Sara Cox, 51, has been a BBC radio host since 1999: first on Radio 1, where she took the breakfast show to its highest ever audience of more than seven million listeners; then on Radio 2, where she’s presented the drivetime show since 2019. Last November, she completed the equivalent of five marathons in five days for BBC’s Children in Need, raising almost £10m. Cox hosts The Teen Commandments podcast with Clare Hamilton and is the author of a memoir and two novels. She’s presenting a World Book Day special for BBC Sounds on 5 March, and is hosting a BBC 500 Words special on The Radio 2 Book Club, including a tour of the Royal library at Windsor Castle.
You’re hosting a junior book club for World Book Day. What did you read to your children when they were little?
All the silly ones. Aliens Love Underpants!, and all of the Julia Donaldson ones; Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book was my favourite of hers. I’d occasionally nod off because you’re always knackered when the kids are little, and they’d have to nudge me awake. We’d do three stories every night. One of them was called No Matter What. A parent fox with a baby fox; it’s a beautiful, emotional book about love and accepting somebody for who they are and loving them no matter what. It made me cry every time I read it. My poor kids! I was either asleep or sobbing.
Let’s talk the 500 Words special, because you’ll be at the Royal library at Windsor Castle, which must mean you’re meeting Queen Camilla. Have you met her before?
Yes, she’s a laugh. I met her at a celebration for authors that she had at Clarence House. I mistook her daughter, Laura [Lopes], for an author that I half knew, and so I said to Laura, “Come over. I’ll introduce you to the duchess. Let’s go over and say hi.” Laura played along, so we went over, and it slowly dawned on me who she was, because Camilla was like “Hiiii” to her own daughter. It came as no surprise at all that Camilla and Jilly Cooper got on really well. I can see them as real kindred spirits.
Your Children in Need run was an epic sensation, with huge numbers following you online, and turning out in real life.
It really connected with people, and it really connected with women. That will be my memory of it for ever, the connection that I made with women of my age along the roadside. I was just pointing at them, and there was an exchange of energy. I’d be asking for hugs as well, and they’d hug me and that would help. People came out in sideways rain, in the dark, in blustery winds, holding up a soggy homemade sign and shouting encouragement, in the middle of nowhere.
Is it true that you’d never run before?
Yeah! Helen Thomas, boss of Radio 2, suggested it and you can’t really say no, because it’s a huge honour. It took over my life, especially the last six weeks before [the run]. I put so much pressure on myself about not letting people down; I was really adrenalised, waking in the night, lots of tears. And then something happened during the actual five days of doing it where I was like: “Let’s just get it done.” I just knew that, no matter what, I couldn’t stop. It feels a lazy analogy, childbirth, but it’s perfect. You’re in it, and you’re scared, but you’ve got no choice. This baby’s got to come out somehow. And that’s how it felt, “You’ve got no choice. Get your big girl pants on. You’ve got to push on.”
Your Teen Commandments podcast combines being parents to teenagers and remembering your own teenage years. What’s the biggest difference between your teen time and now?
Technology – social media and traceability. When we were teenagers we could just tell our mums that we’re staying at a friend’s house, and little did they know you’re in an XR2 heading for Blackpool to go to the Zone in your hot pants.
What kind of parent are you? Helicopter, tiger, FAFO?
I’m not a helicopter parent, because I wasn’t raised like that. My mum was a landlady and she’d have three jobs on the go, so she was busy, and you end up parenting a little bit like you were parented, don’t you? My son’s teacher said that he had a tiger dad, which was cute and funny but also made me feel a bit sad, because it means Ben [Cyzer, her husband] goes to all the parents’ evenings. I can’t because I’m on air. I get on with my kids really, really well. I find it hard to get cross with them.
Is Radio 2 really a big happy family?
We don’t all go fishing together every weekend, but it does feel nice at the moment. We have a DJ gathering once a year where we do a big school photo, and it was one of my favourites when we did it the other week, a really nice, relaxed vibe. I listen to a lot of Radio 2. I genuinely think I could go on Mastermind and do Radio 2 schedules for my specialist subject.
You have a horse: what’s the appeal?
I live in north-west London, but she lives in Radlett, which is 28 minutes door-to-door. I do that drive four times a week. She’s beautiful. I waited 30 years till I got my own horse again. I had one when I was 17. I wanted to wait until I had, ideally, a daily show, a steady job, so I knew I could afford it, and the kids were a bit bigger, so you can then have a bit of time for you. It’s funny, you circle back and do the stuff that you loved as a teenager. I’m also doing an art class on a Monday; I love that as well. When I ride, my dog comes out with me, a flat coat retriever, and runs alongside; it’s dreamy. I just regress to being 15 again. Although I’m not stopping off at the chippy or smoking Consulate like I used to when I was 15.
The 500 Words Special from Windsor Castle airs on BBC Radio 2 on 5 March. The Radio 2 Book Club special from Windsor Castle will be available on BBC Sounds from 3 March, with a bonus World Book Day edition released on 5 March