So, Goody Two Shoes Katie Derham, have you EVER been a naughty girl? The closest she's come to controversy was when she announced the 'news at sex'
Katie Derham is famously nicer than nice; gooder than good and unshakeably professional, warm, friendly, safe, chatty, careful and discreet
Naturally, Katie Derham is behaving like an angel. She smiles her lovely, fresh smile, throws back a head of shiny hair extensions and laughs a tinkling laugh.
Despite being 45, she happily pops on a teeny dress that makes her look like a Christmas bauble and obligingly crosses and uncrosses her glorious legs for the photographer.
Of course she does. She’s famously nicer than nice; gooder than good and unshakeably professional, warm, friendly, safe, chatty, careful and discreet. The closest she’s come to controversy was in her newsreader days when she accidentally announced that the next news was at five to ‘sex’ instead of ‘six’.
Her go-to swear words are ‘flipping’ and ‘heck’, for goodness sake.
Right now, she has a lot to say about her spangled, short-skirted, spray-tanned time on Strictly — she and partner Anton du Beke are in the quarter-final — and how very ‘cheering and positive and joyful and uplifting and supportive’ the whole experience has been.
Which is all very lovely, but what about last week — when Anton was clearly seen hissing ‘AWFUL!’ in her ear after Peter Andre’s doomed American Smooth dance on Saturday. ‘I didn’t hear it at all,’ she smiles sweetly. Really?! It was right in her ear. ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear anything and I’ve been much too busy learning the Foxtrot for Saturday to watch it since.’ Big smile.
Maybe Anton was right, maybe Peter Andre was awful. ‘Well, I certainly couldn’t comment because I’m no judge. But Pete’s lovely and Anton is genuinely very nice and helps everyone loads.’
Similarly, she gently bats away claims made by former contestant Jamelia that one of Andre’s standing ovations was staged. And she has no truck with claims by professional dancer Ola Jordan that the judges sneak into rehearsals to avoid being surprised on the big night, and deliberately keep favourites in the show. ‘Ola is amazing,’ she says, smiling warmly. ‘But there’s no way the judges would rig it.
‘And I’d be highly shocked if they didn’t want to have a clue as to what was going to be going on live television in front of 11 million people. They need to know what’s coming up. It’s a wonderful show and I just can’t believe we’re still in it.’
Whatever, Anton must be thrilled. It’s the first time in years he’s not been lumbered with one of the annual ‘character’ contestants — his ungainly alumni include Ann Widdecombe, Esther Rantzen, Nancy Dell’Olio and Judy Murray.
Katie, meanwhile, is super-fit, musical, has amazing legs and is under 60. Oh happy days. Even so, they’ve had an up-and-down time, receiving some great comments from the judges and some less good — particularly when it comes to anything remotely Latin.
Ever ungallant, Craig Revel Horwood said Katie looked as if she was constantly at finishing school and could do with a vodka shot and letting her hair down.
‘Listen, if he got me a vodka that would be lovely. I was a bit stiff, but the idea of actually boozing before the dancing is probably a really bad idea,’ she says sensibly. But does she ever really let herself go? Neck drinks and dance on tables?
She has a lot to say about her spangled, short-skirted, spray-tanned time on Strictly — she and partner Anton du Beke (pictured together) are in the quarter-final — and how very ‘cheering and positive and joyful and uplifting and supportive’ the whole experience has been
‘Oh yes! But obviously I’m not going to tell you all my massive war stories!’
Are there lots? Has Miss Goody Two Shoes ever truly let herself down, got sozzled? Overdone things? ‘Er, loads! Of course. Naturally. I’m 45, do you think that wouldn’t have happened in the last 25 years?
‘But oh no, I’m not going to talk to you about my ugly moments. I don’t think we need to go there, do we?’ Gosh, the very thought.
But it turns out that the nicest woman on telly also loves cocktails and iced rosé wine, used to smoke back in the bad old days, once gatecrashed a Cambridge University ball — where she met her millionaire husband John Vincent (co-founder with Henry Dimbleby of the Leon healthy fast-food chain) — and is frequently the first on the dance floor and the last to leave parties.
Oh yes, and despite her soignee appearance now, she’s also rattled through her fair share of bad hair-dos over the years — perms, crop cuts, centre partings and bright red dyes.
She’s not even as organised as she looks. She insists she’s horribly messy and she was several months pregnant with her first daughter when she got married — although she didn’t even realise. ‘We did think it was odd I kept ordering hot chocolate in Las Vegas on our honeymoon!’
Katie grew up in Wilmslow, the second of four children. Her father John was a chemist for Pfizer and her mother Margaret was a teacher. Katie played both the piano and violin to grade eight, captained the ladies’ cricket team and was, briefly, a keen synchronised swimmer.
But there was no snogging behind the bike sheds. ‘I had braces and specs and was not pretty at all.’
Katie grew up in Wilmslow, the second of four children. Her father John was a chemist for Pfizer and her mother Margaret was a teacher. She is pictured aged eight
Her brother called her ‘girder gob’, and the teenage Katie was not awash with boyfriends.
‘Teenage years go on to the age of 20, don’t they?’ she says pleadingly. ‘I had a boyfriend eventually, but I wouldn’t say I was an early developer.
‘But as a mother of teenage girls, I’m very happy with that.’
She absolutely adored her own mum. ‘She was fantastic — funny, bright, dynamic, quite strict and very witty.’ But when Margaret was in her early 50s, it was clear something was very wrong. ‘She seemed to be losing confidence. Suddenly she wanted to give up teaching. We thought it might just be the menopause. She was only in her 50s, so Alzheimer’s wasn’t on anyone’s radar.’
Not least, because like many dementia sufferers, she became adept at making excuses and camouflaging her symptoms. ‘And I think we protected and compensated because we didn’t want to face it.’
But soon her decline was heartbreakingly evident. Towards the end, when she was moved to a home for expert care, she didn’t recognise any of her family. ‘I think she knew we were nice and friendly. Maybe familiar,’ says Katie. ‘But nothing more.’
She was just 61 when she died and never met Katie’s younger daughter Eleanor.
‘It was horrendous. Particularly for Dad. He’s an immensely caring and stoic person who loved Mum and he coped exceptionally well as she just slipped away.’
Having been rejected by the BBC graduate trainee scheme, Katie simply got a job as a BBC secretary and worked her way up
In one uplifting twist, he remarried, to Helen, Katie’s childhood violin teacher, whose husband had been in the same care home, also suffering from the disease. ‘He’s really happy and Helen’s wonderful, so as stepmothers go, it couldn’t be better.’
Which doesn’t remove one dark shadow — that research shows Alzheimer’s can have a genetic link.
At 45, Katie is just six years younger than her mother when she first displayed symptoms.
‘If I stopped to think about it, I would worry. But what can you do? I try to keep fit. I try to support charities that raise money for research. I keep an eye on myself.’
It’s clear that behind the endless fresh smiles, Katie is strong, gritty and driven. And always has been.
When she graduated from Cambridge University with a 2.2 and struggled to get a job, she worked as a cleaner for her housemates in London to pay the bills.
‘I wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t pass the dust test with a white glove.’
And having been rejected by the BBC graduate trainee scheme, she simply got a job as a BBC secretary and worked her way up — as a researcher on Radio 4’s Money Box, presenter on Radio 5 Live and reporter on the long-running Film programme.
Finally, aged 27, she became the youngest ever (and in many viewers’ eyes, most attractive) newsreader on national television. She certainly attracted an awful lot of fan mail — everyone from oil rig workers to prisoners declared their love for her.
But despite her delicate appearance — and after weeks of dancing she is properly slim — Katie can stand up for herself.
So when in 2005, at Hay literary festival, veteran newsman Michael Buerk dismissed news-reading with a typically snappy put-down — ‘If you can read out loud, you can do it’ and also, ‘It is the only job that actually requires no talent at all’ — she was justifiably furious and has defended her craft against his and similar slurs by veteran news reporters (including Kate Adie) in newspaper interviews since.
‘I was in the audience when he made that comment,’ she tells me. ‘He wasn’t doing it with malice.
‘But he also didn’t know me and Emily Maitlis and Andrea Catherwood were all there, three of us newsreaders sitting, looking at each other and going, “What?!”’
They must have been apoplectic.
‘He’s entitled to his opinion — he said what he said. I’m not saying what we do is saving lives, but there’s a certain knack to it.
‘People are talking in our ears and things are changing.’
Her dance partner Anton described her as: 'Brilliant! Even better than Judy Murray.’ Praise indeed...
Her worst moment was during the early days of the second Gulf War when Kabul was being bombed, and halfway through a newsflash her editors said: ‘Don’t stop talking, we’re going open ended.’
‘I just had to keep on talking. That was sweaty making. Flipping heck!’
So what did Katie think of Michael Buerk’s decision to appear on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, eating kangaroo bits and romping about in a giant chicken costume?
‘I don’t know. He can do what he wants. If he wants to challenge himself with rats, that’s fine by me.’
She, however, turned down her own invitation very firmly.
‘I’m a bit too busy working,’ she says crisply. ‘And I’m not very good with bugs.’
So why Strictly? ‘Finally I could manage the logistics and share the fun with my dance-mad daughters.’
Does she think she can win? And is she competitive?
‘I’d say no. I think I’m very even-tempered and nice,’ she smiles sweetly. ‘But my husband would say I’m really, really competitive. You have to keep a sense of perspective, but it would be hilarious if we won.’
What does Anton think — he’s busy limbering up for their rehearsal in the background in black slacks, neat lacquered hair and shiny shoes. ‘She’s brilliant. Brilliant! Even better than Judy Murray.’ Praise indeed.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3346956/So-Goody-Two-Shoes-Katie-Derham-naughty-girl-closest-s-come-controversy-announced-news-sex.html#ixzz3tUCTm9lb
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