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W
ithin five minutes of sitting down with
Konnie Huq at a rooftop bar in central
London, a waitress has politely asked
us to quieten down. ‘Whoops, sorry,’
Huq replies, a warm wide smile on
her face. ‘I get a bit overexcited.’ She’s animated, yet gracious,
and her enthusiasm is infectious. It’s easy to see why she
became Blue Peter’s longest-serving female presenter, with
hundreds of thousands of families across the country tuning
in each afternoon to watch her do everything from appear
as a Bollywood extra to achieve a world record for pinning
17 Blue Peter badges to a co-presenter in 60 seconds.
Her passion for presenting began at an early age; at just 17,
she interviewed Labour MP Neil Kinnock ahead of the 1992
general election, before going on to present shows on CBBC
and ITV while also completing a degree in economics at the
University of Cambridge. Her iconic 10-year Blue Peter stint
began shortly after; believe it or not, she was just 22.
And yet while Blue Peter catapulted her into the limelight,
it would seem that in recent years she’s been happier avoiding
the attention. ‘Definitely,’ she agrees. ‘To be honest, it feels
like I’ve mostly been mumming since then.’ Translation: living a
quiet suburban life in Ealing, where she grew up, with her
husband, screenwriter and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker,
and their boys, Covey, seven, and Huxley, five. ‘I didn’t have
a clue what was going on in the world,’
she laughs. ‘But then in September, my
youngest started school, and I feel like
I’ve come out of this bubble. I almost
feel like I’ve been on ice.’
There’s another reason Huq has shied
away from media attention in recent
years. She’s been working on something close to her heart:
a semi-autobiographical children’s book series centring on the
life and adventures of a young girl from a Bangladeshi family,
who loves science and often feels she doesn’t quite fit in. ‘As
the small brown girl in the big white suburb, I felt like that
growing up,’ she admits. ‘Ealing wasn’t the melting pot it is
today. My mum and dad were a bit older than everyone else’s
cool, funky parents. My mum wore a sari and they ate with
their hands; no one else’s parents did that. The Cookie books
aim to embrace diversity, while also being a nice fun romp.
I think the best way to educate kids is through entertainment.’
Has writing been hard to juggle with the demands of two
young children? ‘I quite like spinning loads of plates,’ she says,
‘apart from when they all drop. It’s so hard to be a mum and
not feel like you’re being shit at everything sometimes.’
A shrug is followed by a smile. After all, she says, she
always knew she wanted kids. ‘I’ve always had that affinity
with them.’ But for Brooker, it was a different story. Last year,
he told Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs that he’d been worried
about feeling ‘nothing’, being that dad who didn’t emotionally
connect with his babies. ‘I think it’s because that hadn’t been
his world at all before, so it wasn’t on his radar,’ says Huq.
‘Which is funny, because he’s so kid-friendly now. He has
this persona of being scary, but he’s a real softie.’They’re often seen as the ‘yin and yang’ couple – the eternal
satirist versus the fresh-faced kids’ TV presenter, something Huq
doesn’t deny. ‘I was doing The Xtra Factor when we met, while
he was doing a show that effectively took the mick out of that
[reality TV] stuff, so it was a bit of a mismatch,’ she admits. But it
works, she tells me. After all, the pair are celebrating a decade
of marriage next year. They’ve even proved their mettle as a
couple at work. In 2011, they co-wrote Fifteen Million Merits,
the Black Mirror episode centred on a TV singing competition,
an experience Huq describes as both ‘brilliant’ and ‘surreal’.
It’s clear she is a skilled multitasker. ‘I must have a low
concentration threshold because I like to do lots of different
things,’ she says. As well as presenting, writing and ‘mumming’,
she also loves a bit of campaigning. She’s passionate about
combating climate change and has been vocal in her support of
her elder sister, Rupa, who is a Labour MP for the Ealing
Central and Acton constituency. She even helped with leafleting.
Would she ever consider going into politics herself?
‘Before, I didn’t get it,’ she laughs. ‘I was like, “Ugh,
why would anyone want to do that?” But, actually, I got
quite into the leafleting. What I like is the camaraderie- you’ve all got this like-minded thing and you’re working
for a cause. It’s quite addictive, quite a buzz.’
Huq isn’t afraid to voice her opinions – something she
got in trouble for during her Blue Peter days when she
was reprimanded for attending
a rally organised by former mayor
of London and Labour MP Ken
Livingstone. ‘It wasn’t even a
political rally,’ she exclaims. ‘It was
an event to promote cycling!’ I look
around, hoping the waitress won’t tell
us off again. Not that Huq minds. There is a definite streak of
rebellion beneath her wholesome kids’ TV smile; perhaps the
same streak that led to her doing an FHM cover back in 2009.
At the time, she said she was ‘kind of coaxed into it’, adding,
‘It should be possible to be sexy yet taken seriously.’
‘The thing about working for the BBC is you have to
be impartial,’ she explains. ‘People jumped on that cycling
thing – me and the Beeb were easy targets. But after it
happened, I did sort of try to keep away from all that.’
And now? ‘Well, I’m older,’ she smiles. ‘I have kids. I feel
things more acutely. When you’re younger, your priorities are
different. I wanted to look trendy and to find a husband
or whatever. Now, I want to save the planet and I do think
we’re better in Europe, and I want to make the world a better
place. I can’t help myself because I feel so strongly about it.
I believe we all have a responsibility to do what we can.
Helping other people is what leads to happiness, and that’s all
we can want in life. Stronger together, I think! Am I wrong?’
I shake my head, somewhat meekly. Even if I did disagree (I
don’t), it would be hard to contradict her. Eloquent and
outspoken, personable with a touch of fierceness – I, for one,
certainly wouldn’t want to stand against her in an election.
‘I could actually imagine myself doing it!’ she exclaims.
From Blue Peter to Brexit – you heard it here first...
‘I QUITE LIKE
SPINNING LOADS
OF PLATES’
Cookie!... And The Most Annoying Boy In The World (Piccadilly Press) by Konnie Huq is out 8th August