Gloria Hunniford: I’m sure there is ageism and sexism going on behind my back but I haven’t seen it

RIP OFF BRITAIN presenter Gloria Hunniford is a pioneer for women on the small-screen.

Already one of TV’s first female presenters, in 1982 Gloria became the first woman to have her own daily show on BBC Radio 2.

She was also among the first to host her own TV chat-show, Sunday, Sunday, interviewing stars like Dustin Hoffman and James Stewart.

But the presenter did not join the protests from other BBC women broadcasters over the corporation’s controversial gender pay gap, after it emerged that two-thirds of stars on the biggest salaries were men.

Gloria said: “I am sure ageism and sexism goes on behind your back but I have not experienced it.

“You can only speak as you find and I have been in broadcasting for 48 years.

“I believe in fate and being in the right place at the right time.

“But you have to work hard to keep that place. I have never had to look for a job or been out of a job.”

Now aged 77, and with nearly half a century of broadcasting under her belt, Gloria is showing no signs of slowing down.

She said: “Retirement is not in my vocabulary.”

The star, who started out as a singer in her native Northern Ireland, got her first break with the BBC in 1969. She had been invited to the studios to talk about a record she made.

They liked her so much she was invited to join Ulster’s equivalent of the Today programme.

She admits to be being terrified on her first assignment, explaining: “There were few women behind the camera then.”

The news conference was a male dominated affair and when she presented her list of questions to her boss he tore them up. “He told me if I was concentrating on the questions I wouldn’t listen. He taught me to listen. But I like people – you have to be interested in people to do this job.

“People think my job is glamorous, but it’s not glamorous being out in the rain or travelling five hours in the car to Manchester to film. A lot of my friends say, ‘how can you be bothered?’ But I enjoy it.”

The Loose Women panellist and One Show reporter, who raised three children and built a career at the same time, believes she has been lucky.

Gloria – who with her second husband Stephen Way shares 10 grandchildren – received an OBE for her tireless services to cancer charities after losing her cherished TV presenter daughter Caron Keating.

There seems to be no stopping this woman who, this week, will launch her new autobiography My Life.

When she does relax, she loves nothing more than being with her family, especially her grandkids.

“They call me Glo,” she said.

“Family is everything to me. I just want them around me.

“Irrespective of my TV career I have always been ‘mum’ first. That’s the most important job. If I could live my life again I would have more children.”

Gloria is passionate about the Rip Off Britain consumer affairs show.

She co-hosts with Angela Rippon and Julia Somerville and admits that shoddy customer care gets right up her nose.

“Lack of service really makes my blood boil,” she said.

“I went to a buy a unit for my bathroom and the guy would not get off his back-side to help us. I ended telling him there were lots of other bathroom shops and voted with my feet and my purse and left.

“You’re lucky if you can get an appointment these days. I rang for a doctor’s appointment and the girl said the doctor didn’t have one for two weeks. I expected her to ask if it was urgent and to offer an alternative – she didn’t.”