Talk to Jo

On the cusp of Sid Sloane's very last week as a CBeebies presenter (which he helped to launch), I met him at the Epsom Playhouse after he performed The Sid Show.  He was a delight of course and my daughter (then 4) and I genuinely felt sad about him leaving.  He is also a radio presenter and television actor. Born to Afro-Caribbean parents, he grew up in Wimbledon and Wandsworth.  We discuss many things including Seal and how he was handling his divorce!

I chatted to Steve McFadden when he was appearing as Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Faifield Halls, Croydon. Known primarily for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders since 1990, he was also the presenter of fighting series, Britain's Hardest.  We discuss his rise to fame from his early childhood to the present day.

I interviewed Lucy-Anne Holmes, British author, actor and campaigner the year the BBC recognised her as one of its 100 women for her work founding the No More Page 3 campaign in 2012.  She began the campaign to convince editors to cease publishing images of topless female glamour models on page three of their tabloid newspapers.  Here we discuss sexism, feminism, her novels and female's negative body image perpetuated by society especially the media.

I talked to British singer-songwriter and actress, Hazel O'Connor on the eve of her gig with Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers. We discussed her rise to fame, Toyah and Ian Dury and her 80s hits "Eighth Day", "D-Days" and "Will You?", as well as the 1980 film Breaking Glass.

During my time as a presenter at a Croydon radio station I talked to various actors, comedians, writers, politicians and musicians.  Here I talk to comedy legend Alan Davies about QI, Jonathan Creek, Whites and his stand-up tour at the time.

I had a laugh with writer, actor, comedian and presenter Tim Vine about the Banstead Arts Festival, the Guinness Book of Records and darts but mostly we talked about our shared experience of growing up near Croydon.

I talked to musician Steve Harley, the English singer and songwriter, best known as frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel with whom he still tours albeit a different line-up.  Amongst other topics we discussed his childhood, first song, touring, Cambodia and the story behind his biggest hit 'Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)'.

I had the pleasure to interview British-Iranian stand-up comedian, actor, television producer, presenter and writer, Omid Djalili. We had a fascinating chat about many things including Robert Redford's makeshift facelift, being sacked from Pirates of the Caribbean and how hard relationships are!