What katie did on radio,TV and more

One of Anglia TV’s familiar faces is back on our television screens again. But you might also spot Katie Glass in another of her lesser known roles, explains David Clayton.

- David Clayton

Chances are, if you’ve been to a register office wedding in the Norwich area, the person officiating could have seemed familiar. Katie Glass popped up on our TV screens a few decades back as one of Anglia TV’s regular presenters but these days she’s a registrar and ties the marriage knot for many happy couples.

Katie first landed in our area as one of the presenters on Radio Orwell when it launched back in 1975. They gave her the Sunday breakfast show, “The graveyard shift,” she tells me. “For 20 quid a show.” Because she obviously couldn’t live on that, she persuaded station’s bosses to hire her as the receptionist during the week. So began a short but colourful radio career, where she eventually took over a daytime chat show on Ipswich’s new commercial station. With few women in on-air roles back then, she was something of a pioneer.

But back to the beginning. Katie was born in Zambia, the youngest of five children. Her father was an army colonel. The family settled back to the UK in Sussex, where Katie went to the local convent but was expelled for one misdemeanour.

“I was 12 and went to see ‘What’s New Pussycat’ at the local cinema. It was an X-rated film, so I bought some cheap lipstick from Woolies and shoved two tennis balls up my jumper to get in!” she laughs.