In the Hot Seat
"Been 26 for years!"
Earliest memory?
"Watching a neighbour*s chimney burn from the sand dunes at Camber Sands withmy cousins during the summer holidays. The firemen came and had tea at our house after the fire was out."
Favourite place?
"London, Hong Kong, New York. I love cities!"
Favourite music?
"The Waterboys, U2, Annie Lennox, Sting, The Cure."
Any special qualifications/achievements that you're proud of?
"Gold Sony for a promotion we did at Hereward, The caravan of doom. It
was great fun and hard work but it was where a lot of experience from other places came together successfully. 100 words a minute in shorthand, took me ages to get and has been useful ever since. I came fifth from last in the Wolverhampton Half Marathon! the
achievement was that I wasn*t last and I finished it!"
First job?
"Junior reporter for the Hinckley Herald"
Best job?
"This one - Lovelines on Century in Nottingham"
Dream job?
"Move over Jeremy Vine that lunchtime slot is mine!!"
How did you get started in doing what you do?
"I was a reporter for the Leicester Mercury and the next logical step
was to move to London and work on a national paper. I went down and talked to people, got some experience and worked out I'm not driven, hard nosed and down right nasty enough to do the job well! I*d been hanging around hospital radio stations for a while so I thought I'd give radio a go."
How long ago?
"1999"
Where would you have been seen or heard since you
started broadcasting?
"106 Century FM, Century Digital, Beacon FM,
Mercia FM, Hereward FM, Kix 96."
Best on-air moment?
"Runaway Bride at Beacon, this woman got all the way to Dubai in a
wedding dress just by blagging and won a wedding in Vegas. It was fantastic radio and as we had come up with the promotion ourselves and put it together on a shoestring it was just brilliant when it worked so well."
Describe a typical working day (if there is such a thing!)
"There really is no such thing!"
Any ambitions left?
"See the aurora borealis, win a Sony for my work!"
Biggest influence in your life?
"Oprah, my husband, my mum, Bill McMahon."
Best advice that you've been given and why?
"You get no thanks, cos you don't blow your own trumpet
because no one else will do it for you"
Any hobbies or special interests?
"I like anything paranormal and cooking separately of course, or maybe
there is such a thing as a haunted muffin!"
Any advice for those who want to get started in radio?
"Blow your own trumpet cos no one else will do it for you!.
Persistence is everything. If you believe in what you are doing then
keep doing it. Be nice to everyone in radio, you never know when you might need their help."
Thanks to Helen for answering our questions,
listen to Mercia FM Drive from 2-7pm.
Visit Helen's website at www.helenknott.co.uk
Copyright: Helen Knott/Martin Phillp 2005
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