Schuh Magazine - Am I Famous Yet?

Who exactly is Gail Porter?
The straightforward answer to that is that she is the petite, funny Scots lass who presents TVs ‘Fully Booked’ and who has just caused a bit of a stir in the media by doing a very revealing photo shoot for a men’s magazine.

The reality is that Gail Porter is anyone that she wants to be, as I found out when we had a chat about her life. She’s the family girl who misses her brother so much; she’s the personality who can chat to you about anything and make it funny and interesting; she’s the naïve wee girl who’s star-struck every day; she’s the career woman who has achieved so many of her ambitions and is well on her way to getting exactly what she wants; and she’s the sex symbol her fans dedicate websites to. Gail Porter is doing exactly what she wants to do, how she wants to do it, and getting a lot of fun out of it too! With an attitude like that, it’s guaranteed we’ll be seeing a lot more of this rising star in the future! Read on to find out why...

Gail:
Waahh! It’s the News Of The World at my front door! It rang and I went to answer the door and they said: ‘Hello, I’m from the News of the World (and I went: ‘Oh no, go away!’)

Schuh: Are you really getting that much hassle?
Yes! Right, here we go... (reading letter) ‘Dear Gail, I called round today to see if we could chat to you about your career. You’re one of television’s fastest rising stars and an article about you and your work would be of great interest to our readers. Please call me.’ What’s going on?

Is this after the GQ pictures?
Yeah, but I think it’s great, and my mum loves it! I’ll say that much. My mum thinks it’s very pretty and very harmless. It slightly upsets me that a bum can upset the nation, but there you go.

So, apart from that, what else are you doing in your career?
Well, at the minute, ‘Fully Booked’ has just come off air. I have just finished recording ‘It’s A Mystery’ for Children’s ITV. It’s sort of spooky tales, and unsolved mysteries, sort of ‘Tomorrow’s World’ meets ‘The X-Files.’ It was quite good fun. That was with Tristan Banks from ‘Home and Away.’ He’s a nice bloke, he’s lovely. I’ve also just finished ‘How 2,’ a Channel 4 education programme and lots and lots of photo-shoots! I’ve got a programme coming out on Bravo at the end of this month. It’s with a comedian called Paul Tomkinson... it’s a sports programme and it’s comedy, so it’s an older audience. That’s good, because it’s sort of moving into older things and there’s another couple of really big projects that I’m not allowed to talk about! But watch this space...

Are you going back to ‘Fully Booked’?
We’ve all been asked to go back again. We made a good team, but we just have to wait and see.

What have been the best interviews that you have done for it?
Some people are just wonderful to talk to. I remember being really nervous when I was interviewing Suggs, because, to me, he’s an icon and I was a pure Madness fan when I was a wee girl. To have him sitting opposite me was probably one of the worst interviews I ever did, because I was so nervous! Lloyd Grossman was on, which was great. He was so, so funny.

Is there anyone you would like to interview?
I’d love to interview Eddie Izzard because I’m obsessed with him! I’m in love with the man, I have an infatuation with him - I want to admit that to the nation! I would also like to interview Steve Coogan. I like funny people.

Have there been any disastrous interviews?
I did interview a pop star once, whom I won’t name, who didn’t speak. He just said ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ which was slightly difficult and you’re just thinking ‘oh goodness... pad, pad, pad,’ but it wasn’t too bad ‘cos we just cut the interview short.

What else do you do with your time?
At the minute, I’m doing nothing, really; I’m just so tired. I’m running about all over the place. It was funny, because I was reading an article and they were saying that I used to go to all these parties when I was younger. I mean we’re talking eight, nine years ago, maybe. It made it sound like I go out a lot and I thought: ‘Goodness, they make it sound like I’ve got a really busy social life,’ but I haven’t! I’m in practically every evening and I go to the cinema or I’ll sit at home. I like to write. I like to keep in touch with friends or write down television ideas, so I do that in the evening. I’m a big movie watcher but that’s about as exciting as it gets! Occasionally I go out with friends on a Friday night but I hardly make it past midnight. You’ll appreciate when you’re working so much that you don’t really have time for these things.

You’re based in London now?
Yes, I’ve been here for two years. I love it. I’ve got a lot of friends down here and I’m in a nice area; there’s lots of nice coffee bars near where I am, so you can chill out and enjoy your time. I can just jump on a plane and be home in an hour, or I can go to Paris. It’s nice and central.

Do you get back home much?
I’ve hardly been home for ages, but I’m coming back on Saturday and I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see my Mum and my neighbours and everyone else. You’ve managed to not lose your accent at all! No, I don’t want to lose my accent! I really like my Scottish accent. I was doing an interview once and they said ‘Would you tell us a secret about yourself? and I went ‘Okay then, I’m Scottish.’ Doh! Blew my cover!

Have you seen the website that is dedicated to you? You have a huge Scottish following on it, but you also have loads of fans in the Netherlands.
Really? I’ve got a following in the Netherlands? Do you think that they get GQ there? Wow, that’s so cool! Aww, thanks very much to them, that’s so sweet! I was in Hammersmith yesterday, on the tube, and one of the guys that works in the tube - he was an older bloke - came up to me.He was Scottish and he went: ‘You’re off ‘Fully Booked. Yer funny!’ I went: ‘Thank you very much’ and he went: ‘That’s good for a girl.’ I was like ‘Well, thanks a lot mate!’ It was so surreal.

Have you had any mad fans?
Everyone seems really nice. We get some of the mail intercepted at ‘Fully Booked’ and now that I’m not doing it now... I don’t know where it all goes, but when I go out, anyone that talks to me is always really nice and says really positive things about the show and how nice it is to see a group of people just having fun and being themselves. I think that’s how we come across... we’re just having a laugh, really.

So where do you see it all going next?
Well I don’t know, really, especially after this week... who knows? I’ve never had so much press coverage in my life! I don’t know, really. I’m hoping to do a bit more funny stuff, light entertainment, slightly older audiences, or sort of youth kind of stuff. There’s a bit of a lack of that, I think. So, hopefully, I’m going to get involved in writing more and also in presenting.

Have you been writing quite a few of your own things?
Yeah. I’ve been playing about with a few ideas with a friend of mine. I like to get involved with things like that because I worked in the production side for a long time. I enjoy production and I enjoy the goings on behind TV as well. People forget when they watch it, it’s always just the people in front of the camera, but you’ve got a big crew behind you, there’s a lot of people that are working very hard and it’s nice to get involved in their side of things.

Was that where you started? Is your background in production?
Yes, I went to college and studied Visual Communications then, once I got my HND, I got a job as a runner in Scotland. I was basically doing everything, from cleaning railings with a toothbrush through to baby-sitting people’s kids, to getting people pizza, to getting cigarettes for the editor. You know what a runner’s like! I was working ridiculously long hours.

Then I dabbled with all sorts of things. I was a production assistant, I was a receptionist, I was an assistant to a producer at Picardy Television in Edinburgh. I did that for about four years in all and then I just decided one day; I’d always wanted to be famous really, and one day I was watching TV and thought: ‘You know, I could probably do that, ‘cos I enjoy being in front of the camera and I enjoy having a laugh, so I got one of my mates to film me talking to people in the street. I was running up and down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, making this tape and I sent it off to ten companies and I got replies from five of them and one of them was for an audition. So I went for the audition and it was for The Totally Interactive Game Show . It was for ITV, it was live and I got the job! It was - literally - that quick.

Had you already decided that you wanted to be on TV or just that you wanted to be famous?
I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be Princess Leah! In an ideal world I would have been Princess Leah, but, you know, she got there before me! When I got the Totally Interactive Game Show I thought: ‘Yeah, this is it, this is what I’m meant to do.’ I enjoy having a laugh, I enjoy people watching me and saying ‘Yeah.’ I just enjoy the fact that people are watching and that maybe I’m bringing a smile to someone’s face - and that’s basically it!

You seem to have achieved everything that you wanted to achieve. Is there anything left that you still want to do?
Ideally, I just want to have a good television programme under my belt that I’ve been involved in writing, producing and presenting. That would be great. I’d love to do that. But I think the reason I’ve had bad press this week, all the ‘Terrible Gail Porter’ stuff, is kind of upsetting. I just look at our job, we’re just out to make people smile and the media just like to say ‘Oh terrible, everyone’s terrible.’ It’s just awful. I think: ‘Goodness me, it’s such a short life. ‘ I’ve got a brother - my little brother - who’s 25. He chucked in his job to do voluntary work, building hospitals and teaching kids English, living in a hut somewhere and it sort of makes you put the whole of life in perspective, doesn’t it? You know, it’s a lot of fuss about nothing. My brother’s just out there doing the most amazing thing. I couldn’t have done what he’s doing - to me, he’s the most amazing person I’ve come across. I miss him so much. He’s been out there for a few months now and he’s going to hopefully come back and live with me at the beginning of next year.

You sound very down-to-earth about everything. Is that how you feel?
Well, the thing is, I kind of don’t believe that all this is happening! I’m just doing a job. I’m no different from anyone else, I’m just Joanne Normal from down the road, you know? Having a laugh and all that! I’ve still got all my mates in Edinburgh, I’ve got all my mates down here that work in TV, and I’m surrounded by a brilliant bunch of people who have never been horrible to me. It’s really important to keep that grounding.

Are your family the same? What do they think about it all?
My mum and dad are both behind me 100% and they’ve always been. My brother has always, from day one, said: ‘You’re going to be famous, you’re going to get talked about, young Porter!’ When I got my first job in TV, he was like: ‘Well, we knew you were going to do this!’ With all this GQ stuff, I just desperately want to speak to him. I just want a hug off my brother, ‘cause he’s the sort of guy who just goes: ‘It’s cool, man, it’s cool. My great Grandma, who’s 98, saw the GQ picture and said: ‘Well done, dear, well done!’ She thinks there’s nothing wrong with it whatsoever and that’s the way it should be!

Has your brother seen it?
No, he knows about it.

What star-sign are you?
I’m Aries. I’m very stubborn. I tend to get very angry and go: ‘Oh it’s all going horribly wrong, but it’s more that I get angry at myself. I’m very quick to get angry at myself.

Apparently, Arieans never really grow old either?
No. I’m surrounded by toys. You should see this flat! We’ve done so many photo-shoots here. The photographers come in and go: ‘Oh my god, it’s Toy Central! Buzz Lightyears everywhere. Everything that walks or talks, and Star Wars characters, too. Right now, I’m facing a huge print of Spiderman, I’ve got Buzz Lightyear at each end of the mantelpiece, I’ve got my Furby sitting there, he’s sleeping at the moment. I’ve got Action Man on the clock, Star Wars to the left of me, the whole shooting match!

Have you got a Wallace and Gromit clock?
I haven’t, no. I’ve got the Simpsons one. It goes: ‘Why, you little...’ so I get woken up by that every morning. Usually about ten to six. ‘Why, you little...’ Good morning, people! So at least I never feel alone.

Watch it, your voice is already on your website!
They’ve sampled my voice? You’re kidding! What’s on it?

A sample of you saying ‘fluffy’ and another one of ‘I’m a Barbie Girl.’
Really? Does that mean I’m famous?

I would reckon you’re doing okay, ‘cause apparently there are a few others dedicated to you, too.
Wow! I don’t believe it! I’m not aware of this at all. I must live in a little bubble. I really do think I do sometimes; just wander about in a little bubble. I was out at the TV Awards the other day and Matthew Kelly shook my hand and knew who I was, and I was thinking: ‘You’re Matthew Kelly from ‘Stars In their Eyes,’ how do you know me? I’m Gail from Portobello - you can’t know me! What are you talking about? It’s absolutely bonkers.

But surely you’re pleased, too?
Yeah, but I had to go off and phone my mum. I just had to run off, I’m so uncool, I really am the most uncoolest stars person. When someone famous says ‘hello’ to me I run off and phone my mum and say: ‘Mum, guess what? I’ve just spoken to Matthew Kelly!’ Matthew Kelly was actually lovely. I was so in awe of him. He was just, you know... I just wanted to give him a huge cuddle and say: ‘You are such a lovely bloke, you’re on the TV! Aww, wow!’

Do you think that you’ll stick to TV or do you reckon you’ll try your hand at something else?
I don’t know... I’ve just had a meeting with the Sneaker Pimps, ‘cause they’re working on a lot of projects. I’m just waiting to hear back. I like their music a lot. I wouldn’t sing, though, I’m not a good singer but maybe they’ll sample my voice. That would be quite interesting. I’d be really interested to see how that all gets put together, ‘cause I’ve not really been involved in that side of it. I’d be really interested in that.

Are you quite into music then?
I love music. I cannot walk past a Virgin or an HMV without going in and buying something. People have started to send me CDs and I spend half my time phoning them back up going: ‘Thanks very much. That was really nice of you. I worked with someone in a TV company, and I walked in with a massive HMV bag and they went: ‘Oh what have you been buying?’ and I was like: ‘I got this, I got this, I got this...’ and they were like: ‘Why don’t you just phone up the PR company and get them to send you them?’ I was like: ‘Oh don’t be silly. These people have go to earn their living, too. Can’t get all these freebies. Oh no, I’ll just go and buy them.’

So what do you buy?
So what do you buy?I love Radiohead, Supergrass and The Supernaturals. I met the Supernaturals when I was working on a programme called ‘The Hitmix’ on Sky. It was a music show that was on every week and I had to go their house in Oxford to interview them. Me, being a cleanliness fiend, I went into this house and just about had heart failure. They were all sort of slobbing about and they used to set fireworks off in their house. I was like: ‘I have to start cleaning. This is outrageous!’

I went into the kitchen and one of them started making omelette while I was interviewing him and he was cracking the eggs into the frying pan and chucking the eggshell onto the floor and I was like: ‘Pick it up, oh my goodness...’ It was so funny. Then I was upstairs interviewing one of them, and I was sitting on the bed and there were socks in the bed and everything. It was just such a lads flat. They were really, really nice. I think I’ve met them three times now, they’re really funny and I think that their music is great. They did a funny one on live TV and, hmm, almost ruined my career they were being very surreal and very un-children like, but I got out of that one and I still like them. I also bought the Depeche Mode album - anything from that to Duran Duran to The Carpenters. I was hoping to go to the Ultrasound gig the other week there but I didn’t make it. I saw them at T in the Park and they were great. I also saw Spiritualized at T in the Park.

You’re a big fan of T in the Park, then?
I love T in The Park! I had a great time there. I’ll definitely be back next year. I only went on the Saturday, then. I saw Ultrasound there. I had friends that were going to play in the Radio One Tent and we thought we would get there to give them some moral support ‘cause they were on early but then it had all gone horribly wrong. But it was still really good, I really enjoyed it. I also wanted to see another one of my friends bands last week - do you know Silver Sun? I missed them, ‘cause I had to work. The last bands I saw were The Wannadies and Audioweb.

I have to tell you the coolest thing! This is the coolest, coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I was walking along Oxford Street and it was raining and I had my big gorgeous coat on. I’ve got this new coat that’s like a big Parka - I love it - and I had it zipped right up so that I looked like a little Eskimo. Then Richard Ashcroft walked past me! I was walking past thinking: ‘That’s Richard Ashcroft. Don’t trip up. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. All I could think about was my feet. He is just so gorgeous and he’s so tall.

Is that everyone that you’ve wanted to meet?
Well, I’d like to say ‘hello’ to Richard! I’d just say ‘hello.’ And if I met Eddie Izzard, that’s all I’d be able to say... ‘hello!’ And I love Billy Connolly... when he does that walk. And ‘the wedding’ and the thing with the incontinence pants. Isn’t that just the funniest thing? I think I might do that tonight. I feel far happier now. I thought this interview would either make me or break me after such a fragile week, but I made it through! I’d love to interview Eddie Izzard because I’m obsessed with him! I’m in love with the man, I want to admit that to the nation! I’d always wanted to be famous really.