Television

As a young girl, I was naive enough to have two ambitions for my working life. One, to be a journalist. The other, to be an author just like my heroine Barbara Taylor-Bradford. When I discovered she had been a journalist too, I thought, well, there you go, that’s that.   

An appearance on Top of the Pops, standing in the audience next to the DJ Gary Davies introduced me to the most magical place in the world - a television studio. Then, when breakfast television arrived with its bright colours and live reporting, it led to new dreams to be a reporter for GMTV. Aim high, my dad always said, you can always come down. And I did, by making the tea.

I entered the world of television as Robert Kilroy-Silk’s PA at BBC Kilroy (coffee, strong, no sugar.) I left to become a runner at GMTV. I became the longest-serving runner at the time, although I am still never sure this is something to celebrate.

The big bosses, aware of my wish to become a reporter, told me to “Go away and become that journalist.”

So, I did. First going back to university, then working as a trainee at ITV Central in Birmingham. I then moved as a fully qualified junior journalist to HTV in Bristol, which I loved, even if the boy who trained me was a bit bossy.

Then came THE call I had always wanted. It was the big bosses and they were asking if I would like to be the Scotland Correspondent at GMTV? Erm, yes please.  So, I moved to Edinburgh for the steepest learning curve in broadcast journalism - and clichés too.  

I had an incredible experience. I worked in a stunning country with great people and I learned about live reporting. When you hear a presenter like Eamonn Holmes in your ear, throwing to you on location on national TV, it will always be a moment you never forget.

But the two clichés I learned were:

 1.     Dreams really can come true. However, what I didn’t understand then, was if they don’t fit, they just don’t fit. Whether they’re your dreams or not.

2.     Home is where the heart is, and my heart, I discovered while working at network, was in regional news..

After several conversations with very patient mentors, I applied to BBC Look East in Cambridge to be a reporter/presenter and was lucky enough to get the job. Things felt right again and I loved my new colleagues too. All sorted then, I was home.

Only I wasn’t, because home is where the heart is, remember? And I was now about to marry the bossy journalist back in Bristol - who, it turned out, was less bossy than I had first thought.

The very supportive bosses back at ITV gave me the job of ‘Life Correspondent’ with my own slot ‘Ask Ellie.’  By this time, GMTV had changed to Daybreak, before becoming GMB. After the arrival of our first son, I presented their early bulletins for ITV West Country, the early nights suiting new born life. Life had come full circle again, and I felt like I was where I belonged, back in the world of breakfast television, but still in my home of regional TV. We had our second son and I kept the early nights going for six years.

Then it was time for us all to stay up a bit later and for my husband to share the remote control in the evenings. I went back on the road as a part-time reporter, presenting weekend bulletins too, which works well for us all.

Nothing beats the extraordinary of the ordinary. I am in awe most days I go to work and hear the incredible stories of the people I meet. The thrill of live television remains unlike anything else. I still work for very supportive bosses and I have met colleagues who have become lifelong friends. My job also introduced me to my husband and we now have our two boys.

So, if anyone ever tells you dreams can’t come true, then I think they’re wrong.

Dreams really can come true, they just need to fit to be able to stay.