TV star

April 21, 2010  

Twenty years ago I used to front a TV programme on a minority satellite TV channel in which I interviewed racing drivers. My last interview, with a beautiful lady driver called Giovanna Amati, saw me talking to her about being a woman in a man's world. "I'm here on talent alone, nothing else," she pouted. Minutes later, I caught her posing for a photographer in the cockpit of her racing car whilst applying lipstick using the wing mirror. So much for using talent alone, I thought.

That was then, but this is now. Who would have thought that the next time I found myself in front of the camera it wasn't to be the pit lane reporter for the BBC's F1 coverage, but to be interviewed by Bloomberg TV late last night about the impact the volcanic ash cloud has had on the supply chain industry? Oh, well.... I'll take my 15 minutes of fame in whatever form it comes.

Notwithstanding the cleaners firing up their vacuums mid-interview, the session went well. In the lift on the way back out of the studio, the pretty young interviewer said I had a sparkle in my eye when I talked about pineapples from Ghana. I guess, at my age, I should take that as a compliment.

"How much of that will you use?" I asked, referring to the previous 30 minutes of recording which I had spent all evening researching.

"I should think about 30 seconds," she replied. "Probably less..."

Oh well, perhaps I should stick to print journalism.