Sara Cox (born 13 December 1974), born
Sarah Joanne Cox, affectionately known as "Coxy", is a British TV presenter and radio DJ. Her most prestigious role was that of presenting the breakfast show on BBC Radio 1 from 2000 to 2003. She is back from maternity leave to her main job as host of "Radio 1's Lie In", broadcast Sunday mornings on BBC Radio 1 between 10am and 1pm.
A transfer to radio came in September 1999 where she joined BBC Radio 1. She co-hosted the Saturday lunchtime show with Emma B from 1pm-3pm and she launched the hugely popular Sunday Surgery with Dr. Mark Hamilton. This was a health and welfare show where listeners called in about their problems, with Sara acting as "Nurse Coxy". The Sunday Surgery still proves popular today, and is now hosted by Aled Haydn Jones, day producer from the Chris Moyles show.
In December 1999 it was announced that Cox would again step into Zoë Ball's shoes - this time as presenter of the weekday breakfast show. Ball had decided to leave the organisation to bring up a family. Cox's breakfast show stint began on 31 March 2000, three days early so she could calm her nerves. Initially her listening figures were very good, earning Radio 1 its largest breakfast audience ever - higher than that of Chris Evans and Zoe Ball. The number of listeners grew from 6.9m to 7.8m over her first fifteen months in the job.
The tide turned however, and by August 2002 numbers had dipped back under 7m. In August 2000, she said live on air that the Queen Mother "smelt of wee"[7] and was reported to have been very close to losing her job. In January 2003, she denied rumours that she was preparing to leave the BBC for a rival show, and signed a three-year contract with the public service broadcaster, tying her to the breakfast show until April 2004 and with the BBC for two years after that. In August 2003, the BBC again denied rumours, reported in the Daily Mail, that she had been given 10 weeks to increase ratings, or to face replacement. However just two months later the BBC announced that Cox, whose listening figures had slipped to 6.6m, would be replaced by Chris Moyles in January 2004. She hosted her final breakfast show on 19 December 2003. Her final track was "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from the soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing.
Cox then presented the afternoon "drivetime" slot, effectively swapping shows with Chris Moyles. She hosted the Drivetime show for 6 months with features such as; 'For Your Ears Only', 'Me, Myself and I' and 'Chap's Eye Pub Quiz' (referring to her then sidekick Mark Chapman). She began maternity leave to give birth to a baby girl, Lola Anne, in June 2004. Before she returned to Radio 1 in early 2005, Scott Mills, the presenter who took over her slot during her maternity leave, was given the drivetime slot permanently. From February 2005 she took over the afternoon show (1pm-4pm) on Saturdays and Sundays. On 17 February 2008, she presented her last show for six months before leaving on maternity leave to have her second child, Annie Mac presenting the show during Cox's absence. She later covered for Jo Whiley who was on maternity leave between October 2008 and February 2009. She is back from maternity leave to her main job presenting her mid-morning show on Sundays.
In Summer 2006, she was a celebrity showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools on Horses. In November 2006 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bolton for contributions to broadcasting.[8]
In July 2007 Cox became the presenter of The Album Chart Show on Channel 4. She hosted Series 3 and 4 and she is back for Series 5. Rumors of Series 6 suggest she will not be presenting.
In November 2009 Cox appeared on Sky 1's Angela and Friends as a guest star.[9]
In 2010 she was team captain on What Do Kids Know? along with Rufus Hound, Joe Swash on Watch (TV channel).
Sara Cox is to return to the Radio 1 airwaves in August/September 2010 to her Sunday Lie In slot (10am-1pm), which she announced on Twitter. Before that, however, she will sit in for Fearne Cotton for the first 3 weeks of August.
Sara returned to the breakfast show to cover for the ill Chris Moyles on Thursday 2nd September 2010 and on Friday 3rd September.
As of the 27th of September Cox is presenting her usual spot of the Sunday Morning Lie In, and covering for Fearne Cotton while she's doing an Inca-trek in Peru to raise money for breast cancer awareness.
Cox's next personal appearance will be guest DJing at Sway night club in Covent Garden on New Year's Eve 2010.
16.02.2011, 16:46
Sara Cox
Sara Cox - 2011 Brit Awards, London, February 15 (x7)
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