Ex Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq may be handy with the sticky-backed plastic, but she has another great talent – going off on a tangent. Or three. So a conversation with Celebs On Sunday might go thus:
"Well, now I’ve left Blue Peter... (catches sight of her crimped barnet in the mirror) my hair is so big and crinkley. I don’t look like me... do I? Or do I? Sorry, where were we? Do I need to get my legs waxed?"
Konnie is exactly how you’d expect a BP presenter to be. She has bucketloads of warmth and charm, and she’s a good role model for young kids – which is perhaps why she’s been courted by various lads’ mags (they like to corrupt a good girl, those bad boys). However, she hasn’t succumbed to the obligatory bra and kecks shot. Yet.
The closest she has got to getting her bits out was when she had a Holly Willoughby moment last year. One balmy evening, Konnie stepped out in a very-plunging-at-the-front white number and the paps went absolutely wild at the glimpse of wholesome Blue Peter boobie.
"People think that was my 'rebellious quitting Blue Peter dress' but I was still on the show at the time," she laughs. "I think people thought, 'If she’s out in that dress, she must have left'. In real life it wasn’t that revealing. I think they just got a good angle. And if anyone else had worn it, no one would’ve batted an eyelid. It’s because I’m perceived to be so straight."
Well, Konnie does seem pretty straight. She’s a teetotal non-smoker whose only vice is her 'dark sense of humour'. Oh, and a mini-crush on a certain celebrity lover man and comic, David Walliams.
"I’ve known David Walliams for ages – we have textual relations. He’s flirty, but he gets away with it."
But Konnie’s new boyfriend, TV producer Nick Patterson needn’t worry. She’s a good girl, this one.
"Is he my soul mate? Maybe. Never say never, that’s what I say," she giggles. "Am I in love... it’s more about what someone does rather than says. I’m enjoying it."
When it comes to romance she admits she might be a little hard to please. "I’ve had bouquets in the past, but is that really romantic? It needs to be something really unique. I know that sounds really high-maintenance. The little things in relationships are important to me. My man is good at everything. All encompassing..."
Konnie also reckons she’d make a brilliant mother. Something she wants to get started on soon.
"I definitely wouldn’t rule out adopting a couple of kids. I mean I’d have a couple of my own, but I think the more celebs do it, the more it opens other people’s eyes to it and it becomes more popular. It used to be quite a taboo thing; it wasn’t seen as the thing to do. But now it’s more on people’s mental radar. I definitely see myself getting married, and having kids,’ she says. ‘In the near future, I’m not going to wait until I’m 40. My man’s of the same mindset. And I’ll be a brilliant mother,’ she beams. ‘I’m biased. But I’m good with kids, so it’s a good start."
But for now, she’s quite the career girl. Since leaving the safe haven of Blue Peter in January, with its comfy couches, school choirs and cute pets, Konnie’s gone on to present ITV1’s regional politcs show London Talking, will front a show about beauty treatments going wrong and is now involved with Sky Learning, a push to get people involved in, well, learning.
Konnie herself is a Cambridge graduate in Economics with a passion for learning that hasn’t faded, despite her long career in kids’ TV. But she’s keen to point out children’s programmes are anything but fluffy, and reckons BP is better than most.
"The kids’ TV tag is a bit of a myth," she says. "Yes, you get wacky kids’ shows with gunge, but on Blue Peter I’ve done some adult things like interview the Prime Minister. It’s not a custard-pie-in-the-face programme, so I don’t think it’s such a leap to adult telly, which is sometimes dumbed-down more. Kids are sophisticated these days. I don’t make much of a distinction between us and them. That’s the secret. No one wants a patronising kids presenter."
So what will she do next? ‘I don’t want to pigeonhole myself,’ she says. ‘I’ll see what happens. I’m interested in politics of course and I do love chatting to people with unusual jobs, like the Prime Minister, because
they have a weird life which makes them fascinating.’
So, Konnie’s one of a rare breed – a brainy female role model, sorely lacking on TV nowadays. Probably something to do with the swathes of Chantelles and Jordans on the box...
‘When people talk of a “real career” you think lawyer or teacher. But not everyone wants to do that,’ she says. ‘So in a way, if your option is stacking shelves or being Chantelle, wouldn’t you take your opportunities when you could? Much in life depends on what you would have done anyway. And as celebrity culture is so skewed towards women’s fashion and appearance, people focus more on these girls. So the blokes from Big Brother fade into oblivion.’
Whatever she does though, Konnie admits it’s harder for women to be taken seriously on shows that cover weightier issues.
‘If you look at a cue card, people think you don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she says. ‘But if you watch Jonathan Dimbleby peering over his glasses at a crib sheet, he just looks wise and worldly. I sometimes wonder whether the public would rather see a man in that role – whether they realise it consciously or not. Is it a trust thing? It’s taken a while for people like Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark to come through and now hopefully things are changing.’
After years of being part of the Blue Peter fold and having to be squeaky-clean, Konnie says she’s finally at liberty to say what she likes, as a certain amount of self censorship is required when you’re representing the wholesome world of children’s entertainment. And the Beeb.
‘Well I couldn’t make jokes about sex drugs and rock ’n’ roll. But I can now,’ she laughs. ‘And now I’m allowed an opinion too. When you have a long-term contract with the BBC you have to be impartial about everything. You can’t shout, “Free Tibet!”’
Ah, Tibet-Gate. And the Olympic torch relay. Although Konnie would have you believe she was more worried about said torch engulfing her hair by accident, she does admit her taking part in the London leg raised eyebrows.
‘I’m glad I did it,’ she says. ‘It was a privilege. Yes, the Olympics are in China, and I don’t think any of the athletes think human rights abuse is right, but it’s a separate issue. If anything, the torch relay highlighted the issue. China must be feeling a bit embarrassed. I did it because the Olympics are a brilliant thing. They’re all about global harmony.’
When someone tried to grapple the flame from a bewildered Konnie (who at a petite 5ft 4 looked a tad vulnerable, despite being flanked by burly Chinese security), was she not a bit worried?
‘I wasn’t scared,’ she says. ‘There were so many police. I had visions of my hair going up in flames, but not
getting knocked unconscious.’
After finding herself in the middle of a diplomatic furore and with her foray into politics, one wonders if Whitehall is the direction our Kon sees herself heading.
But first she’s fronting BBC3’s When Beauty Goes Wrong, which investigates those who thought a spot of plastic surgery would improve them – only to have the treatment botched.
Konnie herself is pretty content with her appearance, and at 32, rightly so. She looks like a fresh-faced sixth former. And let’s not forget that the acid neons of our shoot – which she pulls off with such aplomb – are not an easy look to pull off.
‘But I do have flat feet and bow legs,’ she says, earnestly. At last, proof she’s not so perfect after all...
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