JOSIE ON THIS MORNING: ‘I just have the best job ever! Hosting the main show and to fill those boots is something else… Life isn’t about possessions, I’m all about experiences’
JOSIE GIBSON ON BEST FRIEND ALISON HAMMOND: ‘She is magnetic. Is she jealous of me working with Dermot? I think she’s jealous of him getting to work with me!’
JOSIE ON SON REGGIE: ‘Reg knows that I work on the telly but he doesn’t really care!’
JOSIE ON LOVE AND CELEB CRUSHES: ‘I just can’t be bothered! But I did meet Jonathan Ross and I love him even more now’
How does it feel to be back hosting This Morning for a week over half term?
“Well since my last hosting stint over Christmas and New Year, everything has been so great. It’s all just been perfect! I had probably one of the best Christmases too with Alison [Hammond]… although it was a bit stressful at times because I was doing the cooking this year for ten people. Ali was very proud, she couldn’t believe I pulled it off! Ali got me the most amazing big hamper too… I kept thinking whoever gave me this must really like me!
And now, I’m back on This Morning for half term with Derm and I’m completely honoured. Whenever I’m sitting there hosting the show, I often look around and think ‘how the hell did this happen to me?’. I’ve had so many different hosting partners and I just love Dermot! Derm and Andi [Peters] are who I grew up watching and my mum reminded me recently that I used to demand a taxi home after school so I would make it in time for Andi on the telly! So it’s just mad that I’m now sitting beside them myself on the telly. I still can’t quite believe it.”
Are you less nervous now that you’ve done it so often and have experience with many co-hosts?
“I still get nervous! I always say that when you’ve got a presenting partner it’s a bit like skiing – and sometimes you’ve got the skiers who know all the slopes and all the technical moves, and sometimes there are those that are a bit more apres ski… and it’s learning to deal with those different styles! You always need a passenger and a driver and sometimes it’s good to switch from those positions from time to time.”
“Talking of skiing, Me and Alison had the best time filming on the slopes together recently and what a blast that was! We’ve filmed a new series ‘Off the Piste’ for This Morning and I got to celebrate my birthday there with her too which was amazing. I am so lucky! I just have the best job ever! I get to dip my toe on the sofa, I get to do the competitions, and I get to be part of these mini series too – I’m living my best life!”
Are you looking forward to being reunited with Dermot and co-hosting with him again?
“Yes. Dermot is just so funny, he really makes me belly laugh off-camera as well. He’s a real sweetheart as well. I presented with him before when Alison was off and we had a really good time. Does Alison get jealous of me working with him? I think she’s jealous of him getting to work with me! Ha!”
Do you feel you’re still learning from all the team at This Morning?
“Absolutely. I learn from all the hosts all the time… I’ve never been properly trained or anything, I’ve been learning on the job really! I enjoy doing the little bits out and about on the road, but hosting the main show, to fill those boots, is something else. Alison gives me great advice all the time, I never forget one thing she told me, she said, ‘you are basically there to help people shine and to tell their story’ and that’s just always stuck with me. It’s not really your time to shine she said, it’s the guests time to shine… and that is what really really helped me. She has told me loads of little things, and even when I first started doing smaller items on the show, she would make me wear open talkback so I can hear the gallery in my ear, and I didn’t want to at first, but she said, ‘you’re doing it incase you get ‘the call’’… and I would always start belly laughing and say ‘as if I’d get ‘the call!’’ So because of her I got used to that element of presenting very early on.
“And Holly is just brilliant too. I’ve gone for jobs and have asked producers ‘how did you know to phone me?’ and a few times I’ve been told ‘Holly’s been telling us how much she loves you’… how nice is that? We all cheer each other on so much.”
Do Ali and Holly leave their dressing room tidy for you?
“Yes it is tidy, but that’s probably down to the lovely cleaners… if it was left to us three Aquarians it wouldn’t be! I often leave a few things in there for them and this is going to sound bad… but sometimes I don’t know whose perfume I’ve been stealing, they have a shelf each and I’m not sure!”
You spent Christmas with Alison again for the second year running – what do you think makes your bond so close?
“Alison is very magnetic. She’s very honest, and she would give anyone her last pound. When you’re really having a down day or really stressed out to the max, you just ring her and she’ll make you feel like a million dollars again. She’s just got this way about her, you just want to be around her… and I hate that I’ve got to share her with everybody! Literally just walking down the road with her – and I hope she won’t mind me saying this – but men fall at her feet! I’ve never seen anything like it, men swoon over her so I don’t ever get a look in. I’m sure this one time there were at least eight cars that pulled over to get her photo or autograph, and they didn’t say anything to me!
“But Ali and I have been friends before our time on This Morning together, we’ve been going on holiday together for years. I’m sure we first met on a red carpet in 2013 and I’ve just loved her ever since. She said she had seen me in Big Brother eating a boiled egg or something and said ‘from that moment I knew I loved her!’”
You’re never afraid to do very daring things on the show at times – even last time you hosted you got cramp during a live pilates demonstration! Do you ever worry about what you might be asked to do next? Is there anything you wouldn’t do?!
“Oh the pilates demo – how embarrassing was that! I had been doing some exercise the day before and I was a bit stiff from that which was why I got cramp live on air! But I do love all the experiences that I get to do on that show, I get asked to do some really amazing things… but I am a bit of a scaredy cat too! There was one time when I was asked to jump out of a plane with the Red Devils and I just couldn’t do it. I think that’s the only thing I couldn’t do. I definitely get pushed to my limits, and sometimes I don’t always want or think I can do some of the stuff but afterwards I really feel like I’ve achieved something.
“I always think life isn’t about possessions, I’m not one for designer bags and things, I’m all about experiences because I think when you’re gone all you’re taking is your legacy and experiences…all the stuff you buy is only ever rented. It’s the memories for me and for those around me. So generally I’m always up for everything because at least I can say I gave it a go.”
Now that your son Reggie is getting older, is he more familiar with your This Morning family and aware that his mummy is on the telly?
“Yes, he is four and he is more aware of that now! When he comes to This Morning and he walks into the production office, everyone makes such a fuss of him, especially Dermot and Alison. We’re all like a little family. Everyone works so hard putting out this show daily and you really get a strong bond with everybody because you’re all in it together.
“But yeah, Reg knows that I work on the telly but he doesn’t really care! He’s growing up so fast and will go to school from September but I just want to keep him little forever…”
Being such a busy working mum, how do you most like to relax?
“I just love cuddling up to Reg and sometimes we play the Nintendo Wii together… If he’s relaxed then I’m relaxed. But if I do get the odd day to myself I like to go to my local gym – not for a workout but a nice go in the steam room! I always mean to do a workout beforehand but whenever I go the only thing that gets a workout is my gob, I spend all the time catching up with everyone!”
Do you have any romantic plans for Valentine’s Day? Anyone you admire from afar?.. Do you still have celebrity crushes on Jonathan Ross and Corrie’s Kevin Webster?!
“Aside from spending the morning with Dermot on the 14th, I have no plans… I can’t even pull a party cracker! But I have met Jonathan Ross since and Oh My God! They say never meet your heroes but he was everything and more! I love him even more now. We were on a show together and he was such a good talker, you could just listen to him for hours. He is such a good storyteller and really unique and exactly how you’d think he is, just really really nice. But I’m aware he’s got a lovely wife!
“I really like Ricky Gervais as well, there’s something about him and his dry sense of humour. And yes, I was guilty of saying that Kevin Webster was like a fine red wine… but there’s definitely not any valentine for me this year. I’m not sure Reg would be impressed if I got a boyfriend at the moment. He already shares me with This Morning, and I don’t want him to share me with anyone else. I just haven’t met anybody where I think ‘yeah, you could really fit into my life’… and it’s also the time and effort too – you’ve got to meet, trust them, date, work each other out, the messaging, I just can’t be bothered!”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am onITV1 & ITVX
Images and Interview courtesy of This Morning
