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Sara Cox
Sara Cox at Manchester Fashion Week, October 2007
Born	13 December 1974 (1974-12-13) (age 33) Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
Occupation	Television presenter, Disc jockey
Salary	£200,000 per year (2006)[1][2]
Website Sara's Radio 1 Page

Sara Cox (born 13 December 1974), affectionately known as "Coxy", is an English TV Presenter and Radio DJ. Her most prestigious role was that of presenting the breakfast show on BBC Radio 1 from 2000 to 2003.

Early career

Cox, a farmer's daughter, was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England as Sarah Joanne Cox, but later dropped the use of the letter 'H' from her first name.^[3] She attended Smithills High School until aged 16 and left Canon Slade School after her A-levels to pursue a career in modelling. She also played a small role in the popular children's TV series, Byker Grove.

Cox won her first television show role in 1996, presenting early "Girl Power" show The Girlie Show.^[4] She later had stints on Channel 5 entertainment show Exclusive and Channel 4 music programme Born Sloppy. During this period she appeared in photo spreads for UK 'lads mags' such as Loaded. In 1997 Sara presented on the UK feed of MTV, hosting MTV Hot a late night music show. In September 1998 she landed a role as a presenter of The Big Breakfast, following in the footsteps of her friend Zoë Ball (Cox was a bridesmaid at Ball's wedding to DJ Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, in 1999). During her time on The Big Breakfast she interviewed such stars as Robbie Williams, Sting and Leonardo DiCaprio. However, unlike Paula Yates's famous "On the Bed" interviews, Cox preferred to do interviews in her dad's caravan which was situated in The Big Breakfast garden.

BBC Radio 1 and the Breakfast Show

A transfer to radio came in 1999 where she joined BBC Radio 1. At first she co-hosted the Saturday lunchtime with Emma B from 1pm-3pm. In September 1999 she launched the hugely popular Sunday Surgery with Dr. Mark Hamilton. This was a health and welfare show where listeners called in about their problems, with Sara acting as "Nurse Coxy". The Sunday Surgery still proves hugely popular today, and is now hosted by Kelly Osbourne.

In December 1999 it was announced that Cox would again step into Zoë Ball's shoes - this time as presenter of the weekday breakfast show. Ball had decided to leave the organisation to bring up a family. Cox's breakfast show stint began on 31 March 2000, three days early so she could calm her nerves. Initially her listening figures were very good, earning Radio 1 its largest breakfast audience ever - higher than that of Chris Evans and Zoe Ball. The number of listeners grew from 6.9m to 7.8m over her first fifteen months in the job.

The tide turned however, and by August 2002 numbers had dipped back under 7m. In August 2000, she said live on air that the Queen Mother "smelt of wee"^[5] and was reported to have been very close to losing her job. In January 2003, she denied rumours that she was preparing to leave the BBC for a rival show, and signed a three-year contract with the public service broadcaster, tying her to the breakfast show until April 2004 and with the BBC for two years after that. In August 2003, the BBC again denied rumours, reported in the Daily Mail, that she had been given 10 weeks to increase ratings, or to face replacement. However just two months later the BBC announced that Cox, whose listening figures had slipped to 6.6m, would be replaced by Chris Moyles in January 2004. She hosted her final breakfast show on 19 December 2003. Her final track was "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from the soundtrack to the film "Dirty Dancing".

Cox then presented the afternoon "drivetime" slot, effectively swapping shows with Chris Moyles. She hosted the Drivetime show for 6 months with features such as; 'For Your Ears Only', 'Me, Myself and I' and 'Chaps Eye Pub Quiz' (referring to her then sidekick Mark Chapman). She began maternity leave to give birth to a baby girl, Lola Anne, in June 2004. (see Above). Before she returned to Radio 1 in early 2005, Scott Mills, the presenter who took over her slot during her maternity leave, was given the drivetime slot permanently. From February 2005 she took over the afternoon show (1pm-4pm) on Saturdays and Sundays. On 17 February 2008, she presented her last show for six months before leaving on maternity leave to have her second child. Annie Mac will present the show during Cox's absence.

Cox also frequently covers for Jo Whiley weekdays 10am until 12.45, Edith Bowman weekdays 1pm until 4pm and Scott Mills weekdays 4pm until 7pm.

In Summer 2006, she was a celebrity showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools on Horses. In November 2006 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Bolton for contributions to broadcasting.^[6].

Personal life

Cox was married to DJ Jon Carter on 6 October 2001, but they eventually split in December 2005. She gave birth to a baby girl, Lola Anne Carter, on 13 June 2004 at St John And St Elizabeth Hospital in North London. She was previously engaged to Prodigy dancer Leeroy Thornhill, but they split up in June 2000.

Cox is currently dating British advertising executive Ben Cyzer. In Summer 2007 the couple and Cox's daughter Lola moved into their new house in North London.

On 16 September 2007, Cox announced on her BBC Radio 1 weekend show that she was expecting her second child.^[7] Sarah's last weekend show was on Sunday 17 February 2008 before she left for 6 months maternity leave. She will return to Radio 1 in September.

Sarah's second child, a baby boy named Isaac was born on 10 March 2008 weighing 7lb 12oz, at a London hospital.^[8]

In November 2007, when a guest on humorous news quiz Have I Got News For You Cox revealed that she had been born with a dislocated hip.^[9]

Privacy

In June 2003 Cox won £50,000 damages plus costs from the British newspaper The People after it printed photographs of her sunbathing in the nude whilst on her honeymoon in 2001. Cox, who was photographed with a telephoto lens whilst on a private island, initially complained to the Press Complaints Commission, who found on her side. The People printed an apology. However, Cox was unsatisfied, and sued the newspaper in the High Court for a breach of her right to privacy under the Human Rights Act. Cox settled out of court with the paper before any judgement was made.[1][2] The case outcome was in marked contrast to that of Naomi Campbell, who was photographed leaving a Narcotics Anonymous clinic, where the High Court found that the pictures weren't in the public interest and awarded substantial damages to Campbell.

Charitable activity

Sara Cox will be one of 52 celebrities contributing to a children's story entitled ‘Once Upon a Time’ ^[10] to promote a new charity directory inquiries number 118 520. The book will be auctioned with the profits going to the NSPCC.

References

External links

• Sara's BBC Radio 1 minisite