Edith Bowman reveals why she was never happy living up to her wild reputation

Two of the most talked-about TV hits of the year so far, Nolly and Funny Woman, focused on talented women with regional accents who took on sexism and snobbery to make their way in the TV industry.

While they’re both period dramas, set in the 80s and 60s respectively, Edith Bowman, who came along several decades later, had to fight similar forces.

Determined to make it as a TV presenter, the Fife-born daughter of hoteliers was constantly told she needed elocution lessons to get on.

‘Today regional accents are celebrated, but 20 years ago I would get so much negative feedback about mine,’ says Edith, 49.

‘I didn’t want to change it because it’s part of my identity. It took amazing people at MTV to take a chance on me. I’m lucky I was there when there were people willing to do that.’

Now she’s drawing on that regional upbringing for a new 20-part BBC series about British food, which she co-hosts with her former Radio 1 colleague Colin Murray.

In Coast To Coast Food Festival, the pair travel the British Isles, visiting markets and festivals, exploring where our food comes from.

‘I grew up in a hotel, so food and local produce have always been part of my DNA,’ she says.

‘It’s a celebration of stories and community. It was lovely to find these amazing people, whether it was the Syrian refugee in York who creates pop-up restaurants showcasing food from her country or the guy in Manchester who decided he didn’t want to be a plumber any more during lockdown and instead makes the Italian biscuits he’d first eaten while travelling with his father.

‘It’s important when you eat something to think about where it comes from. I got a lesson in ploughing from an 82-year-old farmer on his rickety old tractor, and I enjoyed celebrating industries that are taken for granted. As well as looking at food that tastes great, we also look at how it reached our plates.’

Edith’s TV career began around the turn of the millennium as part of a new generation of women at MTV, including Cat Deeley, Donna Air and June Sarpong, who were heralded as a fresh type of presenter – ‘ladettes’ who looked good and liked a drink.

‘We were girls from the regions living in London and couldn’t believe our luck,’ she says.

‘We were doing what most girls that age do – having a laugh, dancing and drinking. It’s just that people would take photographs of us coming out of bars. How much fun we had. We made good memories and brilliant friendships.’

Edith’s TV career began around the turn of the millennium as part of a new generation of women at MTV, including Cat Deeley, who were heralded as a fresh type of presenter – ‘ladettes’ who looked good and liked a drink (pictured, Edith and Cat in 2001)

But there was a darker side, with magazines urging aspiring young women to strip off if they wanted to get on.

‘I was tomboyish and I didn’t have a model figure, so I didn’t come under as much pressure as some of the girls,’ says Edith.

‘But one moment sticks in my mind. A group of us were asked to do a shoot for Maxim magazine. I remember saying, ‘I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to pose in my bra.’ But there was this pressure; I ended up doing it. I was annoyed at myself for not standing up to it. But it was the only time I did it.’

She’s still best friends with Cat Deeley, and they’ve just had a night out at the BAFTAs when we speak.

Edith is married to Tom Smith, frontman of indie rock band Editors, and they have two sons, Rudy, 14, and Spike, ten.

Cat has sons Milo, seven, and James, four, with her comedian and TV presenter husband Patrick Kielty.

‘We laugh about how I’ve been through everything she’s going through with her boys; I’m an instruction manual in human form,’ Edith says. ‘We still love a glass of bubbles and a dance, but there’s always been so much more to us.’

From MTV, Edith went on to host various TV shows and work across BBC Radio, primarily for Radio 1, but last year she described how she felt ‘edged out’ by the station.

At about the same time, Vanessa Feltz talked of Radio 2 presenters being similarly edged out because of their age. ‘I guess change has to happen,’ Edith says. ‘But I’m happy with what I’m doing.’

Her next projects are a theatre tour with Priscilla Presley for a Q&A show, and a podcast for the final series of The Crown.

‘I feel excited that I’m constantly getting opportunities to try out new things,’ Edith says. ‘And I’ve managed to do all of it while keeping my accent.

Coast To Coast Food Festival, weekdays from Monday, 6.30pm, BBC2.