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Thirty years on from when Sara Cox first burst onto our screens on Channel 4's The Girlie Show, the Lancashire-born radio DJ is busier than ever.
Not only does she present her hugely popular BBC Radio 2 drive time show and BBC Two book programme, Between The Covers, Sara has also turned her hand to writing in recent years. Having penned her smash-hit memoir, Till The Cows Come Home, in 2019, two novels have since followed, including Way Back, a heartwarming story about starting again after divorce, which was published in March this year. She's also recently fulfilled another dream by launching her own wine collection on perfectcellar.com.
All this, and she still retains her signature warm, quick-witted and down-to-earth charm we know and love her for.
In an exclusive interview in Good Housekeeping's August issue, the DJ, presenter and writer opens up on why she's finally feeling like she can own her successes.
"I'm like my mum, who always held down two or three jobs; I work really hard," she says. "And I never just phone it in. I might have been guilty of that in my 20s, when I was a bit more laissez-faire about my career, but as the years have gone by, I've become more ambitious and much more focused."
That hard-working and ambitious attitude explains why, among all the other hats she wears, Sara has just launched her own wine collection.
"I've really enjoyed learning more about how wine is made. The rose comes from George Lucas's Skywalker Vineyards, and my husband Ben is the biggest Star Wars fan, so I'm trying to blag a trip to go and look around it."
In her 20s, Sara and her friends such as Zoe Ball were branded 'ladettes' and criticised for going out and having fun.
"The term ‘ladette’ was sexist and I’ve always hated it," she says. "That misrepresentation was hard, but what got me though it is what gets me through challenges now – I’ve always had a circle of strong female friends who know me inside out and I think that’s so important."
Living in London with her husband, Ben Cyzer, and her three children, Lola, 20, Isaac, 16, and Renee, 14, Sara also spends plenty of time in Hertfordshire, where her horse, Nelly, who she bought during lockdown, is stabled.
"She's my darling… She forces me to live in the moment because I can't be on my phone; it's just us in the middle of nowhere, which is fantastic," she says. "I ride with Fiona Bruce, who I met watching showjumping; I was excited to be on her table because I love Antiques Roadshow and we really hit it off. She's hilarious. She has a really good bunch of horsey pals and she invites me along to ride with them. They're all in their 50s and 60s and they're very cool - just absolute badasses and they don't give a monkeys about celebrity, which is great. I'm always the worst rider, somewhere at the back."
As for turning the big 5-0 this year? Sara's embracing getting older with the same zeal for life she throws at everything else.
"I actually had a massive party for my 49th birthday last December - a 'Sara's not 50' party, which was lovely. I've lost friends who were snatched away in their 30s with a young family, so I’m thrilled to be alive. I'm grateful to be getting older."
Chateau Margui Coteaux Varois en Provence Rose 2023
Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping’s August issue, on sale from the 27th June. The Sara Cox Wine Collection with Perfect Cellar is available at perfectcellar.com/pages/sara-cox-wine-collection. Her latest book, Way Back (Coronet), is out now.
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