'I was as famous as Zoe Ball and Sara Cox but then I was cut out of fame for no reason'

Daily Record

11-06-2025

Former Top of Pops host and huge 90s presenter Sarah Cawood has a very different life 20 years on after 'TV gave up on here'
One of the biggest TV hosts of the 90' s Sarah Cawood was one of the key Top of The Pops presenters as she rose to fame but 20 years after her big break her life looks very different.
The former presenter got her first big break in the '90s working on kids TV for Nickelodeon and two years later she landed herself a job presenting Channel 4's The Girlie Show alongside Sara Cox. The show ran for two series and followed a magazine format, floating from features to interviews to live music and stunts.
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The show took the later 'post-pub' slot of 11pm on a Friday and was branded as being more edgy than its rivals and tried to cash in on the 'ladette' that swept through the decade. She then came aboard the revamped Live and Kicking programme for its final two years on the air.
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It was then she landed her biggest role on Top of The Pops. After her spell finished she would go on to present various mini-series and one offs including co-commentating the Eurovision semi-finals in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
But it was around that time that many of the big presenting gigs dried up with Cawood joining the team for Heart East Anglia's breakfast show for a year in 2014 before leaving to focus on looking after her children.
Earlier this year the star shared her health battle on social media after raising concerns about her breast cancer returning. She was initially diagnosed in 2022, received successful treatment and was given the all-clear.
But posting to her fans she revealed the nerves of it coming back never left. In a candid Instagram post, she wrote: "This is the reality of anyone who has had any kind of cancer. I never struggled with health anxiety before but post-breast cancer it's all-consuming and it wears me out a bit tbh.
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"I have been feeling tired since the new year began and although it's probably just life-ing, there's always a niggling worry that it's back.
"All I can do is carry on doing healthy things, moving my body, practising mindfulness and living each day with gratitude that I got to breathe again this morning.
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"So on we go! Batting away those intrusive thoughts and getting on with it. To anyone either going through a cancer diagnosis or anyone who has recovered from cancer and feels like this: I've got you, and my inbox is always open.
"And remember, anything that doesn't feel right: get it checked out. Early detection is key."
In her Instagram, she also shared with fans how she's made peace with being "unsuccessful" on TV. In another post, she added: "Do I miss telly? I miss the money! And yes, sometimes I wonder what went wrong, but I'm here now so I'm going to make the most of it, however, that looks