Katy Hill shares shocking insight into why she quit TV after Blue Peter, revealing 'joyful' new career
The former presenter had a revelation and knew she needed to be following a different path
Katy Hill was a household name during the nineties and noughties, bursting onto the presenting scene with a breakout role hosting Blue Peter in 1995.
She went on to present Live & Kicking and Top Of The Pops before moving into radio. It was while she was hosting the Heart Radio Breakfast Show in 2017 that she decided to leave broadcasting for good.
After re-training and a lot of hard work, Katy now works as a certified success and confidence coach, recently sharing her knowledge as a keynote speaker at Fearne Cotton's Happy Place festival.
The former presenter has revealed some of the shocking toxic behaviour she experienced during her presenting career that had a lasting impact on her, and pushed her towards a job change.
Appearing on the Should I Delete That? podcast, Katy shares that just after she joined Blue Peter, somebody who worked on the show, who she didn't name, told her she was a "big girl."
The person said, "You're a bigger girl and you don't carry yourself well on camera." She was a size 12-14 at the time.
After having her children, Kaya, now 19, and Akira, now 18, Katy says she was given a trainer by a magazine to "get my baby weight off," and they ran a story using words she'd never said, with the headline, "I'm not going to be a lard arse mum."
Katy says, "It's amazing that I don't, and have never had an eating disorder of any kind," sharing that "most of" the women she worked with at the time suffered with eating difficulties because of the unrealistic beauty standards forced on them.
Now 55, the former presenter offered insight into the moment she realised broadcasting was no longer for her. She wrote on Instagram, "If you don’t define what happiness means to you, you’ll spend your life chasing someone else’s version."
She added, "The same goes for success. I HAD 'success', the job, the house, the family…
all the things. But life felt OFF. So I did something about it."
"I hit pause and trained to be a coach so I could help other people define their version of success and, crucially, LIVE IT!"
Taking to Instagram again after her appearance at the Happy Place wellness festival that took place in London over July 11-12, Katy said, "We laughed, we cried, we hugged, we 'glowed' in the heatwave."
"Everything about the weekend was pure JOY - thanks to the beautiful Fearne Cotton for another unforgettable reminder of the goodness of humans and the power of genuine, authentic connection."
Listing everyone who shared space with her at the festival, Katy signed off with, "I’ll share more when I come up for air but wow! And THANKYOU Fearne for all that you are."
"And thanks to everyone for the hugs and chats and kindness walking around the festival… what beautiful souls it attracts!"
