Charlotte Hawkins interview: Presenter on family, early rises and loving her job

Charlotte Hawkins has been presenting Good Morning Britain since it started in 2014.

The nation has been waking up to Charlotte Hawkins for 16 years, but she admits the early rises will never feel normal.

The popular broadcaster has been a part of the Good Morning Britain presenting team on ITV since it started in 2014, and prior to that she presented Sky’s Sunrise programme for seven years with Eamonn Holmes.

Even with all those years of experience, the sound of her alarm going off in the dead of night still manages to startle her.

“Despite the fact I’ve done this for so many years, it never gets any easier,” she said with a laugh. “The other morning, the alarm went off at 2.45am as usual and I was saying to myself, ‘What on earth is that noise in the middle of the night?’

“I often have the same bedtime as my daughter, Ella Rose, which does curtail my social life somewhat. I’m not sure the early rises will ever get any easier but you get used to cracking on with it. As soon as you arrive in the studio, there’s so much going on and you become wrapped up in the adrenaline and excitement, so you don’t mind that you’ve not had much sleep.

“I feel lucky that ITV asked me to join the team when we launched in 2014. There were people at the beginning who were sceptical and said we wouldn’t last too long, so it’s great we’re still here nearly 10 years later. I hope we have a big party to celebrate and I know we’ll make the most of marking the anniversary.”

Charlotte Hawkins presenting GMB with Richard Madeley.

Born in Chichester, West Sussex, the 48-year-old began her broadcasting career with ITN in 1999 as a newsreader and a reporter for LBC Radio. She moved to ITV Meridian before switching to Sky, and then GMB.

Her job has given her access to some major occasions, such as the Olympics and the Oscars.

“The ones I find such a privilege are the royal events like the weddings, the late Queen’s funeral and the coronation,” she continued. “To be able to be there front and centre for such important historical events are the times when you feel the honour and privilege of the job. It’s those pinch-me moments when you can’t quite believe you are there.”

As well as attending major events, she has also interviewed major names, including Oprah Winfrey, Elton John, Paul McCartney and David Beckham. She admits the butterflies are still there when she steps into a room with certain stars.

“I remember waiting to interview Russell Crowe. The journalists who had gone in before me were coming out and saying you don’t know how he’s going to be. I was sitting outside and could hear raised voices and I thought, this isn’t sounding good, so I was apprehensive about what might greet me. But he was a pussycat and so lovely.

“You just never know. It’s our job as an interviewer to make sure we get the best out of the person. You need to work with whatever you’ve got and that is part of the challenge.

“Oprah was another I was quite worried about – if ever there was a time to be concerned about your interview technique being examined by someone at the top of their game! It was a short interview on a particular topic, so the challenge in those situations is to try to ask questions no one else will have asked already. But it was amazing to be in her presence.”

Charlotte’s broadcasting output is not limited to breakfast television. She has a number of other projects she is just as passionate about, and she also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2017.

“I love working on breakfast news because we get to tell people first about what’s going on in the world, but I also work in other areas I love. I do the horse racing with ITV Racing, I have a show on Classic FM, and I also present Andre Rieu’s cinema concerts. I feel really lucky to have all these different areas in my work life.

“In the industry I’m in, you need to keep a lot of different things on the go, and sometimes it might mean I haven’t had much sleep but that’s a small price to pay and I can catch up with it at some point.

“No two days are the same and I believe you have to keep life interesting by taking whatever opportunities you can and by embracing the things you love, because then it doesn’t feel like you’re working for a living. I tell my eight-year-old that if you can find a job you love, it’s such a great gift.”

Charlotte with Rev Richard Coles at the launch of Strictly in 2017.

Charlotte, who has been married to husband Mark for 15 years, has had a love of classical music since she was a child thanks to her father, Frank.

“My lovely dad loved classical music and it was the soundtrack of my childhood,” she smiled. “It wasn’t always welcomed in our house because he would be booming it out at full volume and my mum would tell him to turn it down.

“I grew up surrounded by it and felt like it was always with me. There were times I moved away from it, like when I was at university, but I came back to it and now I have my own show on Classic FM.”

Charlotte also released an album, Mindful Moments, which reached No. 1 on the Classical Compilation Albums Chart for 10 weeks, and she hosts a classical music podcast.

“It was music I relied on heavily during the pandemic,” she said. “When you have times of stress in life or a busy day at work and you feel like you need to step into another world, it’s like a musical hug. I think it’s good for the soul. There are times you can immerse yourself in classical music and the world suddenly feels better and brighter. It’s mindfulness. It takes you to another place and I can find great comfort in times like that.”

Charlotte’s dad passed away in 2015, just a month before she gave birth to Ella Rose, after a three-year battle with motor neurone disease. She is now a patron of the MND Association charity and supports other charities, such as The Dogs’ Trust and Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens.

“My dad was a vicar, so I grew up with the ethos of you do what you can to help people. It’s what we were about, to look out for people in the community and to help those around us. To give back when you can is something I believe is so important.

“When my dad died from MND, the charity asked me to become a patron and I do whatever I can for them. It’s a horrific illness.

“Doddie Weir did such amazing, incredible work, and so many more people know about it because of him and his legacy continues.

“I recently interviewed Kevin Sinfield, a close friend of Rob Burrow, who is also going through this at the moment, and they are raising so much money. People are going to the doctor and saying I think I might have what Rob has or what Doddie had, so it is much more in people’s consciousness now and the experts I speak to say they hope a cure will be found in our lifetime, which would make a huge difference because the diagnosis at the moment is a death sentence.

“In this day and age, for there not to be a treatment to significantly slow it down or to buy more time for people is just heartbreaking, so I hope their efforts will continue to make a difference and one day, hopefully soon, we will have more good news coming.”

Andre’s music is magical

Andre Rieu is ensuring future generations have a love of classical music, according to Charlotte Hawkins.

The presenter has been hosting the cinema presentations of the Dutch maestro’s stunning concerts from Maastricht since 2011.

“It’s amazing to go to there and see the reaction from the audience. He is a phenomenal musician but also an amazing showman,” Charlotte said. “It was only when I saw him live that I got an appreciation of not just his music and skill, but how hard he works to make sure classical music is accessible to everyone.

“He brings it to life and will make sure future generations will continue to love classical music. It’s so important that we have people like him who are reinvigorating it.”

Charlotte says those watching the concerts in the cinema are drawn in by the performance.

“Everyone gets so engrossed in the concert that they sing along, dance and clap. Every piece of music sparks some sort of emotion, excitement and joy.

“He must be one of the few performers who can bring people to the cinema and they will laugh, cry and sway as if they are there in person. It’s so interactive and everyone gets involved.

“The way he presents the music, he grabs people’s attention no matter what type of music they love, and he proves that so many different people can enjoy and appreciate this style.”

Charlotte Hawkins will host Andre Rieu’s new summer concert, Love Is All Around, coming to more than 500 cinemas around the UK over the bank holiday weekend of August 26-27. Tickets are available now from andreincinemas.com