John's Notes
Clare Balding was a competent, professional television presenter until the Olympics came along. Since then, and the subsequent Paralympics her performances have elevated her to the top bracket.
Since then, and the subsequent Paralympics, her performances have elevated her to the top bracket.
Within the space of a couple of weeks she has become one of the hottest properties on the small screen – and off it. She is now in constant demand for appearances all over the country so I was delighted to find an hour of her busy schedule for a chat about her life in general and her new book in particular - My Animals and Other Family – in which she details her early life as the daughter of the man who trained the Queen’s horses.
Clare herself had ambitions to be a jockey, but in spite of notching up quite a few winners she always struggled to make the weight. She was very honest about her shoplifting escapades, her sexuality (she is happy in a same sex partnership) and her encounters with the Royal Family. Not many people attack the Queen with a sausage or endanger the life of Princess Anne by cutting her up in a race.
Clare is a lady who is enjoying life to the full and who, when she is amused laughs like a drain.
