'We all need to be kinder to ourselves'

Actor and singer Claire Sweeney on ageing, her career and life as a mum

- VICKI POWER

Claire Sweeney is Liverpool's most famous songbird since Cilla Black, so it's only fitting that she features in this year's Eurovision Song Contest held on Merseyside. With 2022 runner-up the UK hosting the songfest in place of winners Ukraine, proud Liverpudlian Claire will cover the event for BBC Radio Merseyside.

'Eurovision has been part of my life since I was a kid,' enthuses Claire, 52, in her familiar lilt. 'There's a lot of musical heritage in Liverpool and I wanted to be involved in Eurovision somehow. I've been working on Radio Merseyside since the pandemic, hosting Claire Sweeney Meets, and this is the icing on the cake.' 

Claire's popularity is down to a mix of raw talent and relatability - she is refreshingly down to earth. In January, she earned plaudits for speaking out after unauthorised photos of her in the sea in Barbados were published; Claire posted the same photos on Instagram with a message that came across as vulnerable and funny: 'In my head I'm two stone lighter, lol' she wrote. '[I was letting] it all hang out on the beach, thinking nobody was judging me. I'm not skinny... not perfect, but very REAL!'