The expression “Do not mourn, organize!” could have been invented for her. Every time a journalist had a crisis – and there were many – she did something about it. Whether she survived her father’s domestic violence, got cancer in her 40s, or found out in the newspapers that her TV show was about to go off, she was always in a hurry to act when faced with adversity. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it acted again. A few days earlier, Jonathan Aspinwall, the head of the BBC news podcast, had asked if he wanted to co-host a podcast on Ukraine with Newsnight’s Gabriel Gatehouse. On February 24, he woke up at 4 a.m., an hour after Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a “special military operation.” “I sent WhatsApp to Jonathan and said, ‘We need to do the first podcast today.’ Ukrainecast has become a must-hear for those who want to embody the context of the latest horror of war. The daily podcast takes a deep dive into a topical issue, calling on the BBC expert bank and talking to those struggling to survive in Ukraine or trying to escape. She does what 53-year-old Derbyshire has done so well throughout her career – she builds relationships with people and returns to them over and over again, so we have an investment in their lives. Here, this makes the game of terrible numbers of war familiar and personal. It’s a jungle out there… Derbyshire at I’m a Celebrity in November. Photo: ITV / Rex / Shutterstock I tell her how much I like Ukrainecast. “Why?” she asks. It is a typical Derbyshire. Most would agree with the compliment and move on, but she is testing me. He wants to know if I really like him and why – partly to find out (he’s incredibly weird) and partly because he can’t stop asking questions. Derbyshire, who joined the BBC 28 years ago after graduating from the University of Liverpool with a degree in English and Preston Polytechnic (now the University of Central Lancashire) with a master’s degree in journalism, is an exceptionally good interviewer. With vulnerable people, it is empathy without being saccharin. With politicians she is tough without being tough. Derbyshire picks up coffees at a café next to the BBC. When she returns, she checks the latest titles on her phone. In addition to the podcast, it co-hosts the BBC lunchtime news. She also just learned a new skill that she is very proud of. For the past four months, he has been making short films on TikTok, highlighting the stories of the day. “They had over 50 million views,” he says proudly. He loves TikTok, because it appeals to young people who will tell you quickly when you are wrong. “I learned so much. I receive amazing comments. I uploaded a story about police officers who are not properly controlled and someone asked what control means. “Journalists drop these terms and, if we do not explain them, exclude people.” I ran to the police station to ask for help for my mom when my father was beating her. It took them two hours to get there She is a very good at marketing. TikTok has offered her a new audience, just like I’m a celebrity… Get me out of here! he did when he appeared in the 2020 series. “Young kids stop me on the train. They do not know me from doing the news or my schedule. “But they know me from TikTok and I’m famous.” Derbyshire grew up in Rochdale, Lancashire, the eldest of three children. Her mother, Pauline, was – and remains – her inspiration. “My mom was an excellent elementary school teacher. He taught us all three. ” Should you call her Mrs. Derbyshire? “Course. How else would you call it?” Mom? “No, she had to be completely impartial, although when we went upstairs and marked our books, she would put her hand on my skirt and rub the back of my leg as a secret sign that I was actually her daughter and she was My Mom.” She laughs. “In a comforting way, not in an inappropriate way!” As for her father, the family lived in fear of him and his violent outbursts. On one occasion, he threw a cup of boiling soup over Derbyshire. “When I was a young teenager, I ran to the police station to ask for help for my mom when my father hit her. It took them two hours to get there. ” When the police arrived, her father invited them to have a cup of tea and they left happy. “I wonder if that was a point in my mind when I thought, ‘Okay, don’t rely on other people.’ “If you need to do something, do it yourself.” Her father, who ran a construction company, went bankrupt. The bills were left unpaid and the telephone and electricity were cut off. Did she ever believe that her father would kill her mother? “Yes,” he says baldly. “I was devastated, but I immediately got into practical mode, battle battle” Der Derbyshire in surprise closed its daily show. Photo: David Levene / The Guardian She tells her two teenage boys that if confronted with a bully, they will have to retaliate with humor. Did he do that? “My God no, there was no humor there. The older I got, the more confident I became with the language. He would take the wrong words and I would not dare to laugh, but I would say, “You do not mean such a word?” and that would really infuriate him. ” Did you know it would happen? “Yes. It was the only way I could try to get over it. I could not fit in physically.” When Derbyshire was 16, her mother took Derbyshire and her siblings and left. She never saw her father again. In 2020 he died of a stroke. The family did not attend his funeral. Was he happy when he died? “I was completely without feelings, because I do not want to spend anything of my energy thinking about him. Life is short. I think this feeling has really intensified after cancer. I love my family, I love my friends, we have the best time – and I do not waste time on people who… “he continues. She has two shiny rings on her wedding finger. Wow, there are a lot of diamonds, I say. She smiles. “Lots of diamonds, man! Aren’t they beautiful? These are the engagement and wedding rings that my father bought for my mom. How wonderful is that? ” She loved her stepfather, Des, who had been married to her mother for 20 years before she died at 56. “Des was the right father for us. I never considered my biological father to be the right father. When Mark and I got married, our mom gave it to us. “So my father is with me all the time.” In 2018, Derbyshire married her longtime partner, Mark Sandell, her sons’ father, who runs a radio and podcast production company. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, she told him that if they got over it, she would like to get married. He never expected to succeed. But after six rounds of chemotherapy and 30 sessions of radiotherapy, she was told in 2017 that there was no evidence of active cancer. There is an 11% chance of cancer recurring. She went into practice after her diagnosis. He made plans in case he did not survive, telling Mark that he would have to sell the house, because he could not afford the mortgage with not even a salary. As she has done so often, she turned her experience into journalism. She made a series of powerful video diaries, documenting the exhausting treatment, her hair loss, her changing moods and the way she dealt with it. Millions of viewers and listeners are turning to the BBC right now because they trust it, because it is expensive Derbyshire was determined to make people more aware of breast cancer. So, two years after her mastectomy, she undressed in front of a live audience for ITV’s The Real Full Monty. Then, last year, the podcast And then Came Breast Cancer was released. If there was ever a cancer program that could be refreshing, this is it. Her latest guest was Labor MP Dawn Butler, who spoke to Derbyshire about the podcast and BBC Breakfast about Butler’s recent breast cancer diagnosis, which he revealed yesterday, and the lower acceptance of color screening tests. women. Derbyshire says she is reluctant to waste her energy on negativity and anger, especially after being diagnosed. This was tested in January 2020 when she read in the Times that her BBC Two program was to be scrapped as part of a wider set of cuts. Her name was Victoria Derbyshire and she ran every day for two hours. She did something no other morning magazine did, covering heavy-duty topics (such as a blood clot search) and regular news (the exclusive included the story of a woman who proved her father was a rapist using her own DNA as evidence. painful 45-minute interview with four footballers who had been sexually abused by soccer coach Barry Bennell and 800 women suing for vaginal implants). The management team claimed that the show was too expensive and that it had not increased its audience. As usual, Derbyshire dealt with it head-on. She shouted at her bosses, saying the show had achieved its goals: to have millions of digital views and reach out to people who did not believe the BBC was for them. How did he react when he read that the show was being pulled? Her first mission, she says, was to find out if it was true. “I sent a message to my immediate boss shortly before I went on the air. No reply. I sent a message to his boss. No reply. And then, after the program, I received a very bad, cold message, which said nothing to me, so I went to find them. “They were in a meeting, so I basically closed the door for them.” Awareness… Derbyshire in 2015. Photo: Victoria Derbyshire / Facebook / PA The people in the meeting were Gavin Allen, who was in charge of the news …
