My life through a lens: Broadcaster Jeremy Vine, 56, shares the stories behind his favourite snaps

Broadcaster Jeremy Vine, 56, shared the stories behind a selection of his favourtie snaps

1970: This photo of me (left) with my six-month-old sister Sonya (centre), a painter, and brother Tim (right), a comedian, was taken by my uncle David at the home in south-west London where we grew up. I had the most loving parents imaginable and a very happy childhood. More than 50 years on, my siblings and I are still the best of friends

1981: The Flared Generation is the band I formed with my brother (left), who played guitar, and our pal Simon (right) on the drums. A magazine described us as ‘the most unfashionable punk band’ but, weirdly, wearing huge flares as punks got us noticed. We called it a day pretty quickly though as we weren’t getting anywhere – but it was fun while it lasted

2002: One of my strangest TV moments was donning a lace-up leather corset, fishnet stockings and pink high heels for a Rocky Horror Picture Show sketch on BBC Children In Need night along with (clockwise from bottom left) Michael Buerk, Carol Kirkwood, Jeremy Bowen and Sophie Raworth. Our version of Sweet Transvestite was seen by millions and was so utterly bizarre that I still get asked about it today

2008: This always makes me cringe! It was the night of a BBC council election special. The Lib Dems under Nick Clegg, the new kid in town, were on a roll so we decided to do something crazy and I dressed up in a cowboy outfit. When David Dimbleby introduced me I said in a cheesy American accent, ‘Hey, Dimble!’ I looked a complete muppet. Thank God Twitter wasn’t around then or we’d have been massacred

2010: I stood in for Sir Jimmy Young a few times, then was given the great man’s flagship Radio 2 show in 2003. After nearly 30 years, they were big shoes to fill. One of the most memorable moments was interviewing then Labour leader Gordon Brown (left) and playing him back his ‘bigoted woman’ comment during an election campaign. He buried his head in his hands in despair. Over the years, I’ve learnt you may become friendly with politicians but you can never be friends

2015: Doing Strictly was amazing – I loved it. I became good friends with my partner Karen Clifton (pictured with Jeremy on the show) and the other contestants and dancers. It hurts when you get eliminated but my elimination was watched by 11 million people, a measure of how popular the show is. If the right song comes on the radio and there’s no one around, I’ll pull a move or two in the kitchen, but I’m better off dancing behind closed doors

2017: My wife Rachel, a former television reporter, and I met in 2001 and married in Devon in 2002. Two decades on, we’re the proud parents of two wonderful teenage girls (pictured, with Rachel and Jeremy). It’s lovely living with three women and two male cats – It’s absolutely clear that I’m number six in the pecking order! I hope to throw a dinner party this year to celebrate 20 years of wonderfully blissful marriage

2020: I’m a keen cyclist and bought a penny-farthing a couple of years ago and learnt to ride it properly during the first lockdown last year. You can only go at about 5mph but it’s truly joyful, and in a way, safer than riding an ordinary bike because most drivers are terrified of it. Mind you, riding on it in heavy traffic in the centre of London isn’t a good idea