Sky Sports favourite Bianca Westwood ready for 'dream job' on Jeff Stelling tour
For the first time in two decades, Bianca Westwood has her Saturdays to herself, and she's still working out how to use her free time.
A regular on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday broadcasts for more than a decade, and a regular behind the scenes for years before then, Westwood was among many long-serving reporters to leave Sky at the end of last season. Perhaps the biggest name to depart was Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling, who hosted his final edition of the show after 29 years.
The popularity of the regulars on the show has been plain to see, with outpourings of support as others - including Chris Kamara - have left the show in recent years. Audiences who aren't ready to say goodbye to their favourites just yet will be able to watch Stelling and some old regulars during a 40-date nationwide tour in 2024, and Westwood jumped at the chance to switch roles with her friend, taking on hosting duties while Stelling joins a familiar group of panelists on stage.
"Jeff texted me in the spring or the summer and said he was doing these shows," Westwood tells Mirror Football. "He does them with the old panel as well, with Charlie [Nicholas] and Thommo [Phil Thompson] and stuff like that, and they came up with the idea of 'actually Jeff's got a lot to say as well'.
"He's had this years and years and years and years of his career and he must know a few things and have some amazing stories. He's actually a very good raconteur - we did one show just to see what it was like, and he went down like you wouldn't believe with the audience. They absolutely loved him.
Viddal Riley warns he is "too elite" to have toughness tested in next fight
"He's a lot funnier than I thought he was going to be if I'm honest with you. He's a really funny guy when he's not being grumpy on air."
Have you missed Bianca Westwood on Soccer Saturday? Let us know in the comments section
Bianca Westwood left Soccer Saturday at the end of last season (Ian Tuttle/REX/Shutterstock)Westwood's own broadcasting career began in the background, as an editorial assistant and then an assistant producer for Sky Sports News. She had done occasional pieces to camera, including on the 'Take it Like a Fan' segments, but the move into a regular on-camera role on Soccer Saturday in 2012 was still a rarity for a woman at the time.
She already had a good working relationship with Stelling at the time, but it was at this point it blossomed into a friendship which has lasted to this day. "I was absolutely petrified but also really excited, obviously, and I said to Jeff 'I don't want you to make a big fuss about it, I want to literally just do it," she says.
"I don't want to be like the first woman, I just want to be one of the lads. I don't want too much focus on me, I just want to be a football reporter and that's it'. He was like yeah don't worry about it, but a lot of viewers will have seen the big build up [where he says] 'And now, making history, Soccer Saturday breaking down barriers' and all this.
"I was just stood there at Bournemouth, I think it was Bournemouth-Orient, thinking 'Oh my god'. And that was just the beginning or mine and Jeff's banter with one another. He started right from day one, I told him I wanted to be low-key and he just did this whole big thing."
The broadcaster is set to join Jeff Stelling on a 2024 tour (Getty Images)Football has been a huge part of Westwood's life, so much so that - when the time came to explore other avenues - she needed to dig deep to really uncover what else she liked. A self-confessed West Ham fan, she has been going to games since childhood, first as a supporter and then in a professional capacity, but has been using the last few months to take a step back.
There has still been some football, of course, including matchday coverage for talkSPORT, but it's no longer the be all and end all. "It was fine up until the season started [having Saturdays to herself] and then it was like 'Oh, right, what am I doing today?" she says.
She was sad to leave Soccer Saturday, if only for the fact that it was a huge part of her life for 20 years, but felt it was "probably the right time" to move on to something new. Even before leaving, though, she was beginning to diversify, moving into content creation outside of sport and trying to get ahead of the game after recognising the challenges facing women in the media.
Virgil van Dijk returns to training as Liverpool receive double injury boost
"It wasn't like I felt like I was being pushed out or anything like that, but I like to think ahead," she adds. "You're also conscious as you get older, especially as a woman, it's a very... [pauses]... as women get older there's a lot more focus on the way they look. There aren't many older women in mainstream television.
"I also went through the menopause which was a very difficult time, and a lot of women my age like Gabby Logan, Davina [McCall], Denise van Outen, Lisa Snowdon, all going through that situation. It's kind of like if I have to take a break from doing what I do, where do I go from there?"
She has "absolutely loved" her move into digital creation and influencing so far, partnering with concierge company Book Property Concierge and creating fashion and lifestyle content - "I'm 50 next year, so I just wanted to do something for me," she explains. There is still some football, though, and that's where the tour with Stelling comes in.
Westwood has watched the new-look Soccer Saturday (not every week, she's still getting used to having freedom on Saturdays) and has been impressed by Stelling's successor Simon Thomas - albeit not surprised. "I know the first couple of shows would have been tough for him more than anybody else because it's like following Sir Alex [Ferguson]," she says.
"He's one of the best broadcasters to have ever worked in football, Jeff is. How do you follow something like that?
"Simon won't try to emulate that, he'll find his own voice and his own style and I think he's done that really quickly, which is testament to him, But I knew he'd be capable because he's a great broadcaster and he's been doing it for years, it was just how you find your own voice that's new, and I think he's doing a really good job of it so far - I'm really pleased for him because he's a really nice guy as well."
Her own tour with Stelling will feature a few special guests, including Paul Merson among others, and is a chance for Westwood to show how her own friendship with Stelling plays out on stage. "People would contact me when I was on Soccer Saturday and say 'I didn't like what Jeff said to you today' but I was like 'honestly, I've said a lot worse to him and more'," she says with a laugh.
"A lot of the shows are sold out already so we're really buzzing," she adds. "A lot of people are there to obviously see Jeff, but the good thing I think about me doing it as well is we do have that dynamic.
Bianca Westwood is going on tour with Jeff Stelling in the New Year
You can catch Bianca and Jeff at the following venues"I think if he had a different host he wouldn't be able to have that risque or harsh banter with someone he didn't know as well. So I can really stick the boot in, which I'm really looking forward to. I can really wind him up and get paid for it, which is my dream job.
"He's a brilliant raconteur, he's got some great stories to tell, and the way he tells them is just brilliant - not just about himself, obviously, about the panel, about letters he's had in the past, hate mail, even the amazing Jeff gets trolled. He has real fun with it and it's really a brilliant watch so I'd tell everyone to go and watch it."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
