MY MOMENT When Sarah Greene joined Blue Peter as its youngest ever presenter - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity MY MOMENT When Sarah Greene joined Blue Peter as its youngest ever presenter By You Magazine - October 7, 2018 When Sarah Greene joined Blue Peter she was its youngest ever presenter. She was warned the show would end her career – instead it made her a household name. Photo by Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shuttersto​ck I was 22 when I joined Blue Peter, the youngest presenter they’d had then. My audition was terrifying. I was a trained actress but instead of playing a part, I just had to be me, which I had no idea how to do. That was the greatest gift the show gave me: learning to feel comfortable in my own skin. BBC Looking at photos of myself from when I started in 1980, and then pictures three years later, the difference in my body language is astounding. With the one of me with Kenneth Williams, I remember genuine belly laughs. Though he was an idol of mine, he could be scary – yet I look completely relaxed. BBC Presenting had never been part of my plan. I was in a BBC Sunday night drama called The Swish of the Curtain and was interviewed on Blue Peter. Unbeknown to me, one of the hosts, Tina Heath, was leaving, so they asked me to audition. My agent said, ‘Do not do this. You will get sucked into presenting and never act again.’ So when I was offered the job, I panicked over whether to take it. My mum [late actress Marjie Lawrence] was working in the West End with Richard Briers, and he said: ‘Darling, do it – it’s regular work.’ That’s the best advice I’ve ever been given. BBC Most of what’s happened to me in my life is because of Blue Peter. The people I worked with there are still some of my closest friends. I’m having coffee with Janet Ellis next week, and I recently had dinner with Biddy Baxter, the show’s doyenne. Percy Thrower, the king of TV gardening, taught me things that have stayed with me all my life. On my last day on the show, he gave me a bunch of sweet peas – that sent me into floods of tears. My co-hosts Simon Groom and Peter Duncan were like my brothers; we all looked out for each other. And then there was our non-human cast. Morph looks like a simple Plasticine figure but, my goodness, the work that goes into that kind of animation. As for the cats, I think we enjoyed working with them more than they enjoyed being with us – they were always escaping! Photo by David Fisher REX Shutterstock I also met my husband [broadcaster Mike Smith, who died in 2014] on Blue Peter, when I was covering the London Marathon. Looking back, the show was like an amazing, extended family. I still get emotional when I think about when I left – it felt like leaving home. Blue Peter is on Thursdays at 5.30pm on CBBC. It will be celebrating its 60th anniversary with a one-hour special on 16 October at 5pm. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved