AtHomeWithGloriaHunnifordOctober2016 - 55


THE BIG INTERVIEW ▲

Having been a broadcaster since 1969 with BBC
Northern Ireland, Gloria's illustrious career has taken her
from Ulster TV to the BBC in London, where she became
the ﬁrst woman presenter on Radio 2 - a position she
held for 14 years. Her dream job of presenting a chat show
Sunday, Sunday on LWT followed, before presenting a live
magazine show Open House for Channel 5.
She worked on numerous BBC documentaries before
taking on her current jobs as Rip Oﬀ Britain presenter and
Loose Women panelist (and sometimes anchor).
'I always think it's good to dream, and even if you haven't
achieved your dreams yet, there's nothing to stop you keeping
on trying. I was in my 70s when I started on Loose Women,
which can be a bit risqué at the best of times. But it's fun, it's
challenging and it's nice to have the interchange with younger
people. Rip Oﬀ Britain is now on at prime time (7.30pm on
Wednesdays), and I never expected that gig at my age. It was
such a surprise that a programme made for morning viewing
became a prime time show - that's a blessing.'

SEASONED PRO

So, what's the secret to the endurance of Gloria's career?
'I think it's because I've always been prepared to take on
new challenges and go in diﬀerent directions. When
Channel 5 oﬀered me a job all those years ago, it was
regarded as a soft porn channel at night time at that point.
'I remember my agent saying "Are you sure you want to
do this?" I thought, well, their money is as good as anyone
else's and they're giving me a choice of what I want to do,
so why not? I thought it was terriﬁc! I've never been afraid
to take chances.'
When it came to her constant presence on Loose Women,
it was Gloria's journalistic background, as well as her age,
that cemented her place. 'The balance of that programme is
to have people of diﬀerent ages, so I ﬁt into that.'
Although she's a TV stalwart, does Gloria ever feel
self-conscious in front of the camera? 'Because I started
to sing when I was seven years old, I've always been
used to standing in front of a live audience. I was used to
the sound of my own voice, and introducing the little songs
I was about to sing. I love the live audience element - it
doesn't bother me at all - but I know people who can do
a radio broadcast to 10 million and then not want to do
anything in front of people. I love it, but I try not to think
there might be millions watching. That helps.'

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

Gloria has interviewed many, many superstars throughout
her career, from Audrey Hepburn and Sean Connery to
Gene Wilder and Doris Day - 'When I was young, I wanted
to be her!' - but she cites her pal Cliﬀ Richard as one of her
favourite interviewees, as shown on pg 58.
'He's one of the best people to interview, ever, in my
opinion. He gave me the ﬁrst exclusive interview after those
awful allegations (in 2014). It was great because we got an
hour of air time to chat. So much of TV these days is sound
bites, so it was good to get the whole interview with Cliﬀ.
'We had enough time to go into all his feelings. We've
been friends for 45 years. When I was on my radio chat
show, I'd see his name on the guest list and think
"fantastic", because Cliff 's such a great talker and I knew
he'd be good - he can talk about any subject.'

MY MUM USED TO SAY
'IN LIFE, YOU SHOULD
ALWAYS BUY A REALLY GOOD
BED AND A REALLY GOOD
PAIR OF SHOES BECAUSE IF
YOU'RE NOT IN ONE, YOU'RE
IN THE OTHER' AND SHE'S
RIGHT, ISN'T SHE?
But who does she wish she could interview - dead or
alive? 'I'd very much have liked to interview Margaret
Thatcher - as a woman, not necessarily as a politician. And
Princess Diana, just to get the real truth about her life.'

WORDS OF WISDOM

These days, thanks to social media, everyone has an
opinion, but Gloria took her advice from her old boss at
BBC Northern Ireland. 'When I was at the BBC in Ulster, I
originally went on the equivalent of the Today programme
to talk about a record that I'd made. It was at a time when
there were virtually no women in the broadcast industry, so
when I was being interviewed, the producer, Dan Gilbert,
asked if I'd ever thought about broadcasting because I
didn't seem to be stuck for a word or two!
'He told me to meet him for an interview the next day.
This left no time for preparation and, afterwards, I said to
my mum that it was a waste of time. But Dan called me
that night and oﬀered me the job.
'I went in that ﬁrst morning and he said: "What do you
see?" Well, all I could see were a lot of men sat at
typewriters. Without me even thinking about sexism, Dan
said: "Just remember, you'll be out on the streets with
bombs, bullets and barricades, and you are as good as
any bloke in this newsroom." So, without knowing it, I
grew up oblivious to sexism in the industry.'
Meanwhile, her mum cut to the chase with her 'practical
advice': 'She used to say: "In life, you should always buy a
really good bed and a really good pair of shoes because if
you're not in one, you're in the other." And she's right, isn't she?
'But if I could give my younger self any advice, it would be
to have more children. Having children is the best thing I've
ever done. And having lost my gorgeous Caron, it has made
me doubly aware of how important children are. In fact, it's
my biggest regret that I didn't have more, to be honest.'

SCAM SHOCK

Despite working on Rip Oﬀ Britain and being well aware
of how fraudsters and scammers work, Gloria had a shock
earlier this year when she was the victim of identity fraud.
Four people posing as her, her daughter Caron, her
grandson and his friend walked into a Santander bank
branch and scammed Gloria of £120,000. The bank teller
ﬁlled in paperwork - incorrectly - and used a fake copy of a
driving licence to access her account, something that baﬄes
Gloria. 'It's harder for me to get my money out than four

www.athomemagazine.co.uk NOVEMBER 2016 | 055
http://www.athomemagazine.co.uk
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AtHomeWithGloriaHunnifordOctober2016
