’s no secret.
For years, I didn’t say it out loud. But I’d like to be doing live television every day. And if they then sign me for the next 20 years, I’d be very happy.
You seem like a very positive person. How do you stay optimistic?
BECAUSE I Iove life, I suppose. I don’t apologise about being happy.
Before my mum died (from cancer in 1997), I always used to go, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so happy’.
Then, afterwards, I thought, ‘Hold on a minute, it’s not very long we’re on this planet, and God, I just love it’.
Would you ever go on a reality show?
NO. I’M very lucky at the moment, I don’t need to. I love watching Strictly; I will never ever do it. I’m too shy. I’m very adamant about it...
The idea of dancing and going out wearing skin-tight sequins.
No thank you!