Landing a job as a TV presenter on the BBC changed Katie Derham’s life in more ways than one. From being on first name terms with Royalty, becoming the youngest national news anchor at 27, and landing her dream job as host of The BBC Proms - it also helped her find love, or rather her love find her.
During a shift as a financial news researcher in 1992, Katie received a surprise call from the BBC switchboard to say there was a John Vincent on the line wanting to talk to her.
The first time the pair met had been months earlier when John caught Katie gatecrashing the Cambridge University May Ball - and proposed to her. “It sounds so bad now, in retrospect. But with a big smile and a big twinkle, he said “Well, you know, give me a snog and I won't throw you out,” she tells Ateh Jewel on this week’s HELLO! Second Act podcast.
“It did make me laugh. And we spent the night dancing around, but I thought (proposing) was a joke, I genuinely never thought I'd see him again. But he told his mum and dad ‘I met this girl at this ball and I'm pretty sure I'm going to marry her.’”
© PA Images via Getty ImagesIt wasn’t until John spotted Katie on his TV screen he realised he had a second chance of making her his wife.
“Remember this was the days before mobile phones, so there was no texting,” she says. “He called and said, ‘remember me? And I was like, how could I forget?’”
It took over 18 months for him to persuade her to go out with him and the couple eventually married in 1999 at a lavish ceremony in Cheshire and now have two grown up daughters, Natasha and Eleanor.
Over the past 27 years the pair have supported each other as Katie’s career rose and John became a successful entrepreneur co-founding healthy fast-food restaurant chain LEON.
“It makes me laugh a lot that he's written cookery books when I remember what he was like 30 years ago,” Katie says of John.
“The first meal he ever made me did involve a jar of Chicken Tonight.”
He did become more experimental with his culinary skills - but still not always successful. “He'd read articles about dark chocolate being really good for you. That's 25 years ago, before it became a thing. And suddenly we would have dark chocolate literally in anything, including, on one memorable occasion, cabbage, aubergine, dark chocolate.
“Now he is such a foodie and so passionate about the mission of bringing healthy fast food to as many people as possible.”
For the past 17 years, hanging out with The Royal Family at The BBC Proms has become a regular part of the summer holidays for Katie, John and their daughters. It is a dream job for classical music fan and violinist Katie, who quit as anchor on the ITN news in 2010 and launched her own production company Peanut and Crumb in 2015 which she works on alongside The Proms.
“I did do some interviews with various members of the Royal Family including the artist formerly known as…” she says recalling her meeting with the then Prince of Wales.
“The King is very, very musical, and it was lovely to be part of the Coronation event,” she says of the Windsor Castle concert that she covered for BBC Radio 3 in 2023. “That's been wonderful to sort of have behind the scenes access that we're so lucky as journalists to get, to kind of hide behind the curtain.
“The King is very knowledgeable about classical music… I’ve talked to him a few times about it for various charity events we have done. He definitely knows his stuff.”
Katie grew up in a very musical household with her father John introducing her to a wide range of international music and her mother encouraging her to take up the piano. Katie is now 56, the same age her mother Margaret was when she was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Her death in 2003 aged 61, had a profound effect on Katie.
“I’ve stopped being so anxious,” she says wistfully, “But it definitely changes you. It made me more determined in some respects, to try and make sure that I carried on doing well for her but also that I didn't let that happen to me as well.
“She had such a bright and interesting mind. It seemed particularly cruel. But there were happy moments where I remember her singing to Natasha and being a grandmother.
“I definitely have that feeling now of just don’t waste time.
“And remember to enjoy these wonderful things that we're all doing, whether it's work or your family or whatever it might be - go for it and just enjoy it.”
Listen to the Second Act podcast, now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts and Youtube.
