Jenni Falconer took on a new role as the breakfast show host for Smooth Radio at the turn of the year.
Due to the nature of the job, she's often up and out of bed at unsociable hours, and fast asleep by dinner time.
Couple this with her husband's nocturnal nature, and finding time for romance can prove difficult to negotiate.
Ahead of Valentine's Day, the presenter opens up on the precious time she spends with husband, James, and eight-year-old daughter, Ella, revealing all she's learnt about love along the way.
‘ When I was 18, I appeared on the TV show Blind Date with Cilla Black. I’d just left school, and hadn’t had a relationship that lasted longer than two months.
When you are young you only see someone for a few months, and then you move on.
I genuinely didn’t know if I’d find someone on the show, but thought maybe I could meet someone I could have a laugh with. I did get a date with a great guy. I didn’t find love, but I did find a career.
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Because being on Blind Date I had my head turned and made it my mission to be on TV.
People laughed and said it’s a bit out of your league. But I did work experience and within a couple of months I got my first audition as a presenter and I’ve never looked back.
I’ve spent the last six years getting up at 2.30am in the morning to work on an early breakfast show. And my husband is a night owl and stays up until after midnight. So we’re chalk and cheese.
Now that I’m presenting on Smooth Radio, I get a lie in until 4am which means that at least I don’t fall asleep before dinner!
Seriously it’s not easy in a relationship when you are working at other ends of the day so ours revolves around those stolen moments.
Even though we’ve been together since 2003 some friends tease us saying: “You’re like the couple who haven’t seen each other for weeks” because when we are out with them, we hold hands, sit next to each other, and are not the couple who don’t do PDA because it’s embarrassing.
I first met James when I was working on GMTV and he was in a TV drama called Cutting It. He had bleached blonde hair, tanned up orange skin, and was a playing a very camp hairdresser.
He certainly wasn’t gay out of character so we had a little flirt. But we were both in other relationships, so that was that.
Until I met up with him months later back stage at the National TV Awards. This time he’d had his hair dyed black for another role, and when he came over to say hi, I thought I’m sure I’ve met him before.
We really hit it off all evening, and when I flew to Spain the next morning for an ITV travel show I was working on, I announced: “I think I’ve just met the man I’m going to marry.”
When they asked his name, I said ‘James something’, because we didn’t have Google on our phones then for me to check his name.
On our first date we’d arranged to meet in London, and I was waiting for an hour in Boheme Kitchen and Bar and he was sitting next door in Cafe Boheme!
So our relationship nearly didn’t happen. I thought he must have dumped me!
My birthday is Valentines weekend, so he does make a big effort, but doesn’t always get it right.
In our early days together he booked a surprise trip away to Vienna. Unfortunately he booked flights and taxis, getting times wrong, and the ‘romantic’ hotel was dreadful with walls so thin you could hear conversations from rooms around you.
The most romantic thing he did do was when he proposed.
We were in New York on a really cheesy Billy Joel tribute band cruise and he suggested we dress up. So I was all dolled up and he was suited and booted and we were surrounded by tourists in tracksuits and bum bags.
But on the Hudson river as the sun went down and we went under the Brooklyn Bridge, he proposed.
Our 8-year-old daughter thinks that Valentine’s Day is a huge deal, when you should tell everyone you love them and spend time together. And she always makes us cards.
For me Love is…finding that person you stay awake for!
Joining masses of snogging couples in our local Italian on Valentines Day is not my idea of being romantic. It’s making memories together, like going on a lovely walk.
Actually this year I’m flying out to Cape Town on my birthday and will be spending Valentines Day in South Africa at my brothers wedding.
So, for once, I’ll have plenty of time to be with my husband and my daughter.’
Jennie presents Smooth Breakfast every weekday from 6am-10am (on Smooth London and Smooth Extra) and Saturdays from 10am-1pm (on Smooth Radio)
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