SHE'S?a formidable interviewer, who had then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on the ropes, so it’s no wonder Kirsty Wark is not scared by the fanciful prospect that 2012 could bring the end of the world.
The 56-year-old mother-of-two scoffed: “It can’t be the end of the world, I’ve got too much to do.”
As we count down the hours to the bells heralding the New Year, there are some who are already fretting about December 21, 2012, which sees the end of the Mayan calendar.
It has been a source of worry for decades, with end of days claims sparked by anything from solar flares causing worldwide earthquakes and floods to Planet X/Nibiru hitting us.
But the only thing Kirsty is worrying about is her New Year’s resolutions – to spend time fishing and learn the piano.
She said: “I went fishing with my dad. He’s been dead for a number of years but I still have his best rods. I actually still have my own rods that I had as a child.
“I just haven’t had time to use them.
“Alan (her husband Alan Clements, head of content at STV) plays a little golf now so I think I can go out on the river for a couple of hours.”
With Newsnight, The Review Show and new BBC Two quiz show A Question of Taste – which starts on Monday – it’s no wonder she’s found it hard to find a few spare hours.
Even the piano sitting in the family living room remains quiet, although she used to play and keeps saying she wants to learn again.
But this could be Kirsty’s year. We have seen a different side in 2011 to the woman we usually see tearing strips off stuttering politicians.
She took part in 2011’s Celebrity MasterChef, narrowly losing out to rugby player Phil Vickery, and her love of food will continue as she chairs A Question of Taste.
She said: “On this show I’m encouraging,
http://www.cloboutinsaleukshoes.co.uk. I’m not trying to catch people out and expose them for what they don’t know.
“It is about celebrating what they do know.”
Kirsty still laughs nervously at the memories of Celebrity MasterChef that saw her final main of calves’ liver dubbed “furry” by Gregg Wallace. Despite all those politicians she interviews in her day job, she found MasterChef “ridiculously stressful” but adored doing it.
And she has nothing but praise for Phil.
She said: “We weren’t fighting against each other. You were fighting against your own cooking skills.
“Phil was very consistent, while I was a bit all over the shop at times. Although I like to think I was adventurous.
“I was just delighted to have got to the final. Imagine the ignominy of going out in round one.”
Ever astute,
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Although she’s hosted a couple of quizzes,
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Kirsty was taught to cook by her mum and granny and loves watching cookery shows, particularly Nigel Slater,
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“Everyone is capable of cooking. There is no such thing as someone who can’t cook. There are people who won’t cook or aren’t interested in cooking but everyone can cook.”
It seems clear the claim that more than a quarter of Scots are obese is down to our love of takeaways and ready made foods, eaten most of the time because we haven’t had time to cook. But Kirsty believes plenty can be done to change the pattern.
She said: “I think everybody should do cooking in school. I did it in sixth year and my son did it in sixth year. He is a good cook and my daughter bakes. Role models at home are good but doing it at school means you know the fundamentals,
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She’s coming over all Jamie Oliver. But Kirsty won’t take up the challenge to improve Scots’ feelings about food, like the chef has done in England and America.
However, she points out that there are a lot of good cooks in Scotland who could be doing just that.
She said: “People have lives and they are rushing about and at the end of a long hard day it’s a big effort to cook. I can understand why people go for something easy, like takeaway or ready made meals.”
She also points out it’s becoming too expensive, with rising energy costs, to leave food to slow cook during the day so it’s ready at night.
Kirsty does have some ideas, like making double portions and freezing meals such as chilli con carne, or marinading chicken in a plastic bag during the day so it can be taken out for tea and fried up with pasta.
Clearly Kirsty has a deep love for food and, despite her busy schedule, will often be found on a Saturday baking. Her forte is birthday cakes although she claims she’s “rubbish at decorating them”.
Born in Dumfries and raised in Kilmarnock, she studied history at the University of Edinburgh before joining the BBC in 1976 as a researcher for BBC Radio Scotland.
She eventually became a BBC television presenter, working on Breakfast Time. In 1990 she handbagged Margaret Thatcher over the poll tax and in 1993 she began presenting Newsnight.
Although arts spin-off The Review Show, which she has fronted since 2002, is now filmed in Scotland, Kirsty still enjoys getting the plane or sleeper down to London when she’s presenting Newsnight,
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She said: “I was a producer on BBC Radio Good Morning Scotland for years so am used to those early starts,
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“Unless of course I’m on Newsnight. I actually watch Newsnight in bed if I’m not on it.”
As well as enjoying cooking, her weekend also includes playing tennis with friend Lorna on Sundays. The pair have been doing so for 10 years.
She laughed: “It’s pretty pathetic. We had to give each other a talking to a few years ago to be more competitive.
“We found when we took a great shot we’d say ‘oh sorry’.
“It’s the opposite of men.”
Is the lady that has turned grown men to jelly going soft?
Will 2012 see Kirsty Wark become a star in the world of light ?entertainment?
“I think not,” comes the reply. Very firmly.
A Question Of Taste starts on Monday at 7,
christian louboutin sale.30pm on BBC2,
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