The TV presenter on taking off her clothes to advance her career, growing up with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and why everyone thinks she's an ice maiden
'I never felt comfortable and I turned a lot down but I wish I'd had the strength of character to refuse all of them. I remember just feeling completely embarrassed by the photos,' said Kirsty Gallacher
There are few people who would ever guess that underneath Kirsty Gallacher's model-perfect exterior beats the heart of a total sports geek. But the stunning presenter - who is married to rugby star Paul Sampson - was determined not follow in the footsteps of her golfer father, the Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher.
She says: 'I was a tomboy and into every form of sport as a kid but I wanted to do something totally different, so I went to study fashion with a view to designing or being a fashion journalist - but that didn't quite work out.'
After starting out as a Sky Sports presenter, her good looks won her mainstream shows, such as Kirsty's Home Videos and Gladiators.
Now 35, she is returning to Sky Sports, alongside her close friend Georgie Thompson, and will co-host a new breakfast show called Good Morning Sports Fans.
'I was very young and I was advised that it was a good thing to do for my career'
My big regret in life is doing those lads' mags.
I was very young and I was advised that it was a good thing to do for my career. People forget but at the time it was a huge thing for any female presenter to do, careers were actually made on the back of it. I never felt comfortable and I turned a lot down but I wish I'd had the strength of character to refuse all of them. I remember just feeling completely embarrassed by the photos and I certainly never kept any examples. I'm very glad women are no longer under that pressure to take their clothes off to advance their careers.
I met the Queen but she didn't recognise me.
It was shortly after it was leaked that she watched Kirsty's Home Videos. I went to St James's Palace with Gaby Logan in 2003. It was very odd timing because there had been a huge story after a reporter had infiltrated the palace and revealed that she spent her time watching EastEnders and my show on TV. But what was funnier was that she clearly didn't have a clue who I was when we were introduced. She was told my name and there was not even the slightest glimmer of recognition. I did do a very good curtsey though.
I never wanted to be a sports presenter.
My dream was to be a fashion writer. I was very sporty at school, and sport was probably the thing I was best at, but my real passion was for fashion. I fell into sport by accident. I was at an event with my dad and met one of the bosses at Sky who persuaded me to work as a researcher. I started thinking it would just be temporary and then I never stopped. I did a few years of behind-the-scenes researching and running around before I was asked to present. By that time it seemed the right thing to do.
I grew up with Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and Bruce Forsyth as part of the family scenery.
We lived in Wentworth and my dad was obviously well known as a golfer, and many celebrities play golf. Prince Andrew was a family friend and lived close by so we'd see a lot of him and Sarah. But Bruce Forsyth was just Uncle Bruce to me. I absolutely love him - he's an amazing guy. When I took over on Lorraine Kelly's show recently he called me up to say what a good job I'd done. He's such a sweet man.
'I am probably every man's ideal partner right now because I'm completely addicted to sport'
I was a Twitter virgin but now I can't stop.
I absolutely love it. It's the most amazing way to tap into a whole community of people while sitting on your sofa at home. The other night I was watching a Manchester United match and I was getting all worked up about decisions that were being made and who was being played and being replaced. I started tweeting and realised everyone else was too. It was a great way of venting fury, more fun than shouting at the television.
I was once chased by a gang of men in a car.
I left a friend's house and noticed that a car full of guys was following me. Whenever I went faster or turned a corner it just chased me. I called my husband and luckily he was able to call the police, jump into his car and meet me at a petrol station. They pulled back and watched us and then, luckily, they were caught by the police. I have no idea what they wanted - me, the car, or whatever. Again it was a lesson to be very wary, because we live in scary times.
It may sound a bit odd but I add a plant extract, chlorophyll, to my water.
Most water is full of hormones and acid, but at home we only drink clean water. We had a system put in by the nutritionist that takes all the rubbish out of the water. I use it to drink and to cook with and I know it's had a really positive effect on my health and my body. I also try to eat as much raw food and clean food as possible. I have had phases of following a very strict raw food and vegetable diet but I do absolutely love beef. My husband is a vegetarian and passionate about supergreens and I'll definitely be trying to follow one of his eating plans when I start on Sky Sports Breakfast. The worst thing you can possibly do is to eat nothing, then stuff yourself with coffee and pastries in the Green Room, which is always a big temptation.
I once turned down a date with a big American TV star.
Gil Gerard, who played Buck Rogers, was performing in a West End show and I got a letter from him saying he'd seen me on the television while he was over here and found out we had some mutual acquaintances and would I like to meet him for dinner? It was a terribly polite letter but I never met up with him. In fact, shamefully, I don't think I even replied.
We have to do something to tackle obesity in kids today.
I think Jamie Oliver has been an absolute inspiration to millions with what he has done for schools and school dinners but I'd like to do something that involves kids and sports. The idea that so many kids eat rubbish and sit on computers all day long appals me and getting them into sport is a major way of getting them off computers and leading healthier lives.
Everyone thinks I am an ice maiden.
It's an image I had for a long time. I think it was partly to do with the fact that I was uncomfortable with attention and also because I was never a ladette. I rarely went to night clubs or parties or was seen falling over on pavements in the early hours. My idea of a good night has always been having a lovely meal and a proper conversation.
I am probably every man's ideal partner right now because I'm completely addicted to sport.
I am a total sport sponge, watching listening and reading everything I possibly can. I've been away from sports presenting for years so I am just trying to completely absorb myself before I go back. I'm watching football, checking cricket scores and recording athletics to fill my brain up again so I'll be on top form when I go back.
My mother was car-jacked recently.It scares me to know people like that are out there. We are still in terrible shock about it. I was just dropping my son off at nursery school when I got a call from my sister telling me that something had happened. My mum had been out with a group of girlfriends to the cinema and for a meal. As she got back to her car, men with balaclavas and bats surrounded the car, dragged her out and pushed her to the ground. They would have run over her but she managed to roll out of the way as they drove away. No one wants to see their mother go through that. It makes me very angry.
'I never felt comfortable and I turned a lot down but I wish I'd had the strength of character to refuse all of them. I remember just feeling completely embarrassed by the photos,' said Kirsty Gallacher
There are few people who would ever guess that underneath Kirsty Gallacher's model-perfect exterior beats the heart of a total sports geek. But the stunning presenter - who is married to rugby star Paul Sampson - was determined not follow in the footsteps of her golfer father, the Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher.
She says: 'I was a tomboy and into every form of sport as a kid but I wanted to do something totally different, so I went to study fashion with a view to designing or being a fashion journalist - but that didn't quite work out.'
After starting out as a Sky Sports presenter, her good looks won her mainstream shows, such as Kirsty's Home Videos and Gladiators.
Now 35, she is returning to Sky Sports, alongside her close friend Georgie Thompson, and will co-host a new breakfast show called Good Morning Sports Fans.
'I was very young and I was advised that it was a good thing to do for my career'
My big regret in life is doing those lads' mags.
I was very young and I was advised that it was a good thing to do for my career. People forget but at the time it was a huge thing for any female presenter to do, careers were actually made on the back of it. I never felt comfortable and I turned a lot down but I wish I'd had the strength of character to refuse all of them. I remember just feeling completely embarrassed by the photos and I certainly never kept any examples. I'm very glad women are no longer under that pressure to take their clothes off to advance their careers.
I met the Queen but she didn't recognise me.
It was shortly after it was leaked that she watched Kirsty's Home Videos. I went to St James's Palace with Gaby Logan in 2003. It was very odd timing because there had been a huge story after a reporter had infiltrated the palace and revealed that she spent her time watching EastEnders and my show on TV. But what was funnier was that she clearly didn't have a clue who I was when we were introduced. She was told my name and there was not even the slightest glimmer of recognition. I did do a very good curtsey though.
I never wanted to be a sports presenter.
My dream was to be a fashion writer. I was very sporty at school, and sport was probably the thing I was best at, but my real passion was for fashion. I fell into sport by accident. I was at an event with my dad and met one of the bosses at Sky who persuaded me to work as a researcher. I started thinking it would just be temporary and then I never stopped. I did a few years of behind-the-scenes researching and running around before I was asked to present. By that time it seemed the right thing to do.
I grew up with Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and Bruce Forsyth as part of the family scenery.
We lived in Wentworth and my dad was obviously well known as a golfer, and many celebrities play golf. Prince Andrew was a family friend and lived close by so we'd see a lot of him and Sarah. But Bruce Forsyth was just Uncle Bruce to me. I absolutely love him - he's an amazing guy. When I took over on Lorraine Kelly's show recently he called me up to say what a good job I'd done. He's such a sweet man.
'I am probably every man's ideal partner right now because I'm completely addicted to sport'
I was a Twitter virgin but now I can't stop.
I absolutely love it. It's the most amazing way to tap into a whole community of people while sitting on your sofa at home. The other night I was watching a Manchester United match and I was getting all worked up about decisions that were being made and who was being played and being replaced. I started tweeting and realised everyone else was too. It was a great way of venting fury, more fun than shouting at the television.
I was once chased by a gang of men in a car.
I left a friend's house and noticed that a car full of guys was following me. Whenever I went faster or turned a corner it just chased me. I called my husband and luckily he was able to call the police, jump into his car and meet me at a petrol station. They pulled back and watched us and then, luckily, they were caught by the police. I have no idea what they wanted - me, the car, or whatever. Again it was a lesson to be very wary, because we live in scary times.
It may sound a bit odd but I add a plant extract, chlorophyll, to my water.
Most water is full of hormones and acid, but at home we only drink clean water. We had a system put in by the nutritionist that takes all the rubbish out of the water. I use it to drink and to cook with and I know it's had a really positive effect on my health and my body. I also try to eat as much raw food and clean food as possible. I have had phases of following a very strict raw food and vegetable diet but I do absolutely love beef. My husband is a vegetarian and passionate about supergreens and I'll definitely be trying to follow one of his eating plans when I start on Sky Sports Breakfast. The worst thing you can possibly do is to eat nothing, then stuff yourself with coffee and pastries in the Green Room, which is always a big temptation.
I once turned down a date with a big American TV star.
Gil Gerard, who played Buck Rogers, was performing in a West End show and I got a letter from him saying he'd seen me on the television while he was over here and found out we had some mutual acquaintances and would I like to meet him for dinner? It was a terribly polite letter but I never met up with him. In fact, shamefully, I don't think I even replied.
We have to do something to tackle obesity in kids today.
I think Jamie Oliver has been an absolute inspiration to millions with what he has done for schools and school dinners but I'd like to do something that involves kids and sports. The idea that so many kids eat rubbish and sit on computers all day long appals me and getting them into sport is a major way of getting them off computers and leading healthier lives.
Everyone thinks I am an ice maiden.
It's an image I had for a long time. I think it was partly to do with the fact that I was uncomfortable with attention and also because I was never a ladette. I rarely went to night clubs or parties or was seen falling over on pavements in the early hours. My idea of a good night has always been having a lovely meal and a proper conversation.
I am probably every man's ideal partner right now because I'm completely addicted to sport.
I am a total sport sponge, watching listening and reading everything I possibly can. I've been away from sports presenting for years so I am just trying to completely absorb myself before I go back. I'm watching football, checking cricket scores and recording athletics to fill my brain up again so I'll be on top form when I go back.
My mother was car-jacked recently.It scares me to know people like that are out there. We are still in terrible shock about it. I was just dropping my son off at nursery school when I got a call from my sister telling me that something had happened. My mum had been out with a group of girlfriends to the cinema and for a meal. As she got back to her car, men with balaclavas and bats surrounded the car, dragged her out and pushed her to the ground. They would have run over her but she managed to roll out of the way as they drove away. No one wants to see their mother go through that. It makes me very angry.
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