There were many things I enjoyed about the job, of course. I loved the team and the rapport I had with my co-presenter. I loved telling stories and giving people the opportunity to speak. 

But the downside was the ‘attention’. I was recognised in the street and at my local Sainsbury’s, which felt strange. When I was less than 12 weeks’ pregnant, before I’d even told my boss, people rang up the studio to ask if I was expecting. Further along in the pregnancy, the older viewers knitted presents for the baby and sent them in. It was so sweet but I found it uncomfortable having so many people interested in my life. It definitely added to the pressure. 

The more high-profile I got, the more fearful I felt. I sensed that if I messed up, even once, that could potentially be it. You’re only as good as your last performance afterall. 

That pressure built and built until, during one interview, I literally choked on air. I swallowed the wrong way and was coughing and spluttering and couldn’t carry on with the interview, so my co-presenter took over. Everyone was very kind about it afterwards. I remember my news editor saying, ‘Oh well, these things happen, you coped with it’. But I felt devastated. I was embarrassed and worried that it would happen again. 

For the best part of a year, I really struggled. There were Sunday nights I would cry while saying to my husband, ‘I don’t want to go to work tomorrow’. Every day I would go into my dressing room, put my makeup and clothes on and just be thinking, ‘I do not want to do this, I do not want to be on television’ and yet I had to do it every single night and smile. 

To cope with the nerves, I would get my co-presenter to do important interviews. Or if we had a big outside broadcast where we would be without an auto-cue and we would have to ad-lib, I’d get someone else to do it. I even started editing my scripts down so I had less to say because it just felt easier. I got into this ridiculous situation where I was a news presenter trying to present as little as possible. 

When I left to go on maternity leave in May 2012, I thought, ‘great, this is going to be my escape’. I thought I would never come back and I wanted to find a new career.