THIS SERIES MUST FEEL A LOT LESS CHALLENGING THAN THE STEPH SHOW
LOCKDOWN was so surreal for all of us, and nobody knew what was going to happen next, and, to be honest with you, I didn't think lockdown was going to be that for long. So I never expected to do a show from my house for that long. I'm really glad we did it, but I was also glad we stopped!
It was definitely time for the family and me to get the house back and for us not to have somebody permanently in the drive – we had someone there 24/7 because of security. Every night, I would take a little bowl of food out to the guy in the van – obviously, we had to that safely, but it became really surreal just to have a man living in the driveway.
HOW HAVE YOU FOUND HAVING A BABY DURING LOCKDOWN?
I think it's been brilliant because I've got to spend so much time with her, but obviously there were times when it gets really hard because you just need a bit of a break. And it's made me really, really appreciate how hard single parents must work. Me and my partner have tag-teamed the whole way through and I genuinely just don't know how people do it on their own.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN STEPH'S PACKED LUNCH?
Lots of content will be driven by who's sitting in the studio. We are going to have lots of different community groups in the audience. There's going to be celebrities as well but, for me, they're part of the audience; I want it to be anyone who is on the show, you're all just as important as each other, and that even includes the team, the crew. So, there's every chance – and I want this to happen – you'll see who the crew is as well.
I want to break that fourth wall; I might want to go to another part of the studio, and I'll be like, 'There's so-and-so on camera' or, 'There's our floor manager'. I just want it to be a bit more organic – a bit looser than normal polished telly.
WERE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT BEING ON TV AGAIN?
The world's so mad at the moment, nothing is as scary as it normally is, because everything's scary.
I've always been a workaholic. And then this lockdown has really calmed me down. So to suddenly be out working again is going to be weird. But I definitely think there's a sense of zen that's come from everything we've been through in the last few months. You don't need to do seven million things – enjoy what you've got.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A ROLE MODEL FOR YOUNG WOMEN IN JOURNALISM?
I'm just constantly gobsmacked by what I'm allowed to do in my job. But I'm also totally aware of how lucky I am. I do a lot of mentoring, particularly for people from tough backgrounds in my hometown. It's really important to be vocal about what young people can do. It's not all about who you know, or how much money you've got. You've got to be determined, you've got to work hard – but you'll get there.
I get lots of people who message me or email me saying, "I've got an accent too, I didn't think I'd be able to do well in my career and you've shown that you can". It's really important to be like, "Keep your accent!". That's a strength, it's not a weakness.
:: Steph's Packed Lunch airs on weekdays on Channel 4.
