Cereal? (She had an argument
with a friend who said
Shreddies.) “After nine years of
marriage, there’s not that much left
to talk about,” Claudia admits. “But
you can play ‘King of’ forever. We lie
in bed arguing about whether a carrot
or pea is a superior vegetable.”
There are definitely no awkward
silences when Claudia’s around. She
has an amazing kooky charm and that
clever knack of making you feel
instantly at ease and she’s so open you
feel like you’re automatically upgraded
to ‘good friend’ status. She’s also funny,
smart and very self-deprecating (she
refers to herself as ‘repellent’ quite
frequently – which she’s definitely not,
by the way).
Indeed she’s far funnier in the flesh
than she appears on-screen. Claudia is
a woman who doesn’t need an auto-cue;
wit and cheek naturally roll off her
tongue like she’s gearing up for banter
with Jonathan Ross. And she’s a little bit
rude. Yes, she likes a swear word. Not in
a fishwife way – her expletives are
bubble-wrapped in charm.
Besides, there’s nothing downmarket
about Ms Winkleman. Brought up in an
intellectual household – her father Barry
is a publisher, and her mother Eve
Pollard and stepfather Sir Nicholas
Lloyd were former newspaper editors.
She went to the prestigious City of
London School for Girls and graduated
from Cambridge with an MA Hons in
History of Art. In other words, she’s no
telly window dressing.
This may explain why 2009 has
been a busy year for Claudia. She’s
currently on our screens every
weekday doing Strictly Come Dancing’s
spin-off show, It Takes Two, and braved
Marco Pierre White when she fronted
Hell’s Kitchen earlier this year. She also
has a Friday-night Radio 2 slot –
Winkleman’s Arts Show – which she
credits as “the most fun ever”. But
despite clearly loving what she does,
presenting is very much a job and her
priority is most definitely her family…
and nothing’s going to stop her picking
up her kids from school.
With two young children and a
successful career, how smoothly
does the Winkleman household run?
I have to be quick. When two kids
tumble in wanting breakfast five
minutes after I’ve woken up, speed is
of the essence. So I have a standard
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daily uniform –
black leggings and
black jumper. I don’t
really give a monkey’s
what I look like. If I
didn’t work in TV, I’d
probably live in my
pyjamas. My main aim
in life is never to be
papped, and I never
am. I rarely go out. I’d
much rather stay in
my house and eat
pizza. It means I could
wear a Batman cape,
a velour poncho and
mismatched Uggs and
I don’t think anyone
would care.
Did you make a
conscious decision to
keep a low profile?
Yes. It was a wellthought-out
decision.
My mum said the only
thing you don’t want
to be is famous; my husband, who
used to work in PR, said never do an
interview, and my agent said to stay
under the radar. They’re all cleverer
than me, so I listened.
You love what you do, though?
Love it. I love live TV, I love the fear of
knowing anything could happen and I
love that when it’s done, it’s done. I love
working with a big team of people, as
when you’re at home with the kids you
do feel quite isolated. But I have no
interest in going to a launch party when
I could be putting my kids to bed.
Your success has grown as you’ve
gotten older. Do you think if fame had
come earlier you’d have embraced
that lifestyle more readily?
Probably. Before I had kids, I’d only
been invited to one premiere, which
was for Titanic. I was so overwhelmed
that I put my own hair in rollers, slept
“I’VE GOT THE BODY SHAPE
OF E.T. I LOOK EMBARRASSING
IN SEXY STUFF, LIKE I’M
PLAYING DRESS UP”
CLAUDIA SAYS SHE PREFERS HER
MORE SELF-ASSURED 30S TO
HER UNDER-CONFIDENT 20S
in them all night and slathered on
fake tan so badly that I had a very
distinct hand print on my face. I
looked hideous and I nearly fainted
when I saw Yasmin le Bon. I distinctly
remember thinking: “I never need
do that again.”
So you’ve never been tempted
to boost your profile by
courting celebrity?
I think that to pursue a life of fame is
quite dangerous. You have two options.
Route A is a
glamorous party,
route B
is your oldest
friend who’s
having a sh*t
time with her
boyfriend and
wants to come
round and have
a curry. I’m not
saying I’m a
particularly nice
person, but I
have always
chosen route B.
Do you think
you have the
WITH MOTHER EVE POLLARD,
FORMER EDITOR OF THE SUNDAY
MIRROR AND SUNDAY EXPRESS
personality that could ld deal wi with thh
bbeing
eing i
judged and scrutinised so closely?
No, definitely not. Once it becomes
very important what mascara you’re
wearing, it’s very difficult just to go to
the zoo with your children and answer
their nine questions about whether
giraffes are, in fact, birds (apparently
because they’re so tall). It would give
me a distorted view of what’s
important. My idol is Emma Freud.
She still does Radio 4, she’s a script
editor but she never gets papped.
I think you absolutely can decide.
Do you have strict rules about
how you split your work and
family life?
Strictly takes over my life from
September until Christmas, so
I don’t do any TV work through the
summer. My agent, Joanna, knows
it has to be something extraordinary
for me to have to work in the summer
as I’d rather be with my kids. I’ve
turned down lots of jobs because
of it. I absolutely love doing my Radio
2 show, though. It means I get to read
brilliant books, interview brilliant
authors, comics and artists and review
the best art exhibitions. It’s expanded
my life. Now, instead of just sleeping,
I take my kids to see things like the
Beatrix Potter exhibition in Bristol.
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