Cat Cubie interview: One in a million

CAT CUBIE is sitting on her bed packing two suitcases. First she has to choose outfits and jewellery for presenting the EuroMillions lottery draw to six million viewers on BBC1. Then her second case is for a trip to the United States where she will be catching up with friends and family – before meeting with TV producers in Los Angeles.

"I'd better not get them mixed up!" she says. "I don't think wearing flip flops would go down too well on EuroMillions."

It certainly seems like a glamorous life for the 27-year-old former George Watson's pupil. But she says it has taken four years of hard work to get this far, and, at times, she can hardly believe how lucky she is.

She started her career as a runner and researcher before taking the risk of giving up her steady BBC job and trying to get into the presenting side.

Her varied CV includes stints reading the football news on Virgin Media, presenting Gala Bingo and pulling pints in her local pub.

As the daughter of Sir Andrew Cubie, Cat is used to having a famous name.

She was a psychology student at Aberdeen University when her father published the Cubie Report, which recommended scrapping student fees and replacing them with a graduate endowment scheme.

He was knighted in the New Year Honours list and is now one of the best-known figures in Scottish public life.

She says this has not helped her career, as her life now is a world away from her more academic parents.

But she is clearly very close to her Morningside-based family, who have been a constant source of support.

Cat says: "We work in very different fields, but my parents were massively inspiring when I was growing up. They're both incredibly determined in their chosen fields. My dad's always kind of been my hero.

"When the Cubie Report came out, I was just dead proud of him.

"I hope I'm quite similar to him. He's very personable and he's got a great sense of humour. He taught me to laugh at myself."

It's certainly a skill that has helped her through the long hours working in TV production, and endless interviews and auditions. Cat has always loved drama, and remembers "begging and pleading" her parents to allow her to go to acting classes, aged seven.

After graduating, she used her psychology degree to get her first job with the BBC's Little Angels programme, which she describes as a "pre-cursor to Supernanny". Her job involved scouring the country to find families prepared to take part. She then moved on to production with Children's BBC. Although she enjoyed her job, she decided to take a risk and pursue her dream of becoming a presenter.

She says: "It was pretty scary leaving my job with security to nothing.

"It could be hard keeping up your self-belief. It really helped that my parents and close friends always believed in me. I used to go to sleep telling myself I'm a good presenter and I will be able to do it.

" I got a job at Virgin Media and I did a bit of Gala Bingo. It was great experience – you have to do eight-hour long shows, and it's completely unstructured.

"I'm not sure it's ever very glamorous. There shouldn't be any space for egos. At the end of the day, everyone is working together to make a programme.

"Even when you're doing good things, such as the BBC and Channel 4, you might work for two weeks and then not have anything for a month. It's not enough to support yourself. My local pub thought it was hilarious to see me on telly, then the next day I'd be in pulling pints."

She could hardly believe it when she was offered the prime-time slot presenting EuroMillions earlier this year. The show is watched by around six million viewers every Friday night.

She says: "I didn't have my hopes up too high at the audition, although I thought it went quite well. Then my agent phoned and asked if I was sitting down, then she said I'd got the job. I was a bit overwhelmed. Until I started doing it, it seemed a bit unbelievable.

"The first night I was pretty giggly and silly. I've never had a dressing room with my name on it. I pretty much fell over when I saw it. I asked my assistant to take a photo of me with it."

Since beginning in February, Cat has become a well-known face to millions. But she admits that things do not always run smoothly behind the scenes.

She says: "We were filming a Comic Relief special a few weeks ago. The idea was someone would pass me a red nose at the end and I'd put it on.

"We were trying to get the floor manager lying on the floor and passing up the red nose without anyone seeing on camera. Then when I put it on, it sounded like I had a nose clip on my nose.

"Once, I made the mistake of drinking some Red Bull before a piece. The caffeine hit made me a bit manic and I was talking extremely fast.

"I hate watching myself on TV. I've got used to it now, but I used to want to hide behind the cushions! I really notice my dancing eyebrows – they seem to go up and down and all over the place."

She is now taking a few weeks off to join her parents and brother Douglas, 33, on a visit to her grandmother, who lives in Santa Cruz. She has then set up meetings with television producers in Los Angeles. Her dream is to combine work as a UK correspondent for an American show with presenting for the BBC.

She says: "I'm just trying to see what happens. The idea of going to Los Angeles is so cool. I'm not actually that nervous at the moment but I think maybe I should be. One of the casting directors said I look 'adorable' – I felt about five years old."

Although she is settled in her London flat, she still misses her family and friends in Edinburgh. She tries to return at least every six weeks and says she would love to work for BBC Scotland.

She says: "I found London a bit overwhelming for the first year or two. It's scary if you don't know people – it takes time to get a community.

"I really miss that feeling of Scottishness, whether it's going to a rugby match at Murrayfield, or a ceilidh.

"I think it's a really positive kind of patriotism – we're just proud to be Scottish."