Newsreader with no sense of smell is new Gardener’s Question Time
Newsreader with no sense of smell is new Gardener’s Question Time host as veteran Eric Robson steps down after 25 years fronting the Radio 4 show
- Kathy Clugston, 49, the voice of the Shipping Forecast, will assume the chair
- She suffers from anosmia and joked that her appointment was ‘odd’ but exciting
- She said she is honoured to be the first female host in the show’s 72-year history
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A Radio 4 newsreader with no sense of smell has been revealed as the new host of Gardener’s Question Time.
Kathy Clugston, 49, will take over from the veteran broadcaster Eric Robson who is stepping down after 25 years of fronting the popular show.
But the Belfast born newsreader, who suffers from anosmia, said that while she has been a long-time fan of the programme, joked that she was an ‘odd’ appointment.
Kathy Clugston (pictured with the Duke of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall) is first female host of Radio’s 4 Gardener’s Question Time
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She was 11 when she discovered that she could not smell after failing to detect a leaky gas heater.
From farmyards to stink-bombs, Clugston’s nose cannot digest the most powerful of scents.
In 2016, she told the Radio Times: ‘When I was a child, smelling was a game I played along with.
The Belfast-born broadcaster reads the news on the station’s flagship current affairs programme, Today
‘Every time we drove past a manure-rich farm, my parents would remark on the “fine country smell” and I would enthusiastically agree.
‘Someone once let off a stink bomb at my primary school. Everyone ran around gagging and retching, including the teacher; I was the only one who could stand to clean it up.’
Yet while the well-known voice of the station’s Shipping Forecast may not be able to take in a waft of lavender, she is herself an amateur gardener.
And Clugston, who also reads the news on Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme, Today, was ecstatic to land her new role.
She said: ‘I have had a few pinch-me moments since I started at Radio 4 – my first Shipping Forecast, reading the news on the Today programme – but this beats them all.
Eric Robson (pictured with Prince Charles), 72, is stepping down as the show’s co-chair after 25 years
Robson, 72, said: ‘I’ve loved every minute of it, but I’m also delighted to be handing the trowel on to Kathy, someone I know will fit right in to the Gardeners’ Question Time family.’
Clugston will be the show’s first female newsreader in its 72-year history.
She said: ‘One of my jobs as host will be to make new listeners feel welcome.
‘I’m a novice and won’t be shy about asking the panellists to spell things out if they get too technical.’
Robson’s departure will be marked by a special programme broadcast from Manchester on April 26 and Clugston will assume the co-chair on May 3 alongside Peter Gibbs.
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