I’m a born and bred Londoner with a bit of Estonian and Irish thrown in for good measure.

My favourite saying as a child was “me do it”, as I raced around the house in a toddler buggy. A bit of a handful for my parents,  I was obsessed with baking, always amazed that eggs, flour and sugar could turn into a yummy cake after putting them in the hot oven. My other passion, the news?!?! Yes, I was quite serious as a child!

I’ve always been quite comfortable hanging around with the boys - my dad took me to my first Arsenal game when I was twelve and from then on I was totally hooked. In fact, my first job at sixteen was working in the North Bank Highbury shop on match - days . Yes, I got paid to watch the matches. What a jammy gig! To this day, I still go to as many games at the Emirates as possible - lucky me, I’ve got season tickets. (I might take you, if you’re nice to me).

I had to give up the job when I left school and went to university. I was accepted at medical school but after passing out while watching my dad give blood I thought better about the idea. So with one day to choose my degree I just went with my heart and picked the subject I loved the best - History.  Yes ladies and gentlemen I am a history nerd!

People say school years are the best years of one’s life - these people have never been to university! Three years at Sussex University living in Brighton, well it doesn’t get much better than that.

My dad’s business in the Middle East and Far East took him across the globe and instead of sending me postcards he just took me with him. At last count I’ve been to 90 countries.  So it seemed very natural that after graduation my first love took over - travel.

I moved to Sydney, learnt to surf and worked several jobs to make ends meet -  including my first gig in television. A large chunk of the money I made, was spent on following England around Oz in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. My ticket to the final cost me an arm and a leg, but it was worth every cent!

I moved to Peru where I lived with a family in a tiny village called Calca in the Scared Valley. I volunteered and had the most amazing experience of my life, teaching in a school. I got the all-boys’ school and was known as teacher Shakira, they didn’t see many blondes there! It was teach-yourself Spanish and Quechua, learn that cold showers aren’t so bad,  and if you shower every other day you’re lucky. Oh and bedbugs are the norm! I loved it and can’t wait to go back!

Upon my return, I pursued my second passion, television and accepted the first job that came my way and there I was working in the testosterone-filled world of poker! I always enjoyed working behind the camera and might have continued to exclusively do that if not for one bad case of food poisoning. I was getting ready for a day of producing when my mobile rang - my boss, on the other end, told me the news. I was presenting for SKY Sports that evening...I was never so nervous in my life, but it was exhilarating. I had found a new love.

...and here I am, still producing and presenting. I’ve been lucky enough to travel and work all over the world, including: the Caribbean, New York, Paris, Vienna, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and of course London.