Gabby Logan tells Chris Evans about the ‘light bulb moment’ that changed her life forever

Virgin Radio

3 Nov 2022, 12:37

Sports broadcaster Gabby Logan is shedding light on her incredible 25-year career in her first book, The First Half, which is out now. While on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, the presenter discussed how she first got her start in the world of sport broadcasting, the big moment that changed everything, and coming to terms with the highs and lows of life. 

Gabby knew she wanted to be in sports from a very young age, starting out particularly interested in tennis and rhythmic gymnastics. 

It wasn’t until her first trip to a TV studio during an appearance on Blue Peter aged 15 that she knew telly was the place for her. 

“I just loved it,” Gabby said of her first ever TV experience. “It was the old TV Centre, the iconic building that I'd only ever seen on TV. Living in Leeds, I'd come down on the train, walked into that amazing building, walked into the studio and loved it. 

“I wrote to the producer and said, ‘how do I get into telly?’ He said, ‘go to university’, which wasn't quite the structured advice I was looking for. But years later, I ended up doing a show with him on ITV2. He said, ‘you took my advice there!' It was such a light bulb moment for me.”

In the book, Gabby details competing in The Commonwealth Games, but had big dreams of reaching the Olympics one year. Despite never making it as a sportsman, she went on to commentate her first Olympic event at 2008's Beijing games.

Her professional highs take up numerous pages within her debut book, but Gabby didn’t want the tome to become “a glorified CV”

She explained: “I wanted to examine things that you've made, bad decisions or decisions that you might have, with hindsight, done slightly differently, and how, actually, those mistakes or those slightly bumpy bits of your life lead to other things. 

“I felt that was important, especially now thinking of my teenagers whose world is so kind through the prism of social media and everything being perfect. Life is not perfect, and actually, because of that, it makes it more joyous and interesting and colourful, and so I wanted to be as authentic and honest about those things as I could and I enjoyed that. I enjoyed writing about those things.”

As well as detailing how she met husband Kenny Logan, her bizarre meet-up with Liam Gallagher, and almost winning the Rose of Tralee, Gabby also opens the book with a moving chapter about the day her brother, Daniel, passed away aged 15, and she revealed why she wanted to tackle the idea of grief within her book. 

She continued: “I think the suddenness of what happened to us was just something…it's never been the same again, in the family dynamic, because of the way everybody deals with things. It felt like an important chapter to start with, because it did feel like there's a before and after, because something like that does change you as a human being and how you look at life. 

“I certainly had this ‘seize the day’ moment going on. I've got to live my life to the max and do everything and be a bit manic for about three or four years before I actually caught up with my grief. I think it's important to talk about that as well, because grief is something that people don't really still feel comfortable talking about.”

Gabby Logan’s book, The First Half, is out in hardback now. 

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or  catch up on-demand here.