BBC producer whose stammer was so bad she struggled to say her own name reveals in new documentary how she hid speech problems for years – until her colleague Sophie Raworth encouraged her to speak out
- BBC producer Felicity Baker opened up about her speech problems for new documentary I Can’t Say My Name: Stammering In The Spotlight
- Programme came about after she told BBC colleague and friend Sophie Raworth that she had a stammer and worked hard to hide it
- In the documentary, she meets others living with a stammer including a rugby player who blames his aggression on the pitch on his problems with speech
A BBC news producer has stepped in front of the camera to discuss the realities of living with a stammer for a new documentary.
Journalist Felicity Baker agreed to make I Can’t Say My Name: Stammering In The Spotlight, which airs on Wednesday on BBC One, after revealing her stammer to friend and BBC News colleague Sophie Raworth.
The programme sees her speak to others who live with the speech problem, including a rugby player who says his stammer sparked aggressive behaviour on the pitch and television star Michael Palin, who discusses his ’embarrassment’ over his father’s stammer when he was growing up.
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BBC producer Felicity Baker opened up about her speech problems for new documentary I Can’t Say My Name: Stammering In The Spotlight; the programme came about after she spoke to colleague Sophie Raworth, right, about her problems with speech
In the documentary, Felicity, pictured at work, meets others living with a stammer including a rugby player who blames his aggression on the pitch on his problems with speech
In an interview with BBC Breakfast, Sophie Raworth poured praise on her friend, saying: ‘She’s been amazing.
‘She really hasn’t spoken about it before and now we’re putting her on television in front of millions and millions of people.’
The broadcaster said the documentary gave a voice to people with stammers and that they’ve interviewed people for the programme who had even hidden their speech problems from friends and family.
She added: ‘The effort that goes into hiding a stammer is extraordinary.’
BBC colleague and friend Sophie Raworth appears alongside Felicity in the documentary and the pair appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss it on Wednesday
Raworth said her colleague had been amazing because ‘she really hasn’t spoken about it before and now we’re putting her on television in front of millions and millions of people’
Explaining how she manages her stammer, Felicity told presenters Louise Minchin and Dan Walker: ‘It’s very hard to explain but for me, I think ahead, I know there are particular sounds that I find hard. Hard letters, Bs, Ds, Gs, I won’t tend to use those letters.’
The producer said the response to the documentary airing had been ‘overwhelming’ and that lots of people with speech problems had got in touch to say they used the same techniques as Felicity to cope with their own stammers.
In January, Felicity stepped in front of the camera to file a report on the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, who also manages a stammer.
I Can’t Say My Name: Stammering In The Spotlight airs on BBC One tonight at 7:30pm