Kent profile


who should get the job, and they voted for me. “I had no intention of going into


radio. I was petrified the first time I picked up the mike, but it’s something I have grown to absolutely love. “So I didn’t get to go travelling.


It was fate, it wasn’t meant to be. But I earned money, and instead of backpacking, I had lots of lovely holidays in nice hotels. “From then on, I worked my way


up the ladder. After a while I was given the chance to do a couple of ‘graveyard shifts’ from midnight to 6am, which are awful to do, and then I was given the evening show from 8 to 10pm.” Claire was then offered a job


presenting the lunchtime show on TFM and was able to move back to her parents’ home in Thirsk. “I bought myself a little cottage but I was only there for six months, then I got a phone call from the studio in Kent asking me to come down and do a demo to co-host the drive time show. A month later I was down here looking for a room and trying to make friends.


the other pieces of the jigsaw that now make up Claire’s busy life began to fit into place. “As soon as I saw Bearsted Green, I fell in love with it and I knew that was the place I wanted to live.” Through renting a place, Claire met the owner’s friend, nightclub owner Mark Wilson, and their romance blossomed . Then, nearly three years ago, along came their daughter Gracie. The family have just moved into


their new home close to the green and are busy making the final preparations for the wedding on April 16 at nearby Holy Cross Church, followed by a reception for more than 150 guests at Turkey Mill in Maidstone. Mark has chosen his son, Jack, as


best man. The 13-year-old will share the role with Mark’s brother Rob, with whom he owns Strawberry Moons in Maidstone. Claire will have five bridesmaids –


“I had no intention of going into radio.


I was petrified the first time I picked up the radio mike, but it’s something I have absolutely grown to love. I spend time playing music and talking, what’s better than that?”


It was probably the biggest and


bravest thing I have ever done. I drove down here on my own and my dad even had to show me where Kent was on the map. I didn’t know one person down here. “In the north, they said I might


find it difficult because southern people don’t like northerners, but I was made really welcome in Kent. I love it down here so much. It’s my home now. “I am so lucky to work at a radio


station that I love. I spend time playing music and talking – what’s better than that?” It was while she was house


hunting in the Maidstone area that


her best friend Briony, nieces Charlotte and Emily, and Rob’s wife Nic, with Gracie as a flower girl. The three pageboys will be Rob and Nic’s sons, Bobby, Joe and Fin. After working until two days before Gracie’s birth, Claire took a break for eight months and now leaves home at 6.30am on Saturdays and Sundays to head for Whitstable to do her show. “I am back by 12.30pm and from


Monday to Friday I can be a full time mum.” In her spare time, she enjoys shopping at Bluewater, holidays, and eating out with family and friends, especially at one of the pubs on the green when her parents make one of their regular visits. Claire also loves partying on a Saturday night at Strawberry Moons, although she admits that she pays the price when she has to do her show next morning while suffering from one of her legendary hangovers. “That’s when I do my best shows, “ she says. “I have to try harder to sound even brighter.” Her listeners, who send in a


steady flow of texts and emails, range in age from 12 to 80 and she has regulars such as Richard and Wendy who ring in to every show. “The nice thing about radio, “


says Claire, “is that people who are quite lonely can tune in and you are their friend.” Although she has met and


chatted to lots of celebrities – Westlife, JLS and Charlotte Church to name a few - Claire says she is still star-struck. “I still can’t get over the fact that


Jason Donovan’s show follows mine on a Sunday at midday – the legendary man that I adored when I was at school.” Has she ever had an


embarrassing moment while on air? “Well, I can only think of one”, she says. “When I first started out doing traffic and travel, they gave me a car to go out and do live broadcasts into the studio. I had to do four travel bulletins an hour and one morning I was desperate for the loo. I stopped the car at the services and dashed into the ladies, when I suddenly heard the studio saying “Ten seconds to live.” “It was too late to get out of there so I just had to do the bulletin. I had no choice but to sit there on the toilet chatting away, and no-one ever knew. I never told anybody so that has been a secret …until now.”


Mid Kent Living 5


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