Dale Franklin comes from a real showbiz family - his mum, Pat, was one of TV's Wrigley's Doublemint twins and his step-father, Derek Franklin, was a radio star...

Read Dale Franklin's full biography

Simon Wilson really knows how to party

Hi everyone,

It’s been quite hectic at QVC Towers as it always is at this time of year.

I recently spent a day filming a new promo for the email order confirmation service and, in case you’re wondering when you see it, no, it’s not my house - it’s the QVC house.
 
I was really excited to be invited to the Butler & Wilson 40th Anniversary party last week – what a night! Simon Wilson laid on the most spectacular fashion show featuring, of course, our very own Renee and Ali. The clothes and jewellery collections were stunning and there was even an authentic marching pipe band.

Click here to see a video.

I shot the video on my mobile so the sound is distorted from the pulsating dance music, but you get an idea of the spectacle. At the end, Simon comes onto the catwalk to deserved hysteria and a shower of golden ticker tape which covered the whole stage and floor surrounding it. This caused mayhem with everyone slipping around on it – I had to 'ski” Miss Roberts and her daughter Sophie off the dance floor to safety. What a hero!
 
All in all, it was a brilliant celebration.

Were you there? Love to hear from you whether you were or not.

Dale x

Alison and I attend the Breast Cancer Care Fashion Show

Sorry my last blog was delayed but the lovely lady Louise who posts my blogs was off sick with a very nasty cold – probably the same as I had but as a man, of course, I had it far worse!!
 
On Wednesday night I had the great pleasure of escorting Miss Alison Keenan to the Breast Cancer Care Fashion Show event at The Grosvenor House in Park Lane. As always it was a fantastic event with the stars being the fashion models who had all been or were still affected by Breast Cancer. They were just amazing and so inspiring. They were cheered and encouraged every step of the way by an adoring crowd and there were not many dry eyes in the house.

Busy times at QVC

Hi everyone,

Well I made it in to accompany Julia for the launch of Gem Day and what a great day it turned out to be – thanks to all who managed to join us.

Every week there seems to be something happening and big shows to prepare for - yesterday we had our Breast Cancer Care Fashion Show and next Thursday (15th) we have our very special 10th Anniversary of our own BCC 'Be aware Show You Care' show which is live from 7pm - 10pm. It will be particularly special for me as I took part in the first ever QVC BCC show with Julia, Paul Lavers and Ali Young, I can’t believe it was 10 years ago now!

Thanks for your kind comments regarding Toby and his injuries – he really is back to his bouncing best and celebrated his 1st birthday last week. The kids have went out and bought him chews and even more toys to play with! So he was strutting around very pleased with himself and blissfully unaware of why they were making so much fuss of him.

The picture of him (above) was taken a few weeks ago on a windy day – his coat is now shorter but will grow back soon.

Take care x

Man flu strikes...

Hiya,

It’s been a frustrating week for me. I was looking forward to presenting some great shows on QVC including my 2nd show with Kelly Hoppen, but I managed to catch a very nasty man-flu viral thingy. It clung to my vocal chords and made me sound as if I was using one of those voice changers they use on TV crime buster shows to protect the identity of the person! Some of you might have said it was an improvement!

Anyway the short of the long is I haven’t left the house much since last Friday, thus I don’t have a lot to blog about this week.  However to explain the photo (above), while I was at home I was asked to compile my views on Christmas for a forthcoming web feature and I started looking through some old photos of my Children Alex and Jack’s first Nativity play and found this one from Christmas 2000. Alex is Mary and Jack a wise King (takes after his father!) Hope it makes you smile, as it did me - Cheeky or what?!
 
Last week I mentioned my dog Toby’s tribulations that took an unbelievable turn for the worse when he lost yet another claw on Saturday!! I am pleased to say that he has made a brilliant recovery and seems to be absolutely fine. It’s not easy keeping an 11 month old puppy calm when he meets other dogs or for that matter people, but we’ve got to try for his sake.
 
So hopefully by the time you read this I’m back on air. Whatever happens I am determined to be back by Julia’s side on Tuesday evening to Launch Wednesday's GEM DAY.

Dale x

Toby's run of bad luck

Hi everyone

As always many thanks for your comments. Sylvia and Marg joined in with their doggy stories which always make us smile.
 
Toby has had a run of bad luck recently, nothing too serious but costly!
 
I told you last week about him losing a claw, well we got that fixed and it was healing well – then he got trodden on and bruised a toe, then he got a bout of kennel cough.
 
He threw that off very quickly, then, wait for it… he lost another claw! We went up to the Imax on London’s famous Southbank to see the new Harry Potter movie and our lovely neighbours Jim and Sue offered to let out Toby and invited him in to their garden to play with Ollie their Springer Spaniel (Toby’s best pal) and surprise surprise Toby overdid it.

Toby's enthusiasm gets him into a spot of bother...

Thank you for the kind comments following my attempt to become the next Jacques Cousteau - my apologies if you are too young to remember him.
 
I hope many of you also had the opportunity to get away from it all. I’m a firm believer that we all need to do this - I’m not just talking about going abroad – I literally mean getting away from the stresses of the office, shop, factory etc and just doing something different and hopefully pleasant!

A time to re-charge the batteries and take stock is essential and most of us are guilty of not doing this often enough. It doesn’t have to be expensive either… anyway less of my preaching. 

Whilst I was away playing with my underwater camera, Toby (our Bearded Collie) also had a seaside holiday and stayed with my Mum down in West Sussex. We’d only been gone a week when he decided to rip off one of his claws. Mum thinks he was waiting for us to come back and used to sit by her side gate for our arrival and would jump up at the wrought iron gates to greet any passers by. Apparently he had a few local admirers, and does get quite excited when anyone says hello to him. Anyway mum thinks this is when he must have caught his paw in the fancy scroll work.

My holiday

Firstly,

Thank you all so much for the amazing response to my blog about Toby and the electric fence, I really loved reading some of your stories. I have been away for the best part of three weeks so I’ve been blogless, but I’ll hope to make up for it this week with two.
 
First one then - you may have read in an earlier blog that I bought the Z33WP Waterproof Camera from Fuji – well I got to really test it on holiday this year and as I said before – It’s just amazing!!  I’ve posted a short movie clip of one of my snorkelling adventures, and a few still shots at the end (at the bottom of the blog).

My top picks from the Q Technology weekend

I’m not a 'techie' in so much as I don’t spend hours talking in a binary language to other likeminded folk, but that said, I love discovering new technology. It’s so exciting to find out what’s out there and new in terms of the latest gadgets and systems and more importantly what it can do for me? 

When I was a kid there was a BBC show called Tomorrows World usually presented by the late Raymond Baxter. It often showcased the latest inventions and gadgets from around the world – many never saw the light of day and were often quite amusing, in a ridiculous way.

But, it made me realise that if people stop trying to improve systems or come up with new technological approaches we wouldn’t develop and would effectively stand still. I’m sure people ridiculed Edison or Babbage in their day.
 

Mine and Toby's scary ordeal...

Last week I included a photo of Toby confronting a highland cow on a recent walk. I have to say that I think it’s so much better to see these beautiful animals grazing rather than watch a tractor crash through the Heath destroying much in its path!

However the cows' presence indirectly created a terrifying chain of events for Toby and yours truly last week...

Great weather and a summer of garden fetes

Hope you've been enjoying the weather and QVC’s fare so far!

That reminds me - I love going to all the summer fairs and fetes that dominate the local summer calendar.

My daughter is dancing at a couple this summer and we all go as a family to cheer her on and walk around the various stalls and displays. I know some leave a little to be desired but we go to one in Berkshire that reminds me of an episode of the 'Vicar of Dibley' when they think Elton John is turning up – I love it.

There will be ferret racing, arts and crafts, morris and street dancing, show jumping, dancing, kung fu and falconry displays and much more, and the whole town really gets involved – it’s amazing and hopefully won’t be washed out!
 
Our not so little puppy Toby continues to blossom. He had an interesting encounter with a Highland cow last week (see photo). At first he thought he was looking at a large Beardie!

More of that in the next blog, in the meantime I’d love to hear of any unusual stalls, stands or events that you’ve seen at your local fair.

Until next time,

Dale