Gay BBC news presenter Jane: Where were girls like Cara when I needed them?
Jane Hill opens up on her struggle growing up with no lesbian role models
WITH her understated elegance and calm delivery, newsreader Jane Hill is among the most reassuring faces of the BBC.
Described by one mischievous critic as ‘severe but sexy’, she is never less than authoritative, whether presenting the weekend television news or Radio 4’s The World Tonight.
So it comes as something of a surprise to learn that her heroine – or one of them at least – is supermodel Cara Delevingne, a woman better known for wild party antics than a penetrating analysis of world affairs.
But as she explained in a frank and rare interview about her private life, Ms Hill credits Cara and fellow celebrity Sue Perkins with bringing about a British revolution – the public acceptance of gay women for the first time in history.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, the 46-year-old revealed the difficulties in coming out as a lesbian, a struggle she believes the younger generation will no longer face.
‘When I was growing up, I had terrible struggles with who I was,’ she said. ‘It was hugely difficult for me. I didn’t know any lesbians. I didn’t see any gay women in the media in magazines. It wasn’t talked about it, it wasn’t part of the conversation.
‘What I think is truly incredible is that I now look in a magazine and I see Cara Delevingne, this beautiful model, just completely relaxed about who she is and not trying to hide it, not being secretive.’
Ms Hill, who years ago dated Strictly Come Dancing champion and fellow journalist Chris Hollins, is now married to her partner of seven years, TV camera woman Sara Shepherd, after she came out in 2009.
She continued: ‘What I find even more extraordinary is in the aftermath of Cara the fact she is gay isn’t even a story. It’s just accepted, it’s fine. It’s just who she is.
‘For young girls growing up, this is incredible. My other half has a younger sister who is in her mid-20s and what is so heartening is that her generation will just see this as part of life.
‘I went through my 20s and 30s not being who I was and not feeling it was right for me to be able to be who I was. There was just one image of a lesbian, this tough cliched image and it didn’t fit me. I really strug- gled and it took me a very long time to get here.’
Today, Ms Hill is an anchor on the BBC news channel as well as presenting bulletins on the BBC One O’clock News and Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC2 show. She lives with Ms Shepherd and their dog Mavis in North London.
The University of London graduate has won plaudits for her work. She landed a scoop when she was granted the first televised interview with Kate and Gerry McCann while reporting on the disappearance of their three-year-old daughter Madeleine.
While colleagues had known for a while that she was gay, she didn’t make it public until six years ago when she wrote about ‘her girlfriend’ in Ariel magazine, the in-house BBC publication.
Speaking last week at the Attitude gay magazine awards in London, where she presented the Man Of The Year award to BBC Newsnight’s openly gay presenter Evan Davis, Ms Hill said she believed gay women like Miss Delevingne and Bake Off’s Sue Perkins had ‘turned the tide’ for young gay women in Britain.
‘To me, Sue Perkins is a complete triumph,’ she said. ‘There she is, a completely open, gay woman hosting the biggest BBC show on television. ‘Bake Off is huge. But it’s about middle class, middle England, Mary Berry and Victoria sponge cakes and there is Sue just embraced as part of all that and to any woman of my age who is gay it’s an extraordinarily wonderful thing.
‘I know Sue, I think she’s wonderful and, like Cara, I think she’s absolutely inspirational and just the very fact of them representing themselves not as cliches but as who they are is tremendous.’
As a journalist, Ms Hill won legions of fans for her skill and professionalism reporting from Washington DC in 2001 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and broadcasting for a marathon eight hours straight on the BBC news in December 2003 on the day the US Special Forces captured Saddam Hussein.
She has also won both male and female fans for her striking good looks.
But she is reluctant to push her celebrity status too far. ‘I see people like Miley Cyrus doing the gay thing [the pop star kissed singer Katy Perry on stage] and while that’s absolutely fine, it’s not such a
realistic representation for most women. It’s a bit of a London bubble thing, a fashion thing. ‘What I think is empowering is MPs like Margot James [the first openly gay Tory MP] and women in all walks of life. I’d like to see a gay woman CEO, women who are celebrated for what they do as well as who they are. But we’re moving forward. For me life is good.
‘At work, my sexuality has never been an issue. That’s how it should be. I’m just very glad I can be exactly who I am.’