The biggest change I’ve seen is the coverage of women’s sport. It’s brilliant to see so many girls playing football now
No I can’t. Since the 2012 Olympics, it has whizzed by. I can still remember my first week at Sky Sports like it was yesterday, coming from the North-East working in local radio. It’s been fun working for various different TV stations, the way the industry has changed and all the different platforms and ways of broadcasting.
What’s your favourite event to commentate on so far?
I always enjoy the multi-sport events – it’s really fun shining a spotlight on the athletes, swimmers and gymnasts. The London Olympics was a real highlight. It was so much fun and such a brilliant atmosphere. And the World Cup in Russia in 2018. I feel so privileged I got to meet real Russian people in lots of different cities. We might never travel like that in Russia again in my lifetime.
What have been the noticeable changes in sport during your presenting career? The biggest is the coverage of women’s sport and how much more it’s entered our consciousness. When I was a kid, you saw women playing tennis, occasionally playing golf, then in the Olympics doing athletics, but that was pretty much it. I hardly ever covered it starting out, so it’s unrecognisable from then.
That must be satisfying – you’ve been such a champion for women’s football. It is, and hearing my male colleagues talk about female pundits and female footballers in a way that is totally natural now. I’ve always thought that if young
They’re quite relaxed about it as they’ve grown up with it, with their dad [Kenny Logan] playing rugby, too. I remember at some event, Mo Farah invited them to his kid’s party and he was just this guy they’d met. Reuben’s an Arsenal fan so he’ll want to know if I’ve interviewed Declan Rice or whoever, whereas Lois was really chuffed when I got to interview showjumper Ben Maher after he won Olympic Gold. And the other day we were at an event where one of [YouTube group] the Sidemen was – they were so excited.
Kenny, 52, was successfully treated for prostate cancer in 2022. Your podcast with him about his diagnosis is your most downloaded…
Doctors tell me they tell their patients to listen to it and we get a lot of people messaging us that it really helped them. Kenny had no symptoms. He only got tested because of listening to a podcast of mine… so he wanted to talk about it once he’d had his prostate removed. We both feel enormously grateful when those messages come in.