Features

When I was young, fresh faced, wrinkle-free with my life only just beginning, I had dreams of becoming the next Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, Judy Garland - well a girl can dream, can’t she?!

So off I went to Drama College. Had a fantastic three years, writing and directing plays and performing in professional theatres.

After graduating I decided to move down to London to make my acting dreams come true. However, as soon as I experienced the audition circuit I realised this was not the life for me - a wasted three years some might say. But, if I hadn't gone to college then I wouldn’t have met my lovely husband so I guess it was fate.  I have been known, on occasion, to use a different word to describe it, however!!!

My break into radio happened by pure chance. I was in a play at the Edinburgh Festival with a girl who was a part-time travel presenter for radio. She suggested I come in for an audition, I did and the following day the boss phoned me up and said “when can you start?”.

I provided travel reports for local and national radio stations and then was asked to audition for the job of co-host on a commercial radio breakfast show in Watford - I got the job!

Sally Pepper

I have long been a fan of listening to the radio and, although my school reports always said I was a chatterbox (one teacher, at my junior school in Alfreton, gave me the nickname “Foghorn”!), I used to think the idea of sitting alone in a room with a microphone, talking for hours on end would be impossible, but I took to it like a duck to water and continued as a solo presenter in commercial and BBC radio for 10 years.

When the opportunity to do something a little different came along, I felt the time was right to take a small break from radio and, as the latest edition to the weather team on East Midlands Today, I have been given a warm and encouraging welcome to the fold and am loving it! The only down-side I have come across so far is that everyone blames you for the poor British weather - if only I had a weather wand!!!!!