The Soundtrack To My Summer

Broadcaster Katie Derham tells Charlotte Williamson about the Proms, why she believes in love not money and spending time with her girls

- Charlotte Williamson

“This is how we sit when we’re watching TV together,” laughs her husband John Vincent at the w&h shoot as he and Katie snuggle up on the sofa for a picture. And what might the couple be watching? “Oh, Breaking Bad, Fast and Furious 8…”

He’s joking (perhaps), but it would seem that the wholesome, butter wouldn’t-melt public image of Katie Derham is quite different to Private Katie, who enjoys a glass of wine and, according to her husband, “is always first on the dance floor and last to leave a party.” She’s also curious, friendly and a super-fast talker. And although John is the co-founder of the Leon chain of healthy fast food restaurants, Katie quite happily tucks into a plate of chips for lunch (with greens on the side).

The second of four children, she grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire, where her father was a chemist and her mother a French teacher. After reading economics at Cambridge, Katie, 47 this month, started as a researcher on Radio 4’s Money Box before joining ITV news as the arts correspondent. Aged 27, she became the youngest ever newsreader on British TV. Katie has a strong musical background, playing the piano and violin, and has been presenting the Proms on the BBC since 2010. She is also a presenter on Radio 3 and came fourth on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015. She met John, 45, at university and they married in 1999. They live with their children – Natasha, 17, and Eleanor, 12 – in West Sussex.

There’s always an enormous energy at the Proms, partly because of all the enthusiasm, partly because of the standing audience, and partly because it really is open to a wide variety of people.