Life

Broadcaster Gloria Hunniford at 80: After I get the vaccine I'm going to get a tattoo

Ahead of a revealing new Christmas documentary on Gloria Hunniford who marked her 80th birthday during lockdown, Gail Bell speaks to the award-winning broadcaster who chats about her early career in Belfast, her love of shoulder pads and her all-time highlight of a walk on the beach with Doris Day

Gloria Hunniford in a scene from Gloria – My Life On TV. Picture by DoubleBand Films
Gloria Hunniford in a scene from Gloria – My Life On TV. Picture by DoubleBand Films Gloria Hunniford in a scene from Gloria – My Life On TV. Picture by DoubleBand Films

SHE may be the oldest female presenter on daily television in the UK, but golden-haired octogenarian Gloria Hunniford is not the sort of person to be defined by a number – even if she doesn’t quite like the look of it on paper.

Having celebrated her 80th birthday in April this year, the Loose Women and Rip Off Britain presenter is busier than ever and thanks to the wonders of Zoom and Skype – as well as having broadcasting “kit” despatched to her home in Kent – she hasn’t missed a single programme during lockdown.

“I don’t really feel any different, being 80,” she says brightly, "but I feel I would fall apart if I don't take my vitamins. Yes, age is just a number, but I have to say, if I'm writing it down on a medical form or something, I really don't like the look of it... The only advantage I can see, so far, is that I will be one of the first in line for the vaccine – I definitely can't wait to have it."

Not that it has been an easy year for the Portadown-born broadcaster who is “flattered” to be the subject of a new upcoming BBC documentary, Gloria: My Life on TV. Her husband, Stephen Way, was successfully treated for prostate cancer and also suffered a fracture in his spine after falling while rushing to avoid an oncoming taxi in central London.

Gloria and husband Stephen Way
Gloria and husband Stephen Way Gloria and husband Stephen Way

But, with health concerns for Stephen diminishing by the day and a new coronavirus vaccine within jabbing distance, the woman credited with being a trailblazer for female broadcasters, wants to kick back and celebrate a new year by having her first tattoo.

It will, she affirms with a laugh, be a sneaky “little butterfly” – but she’s not going to have it done just yet.

“I’m going to the get the vaccine first and then I’m going to get the tattoo,” she reveals. “It’s funny, Caron [Gloria’s late daughter, Caron Keating, who died from cancer in 2004] used to beg me to let her have a tattoo; she would play tricks on me by getting a fake one. I was so against her piercing her ears and being tattooed, and here I am, in my later life, and the one thing I want is a little butterfly tattoo.”

It is maybe another example of what Gloria’s son, Michael Keating, describes in the documentary as his mother’s confident and a little “defiant” spirit, first demonstrated when she fought her parents to attend grammar school in Portadown and later when she married her first husband, the late Don Keating, against their wishes at the time.

In Gloria: My Life on TV, the still down-to-earth presenter recalls the circumstances of her first marriage with candidness and a certain sadness, but also with generosity and a willingness to forgive.

Coming from a Co Armagh Protestant family, it was a “bit of a shock” for Gloria’s father, Charlie – a newspaper advertising manager by day and magician by night – to find out that Don was a Catholic and the feeling was such that both parents refused to attend their daughter’s wedding.

“It was very sad for me, but dad really came to adore Don and they became very close, so he never held a grudge and nor did I,” says the award-winning presenter who rose from reporting from bomb blasts in Belfast to having her own Radio 2 programme and television chat show, Sunday, Sunday.

Gloria Hunniford with her first husband, the late Don Keating, and their daughter Caron, who died from cancer in 2004 at age 41. Picture by BBC/DoubleBand Films
Gloria Hunniford with her first husband, the late Don Keating, and their daughter Caron, who died from cancer in 2004 at age 41. Picture by BBC/DoubleBand Films Gloria Hunniford with her first husband, the late Don Keating, and their daughter Caron, who died from cancer in 2004 at age 41. Picture by BBC/DoubleBand Films

As well as family members, friends from the media and celebrity world are interviewed for the documentary which paints a revealing, intimate picture of the much-admired mother and grandmother for whom singing was her sole early ambition – she only fell into broadcasting by accident, thanks to the Lulu song, Are You Ready for Love.

Gloria’s rendition had turned out to be a bit of a hit in Northern Ireland in the late 60s and when she was invited to talk about it on a BBC programme in Belfast, producer Dan Gilbert noticed her broadcasting potential, noting she didn’t “seem to be short of a word or two”.

Her ‘gift of the gab’ as they say, has held her in good stead ever since and many of her celebrity friends pay tribute, including Daniel O’Donnell – who reveals she can “still hold a tune” – long-time pal Cliff Richard, and presenters Ruth Langsford and Christine Lampard who describe her warmly as a trailblazer for women in broadcasting today.

Old friend from Good Evening Ulster days, Eamonn Holmes, also makes an appearance, quipping that the show on which they both made their names should really have been called ‘Good Evening Gloria’ because she had “sprinkled showbiz dust” on it from the start.

Gloria Hunniford says that after she gets the coronavirus vaccine she is going to get a tattoo. Picture by DoubleBand Films
Gloria Hunniford says that after she gets the coronavirus vaccine she is going to get a tattoo. Picture by DoubleBand Films Gloria Hunniford says that after she gets the coronavirus vaccine she is going to get a tattoo. Picture by DoubleBand Films

In terms of that ‘showbiz dust’, Gloria has interviewed all the big stars of the day, from a delightful Audrey Hepburn and a frail Bette Davis, to a monosyllabic Robert Mitchum, and an unpredictable, madcap Freddie Starr who once broke through set screens to reach the interview chair.

“What I discovered quite early on in my career is that if someone is doing something a bit risque or taking you by surprise, there’s no point being prissy about it,” says the presenter, who's known for her meticulous research. “You have to go along with it, so I just learned to laugh with them. I quite liked it when guests did something unusual because it added to the programme and the public like it too – they like things going wrong and it can make fantastic television.”

One of her favourite interviews was in 1993 with Doris Day; an actress and singer she had admired ever since devouring her films during weekly trips to the ‘pictures’ in Portadown. It was the late movie star's first interview since 1968 and she opened up about the abuse she had suffered in her first marriage.

“They flew me out to California to meet her – walking a beach with Doris Day; it doesn’t really get much better than that,” admits the ever-glamorous journalist and chat show host who has also penned several books, including 2017 memoir My Life and Next to You, a poignant tribute to daughter Caron’s courage and the unbreakable mother-daughter bond.

Gloria with her late daughter Caron Keating
Gloria with her late daughter Caron Keating Gloria with her late daughter Caron Keating

Following Caron’s tragic death at 41, Gloria began to see random white feathers in unusual places and she believes these were – and still are – her beloved daughter’s calling card. The most recent was spotted after returning home from a hospital visit with Stephen when “the biggest feather” was lying on the mat at their front door.

“Caron seems to be sending the feathers, in my mind anyway, at all sorts of times, whether she’s wishing you good luck or just saying, ‘I’m here with you’,” she says. “I find it very comforting.”

At the “tricky” age of 80, she says she thinks about her own mortality a little more often now but with her shows recommissioned until 2022, Gloria Hunniford is determined to get her vaccine, get her tattoo and face whatever lies around the next corner with trademark resilience, good humour and professionalism.

“I have in my head, three score years and 10, so of course you think about it, but not in a morbid way,” she says. “I want to be buried with my shoulder pads – eventually. But, for now, I love my life and I still want to live it.”

:: Gloria: My Life on TV will be screened on BBC1 at 10.30pm on Monday, December 28, and will also be available to view on iPlayer.

Gloria Hunniford's life in broadcasting is celebrated in - Gloria - My Life On TV. Picture by DoubleBand Films
Gloria Hunniford's life in broadcasting is celebrated in - Gloria - My Life On TV. Picture by DoubleBand Films Gloria Hunniford's life in broadcasting is celebrated in - Gloria - My Life On TV. Picture by DoubleBand Films