Sara Cox reveals Davina McCall, Richard Madeley and Jonathan Ross helped resurrect her radio career

DJ Sara Cox reveals Davina McCall, Richard Madeley and Jonathan Ross helped resurrect her radio career after a slump following the birth of her third child

  • Sara Cox revealed the broadcasters rallied round to help kickstart her career
  • The 46-year-old presents BBC Radio 2’s Drivetime programme and other shows
  • Contacted Davina McCall, Richard Madeley and Jonathan Ross to escape slump 


DJ Sara Cox today reveals how fellow broadcasters rallied round to help kickstart her career after she found herself jobless.

The 46-year-old, who presents BBC Radio 2’s Drivetime programme and a string of TV shows, contacted Davina McCall, Richard Madeley and Jonathan Ross in an effort to escape the slump after having her third child.

She first turned to Ms McCall, who is best known as the presenter of TV’s Big Brother series. 

DJ Sara Cox, 46, has said she turned to her fellow broadcasters after she found herself jobless

‘I didn’t know her that well but I had her number, so I just texted her to say, ‘I’ve really lost my mojo. I don’t know what I’m doing,’ she tells You magazine.

‘All I wanted was a text back saying, ‘You’ll be OK’ – then the phone rang! Davina’s very good like that… really proactive. She won’t just send an emoji, she’ll get stuck in and help you.’

Having been recommended a personal development coach, Sara – who admits not challenging the perception that she was just taking a career break – recalls sobbing as she poured out her troubles. ‘He got me to draw this balloon. 

‘Half is your work and half is your personal life,’ she says. 

‘I realised my home life… was all inflated and healthy – the other side looked like someone had taken a bread knife to it.’

Davina McCall

Richard Madeley

The 46-year-old contacted Davina McCall (left), Richard Madeley (right) and Jonathan Ross in an effort to escape the slump after having her third child

The DJ spoke to Madeley and Ross (pictured with wife Jane Goldman) before 'constantly bothering' the controller of Radio 2

The DJ spoke to Madeley and Ross (pictured with wife Jane Goldman) before ‘constantly bothering’ the controller of Radio 2

The Bolton-born DJ – who presented the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show for three years and carved a reputation as a ‘ladette’ in the 1990s – spoke to Madeley and Ross before ‘constantly bothering’ the controller of Radio 2. 

After getting more and more shifts, she replaced Simon Mayo on Drivetime in January 2019.

‘Now I realise it’s healthy to have a dip, because when you get on an upswing… you’ve got a lot of humility from it,’ she says.