We caught up with radio broadcaster, talk-show host and writer Jeremy Vine about being a doting dad, learning from history and his passion for cycling.
I’m a proud dad
I have teenage daughters aged 13 and 16, and I love spending time with them. They have such a wicked sense of humour and I am the butt of every joke at home. It doesn't matter how famous you think you are, when you walk through your front door, you're just an idiot. There are two sisters in my novel The Diver and the Lover which is set in Spain in 1951. When they’re older maybe my girls will read it and wonder where I got the female perspective from!
History is fascinating…
… and I wish I knew more about it! It’s very much a millennial thing to think the world only started when you were born, but maybe I’ve been a bit like that. News people tend to live in the moment – concentrate on what’s happening in the here and now, or look to the future. But the past is a source of endless fascination. The last 100 or so years have been an extraordinary time in our history. There must still be thousands of stories that haven’t yet been told about the Second World War.
I hide my laziness!
I think I’m quite lazy rather than ambitious. I hide my laziness by posing as a workaholic and it’s worked so far! I never think I’m as driven as I probably am. Fact is, I enjoy broadcasting – whether on TV or radio. It’s fun to go out live, to have someone shout ‘action!’ and off you go. You never quite know what’s going to happen or whether the scripts will be in the right order. This tends to happen every day on my Channel Five show but we always seem to make it work.
I love radio
I would love to still be on Radio 2 in my 80s. When I started in 2003, the first person I met was Terry Wogan. I didn't say so to Terry but he started his breakfast show when I was six years old. It was amazing to walk in and he was still on. There's something about it – the lift doors open and Gary Numan steps out or I go in and see Tony Blackburn or Bob Harris. I'm a radio fanatic so for me it is heaven.
Cycling is heaven
It makes me feel like I can fly! I love it. For years I went around London in cars, trains and taxis. With cycling, there’s no such thing as a hold-up. A year or so ago, I bought a penny-farthing bicycle and I’ve learned how to ride it. It took about three months. I cycle around on it in the streets near my home – much to my daughters’ horror.
How you view yourself is key
You can’t impress people if you don’t impress yourself. I think this is probably the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given. Your view of yourself is the view you give other people – if you look unhappy, that’s what people will take from you.
What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
“Please understand that computers will be a very, very big thing and you need to invent something called Windows. Start paying attention in your computer studies class rather than not taking a blind bit of notice.”
Jeremy’s latest novel The Diver and the Lover__, a tale about the unbreakable bond of two sisters in 1950s Catalonia, is out now.
Catch Jeremy on Radio Two, weekdays, noon, and on his talk-show, on Channel Five, weekdays, 9.15am
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