One of the first two QVC presenters seen on screen back in October 1993, Julia combines her TV appearances with voice-over work, writing a book, keeping fit and watching her team Crystal Palace play.

Read Julia Roberts' full biography

Oh what a night!

Simon Wilson never does anything by halves, and that was certainly true of his 40th Anniversary extravaganza! The venue was the KOKO club in Camden, London, and as well as celebrating his anniversary he was also raising money for Breast Cancer Care, which he did in abundance!

The celebrity guest list included model Yasmin Le Bon, designer Elizabeth Emanuel, Jo Wood and her Strictly Come Dancing partner Brendon Cole, TV presenters Jenny Frost and Nick Knowles, and photographer Terry O'Neil, not to mention our very own Dale, Pipa, Claire and Alison Young.

Claudia and I were "working", but we still had a great time. The newly crowned WBA World Heavyweight Champion David Haye even put in an appearance, hotfoot from recording the Jonathan Ross show.

Souped up!

Just a quickie from me as I'm about to start getting ready for THE PARTY - the Butler & Wilson 40th Anniversary extravaganza! All the gossip and photos in next week's blog!

I just wanted to share the recipe for my peanut butter soup with you, as I recently had a letter requesting it. It only takes five minutes and is ideal for warming you up on cold winter days.

Peanut butter soup:

Chop and fry a medium-sized onion in a teaspoon of oil until soft.
Meanwhile, put 1 litre of boiling water, a vegetable stock cube, 1 teaspoon of Marmite, 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and half a jar of crunchy peanut butter into a blender.
Add the softened onion and blend for a minute. Return to the pan to heat through. It's as easy as that!

It's a really quick and easy recipe, and surprisingly tasty and high in protein too - though it's not necessarily ideal for dieters! Please do give it a go and let me know what you think of it.

Must go, my carriage awaits!

Love,
Julia. xx.

What's your FLAVA?

Hi there,

Just a quick post this time to say thanks to all of you who had a go at guessing the date of my can-can photo. You were all very kind saying late 1970s and early 1980s, but it was actually taken in 1975!

I was lucky enough to get a dancing job on the SS Doric, cruising around the Caribbean - more photos available on request! I was only 19 at the time and had never been abroad before, in fact, I didn't even have a passport! What a brilliant time I had visiting Berumda and Barbados, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and beautiful Grenada, also known as the 'Spice Island'.

Which reminds me, lots of you have been requesting to see my daughter Sophie's band in action. They're called 4FLAVA, so each of them has a tasty stage name. Sophie's is Cinnamon, hence the spice connection! They have a few videos on YouTube, and here's one of them singing a little a cappella number.

Maybe I should treat her to Philosophy's 'Cinnamon Buns' body wash as a little stocking filler? Incidentally, if you're looking for a few beauty gifts for this Christmas, don't miss the Liz Earle mini-series, which starts at 9pm on Tuesday 10th November with yours truly.

Just for fun, what flavours would you associate with your favourite QVC presenters?

Enjoy the music,
Love,
Julia. xx.

Celebrating 15 years of dazzling Diamonique

Hi there,

Those of you who watch QVC regularly will know that I'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to sparkly things, so it's no wonder that I love Diamonique.

I was first introduced to the jewellery in July 1994 when it made its debut on QVC UK. Although I fell in love with the simulated diamonds immediately, some of those early designs were not really to my taste. But I still loved the stones - their clarity and rainbow of reflections were so similar to top quality diamonds that I was completely smitten.

However, it didn't take too long to find a piece that I just had to have. It was a simple tennis bracelet in 14 carat gold and it was my Christmas present in 1994. I still have it, still wear it, and still get compliments about it almost fifteen years later!

I'm a big fan of wrist jewellery, and if you are too then you'll want to check out our Diamonique Day Today's Special Value - I can't say more than that!

Also, take a look at the presenter picks blog post, where we've all chosen our favourite jewellery from the day - of course, I've gone for the most fabulous bangle!

There's so much variety in our Diamonique catalogue now in terms of style, colour, settings and even metals; there's bound to be something that you'll fall in love with, just like I did with my tennis bracelet. And don't forget, Diamonique makes a fab Christmas present too!

Enjoy Diamonique Day,
Love,
Julia. xx.


Find more Diamonique jewellery

Discover who won our Face of Diamonique competition

I still can-can!

Just to update you on my trip to Spain with my mum. We had a great time together and the weather was very kind to us indeed! Mum posed for a few pics and this one on the left is my favourite.

She even learnt a little bit of Spanish - 'entrada de camiones' - which she delivers proudly to anyone who will listen. Not sure how useful 'lorry entrance' in Spanish will be in her little Nottinghamshire village though!

The break seems like ages ago now as it's been a very busy week for me, and not just at work. I also went to Debbie Greenwood's birthday/wedding anniversary party along with Ali K, Dale, Pipa, Claire, Anthony and Deb Flint.

It was a really enjoyable evening culminating in a 'dance-off' between the boys and the girls. We were doing OK, but the boys were possibly edging it, so Claire did a few high kicks, another guest did a forward roll and I did my party piece - the splits! Fortunately no-one caught it on camera... I hope!

It reminded me of when I used to perfom the can-can when I was a dancer on a cruise ship. I could ask you which one you think is me, but that's too easy, so what year do you think this photo was taken? I know I'm ancient, but take note - this is a colour photo!!!

Much love,
Julia. xx.

Viva Espana

Just thought I'd say a quick hello from sunny Spain - and yes, it is sunny, which is very fortunate as most of last week they had torrential rain!

I'm here for a week with my mum and I wanted to share a funny story from our journey. As those of you who have read my previous blogs will know, my mum is 83 and she doesn't often travel abroad. In fact the first time I brought her out to Spain she asked IF she needed a passport!

For this trip she'd packed her case at home and also had her hand luggage ready. As I was at work it fell to my Chris to find a clear plastic bag to pop her small toiletries into. He also asked her if she had anything sharp in her hand luggage, to which she replied no.

So there we were at 7am on Wednesday morning going through security and mum's bag was pulled for examination. The security girl was really nice when she asked mum if she had anything sharp in her bag. Again my mum replied no. She started to go through the bag and came across a small package. 'What's in here?', she asked. 'Just a little sewing kit', says my mum. Nothing sharp in there then, except for the scissors and half a dozen needles!

The security girl carried on her investigation and found a small bag with two miniature bottles of perfume and a full-sized Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate! Fortunately for mum the security girl was really kind and let her keep everything. I wonder, have you ever had anything confiscated at the airport?

And speaking of Liz Earle, watch out for her next TSV on Saturday 17th October - I know my mum will be.

Also just wanted to say 'Hi' to a lady called Alison who we bumped into at the airport and who's a big QVC fan, particularly of Bare Escentuals. I asked her where she was flying to and she said Alicante, the same as me. We got on the plane and she was sat on the same row as us across the aisle. As we got off the plane I quipped 'I don't suppose you're going to Javea are you?' You guessed it, she was!!! What a small world!

See you all soon,
Julia. xx.

Great-great Aunt Julia!

Well, he kept us waiting for a fortnight, but eventually baby Leo Vincent William was born in the early hours of Tuesday morning to my great-niece Tansy. After hearing the news I announced to my family that I'm now officially a great-great aunt, to which Daniel replied, 'Does that make me a super-duper cousin?' Actually, does anyone know what that makes him, apart from a wannabe comedian?

So, congratualtions to Tansy and Lee. If wondering about his names, Leo is after Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent is after Vincent van Gogh, and William is in memory of my dad.

Great-great aunt does sound as though it refers to someone of more advanced years than me, and I did find myself checking in the mirror to see if any more lines have appeared overnight (nope!) - thank goodness for the effective beauty products we sell at QVC!

Speaking of which, don't miss our 'Beauty Stocking Fillers' show on Monday 5th October at 11pm. The line-up includes some of my favourites like L'Occitane and Gale Hayman (I've just ordered my Eye Lift Gel Duo, which I can't be without), but there are also some products that are new to me. I'll be on the look out for the Liptini and Nailtini ranges, which I'm looking forward to trying on the night. Hope you can join me!

Till next time,
Love,
Julia. x.

My brush with Eurovision fame!

We're rapidly approaching QVC's 16th birthday on October 1st and as some of you know, I've been here throughout all of those 16 years.

However, I did have a career in the entertainment industry pre-QVC, as I was reminded the other day. I'd presented with 'Wearable Art by Bob Mackie' show with the flamboyant Jonathan Ellis, and afterwards he told me he'd been watching me on YouTube singing with a group called 'The Main Event' on 1980's 'Song for Europe'.

As a fashionista he commented on the outfits we wore - animal print, shiny stretch trousers - well it was the early '80s, need I say more?! He particularly noticed the vibrant green outfits that myself and the other backing singer were wearing, and was quite surprised when I told him I'd made them. Or maybe he was more surprised that I'd owned up to it!! If you're dying to see the song then just click on here for a giggle!

That was 1980 and now my daughter Sophie is following in my footsteps as she's in an all-girl group. If you'd like to find out more then watch this space...

Taking of shiny and green, if you love both (but perhaps not in a jumpsuit!), then watch out for the Gem Day Today's Special Value launching on Wednesday 30th September. Dale and I will be presenting, and I can promise you, the TSV is GORGEOUS, you won't be disappointed!

Till next time,
Love,
Julia. xx.

Shaun the sheep 'behaving badly' while Sophie was on holiday!

Once again, thanks to all of you who played the 'spot the difference' game a couple of weeks ago. Lots of you seemed quite taken with 'Shaun', Sophie's little lamb.

As I replied to Pamela, Sophie takes it most places with her, including sitting him on the passenger seat of her car, with the seatbelt fastened around him, when she drives down to Wales to see her boyfriend. However, she decided to leave Shaun at home when she went on holiday to Portugal as her boyfriend is a keen surfer, and he mentioned taking him out to catch a few waves!!

On the morning she was going on holiday, poor old Sophie didn't feel too great, so later in the day, to cheer her up, I sent her a picture or two of Shaun letting his hair (or should that be fleece?) down. Imagine my surprise when I received a text message back from Sophie's phone saying, "Please can you throw him in the bin". It took me a few moments to realise that the message wasn't from Sophie..!

I've still got my Teddy, whose tummy plays 'Brahms Lullaby' when you press it, from when I was a baby. I also have the first cuddly toy Chris bought me over thirty years ago - it's an Andrex puppy called Ben, although he's barely recognisable now!

Do any of you have cuddly toys with a story??

Speak soon,
Love,
Julia. xx.
 

You're not old... YET!

It was my partner Chris's birthday on August 30th, and as he turned 55 I keep reminding him that he's now officially closer to 60 than 50 - he's not amused! Although he was very amused with the birthday card I got him. On the front it said 'Old is when' and inside it had things like 'getting lucky means you find your car in the car park' and 'you're cautioned to slow down by your doctor instead of the police'!

Which reminds me, as well as the sat nav and Birkenstock sandals I got him from QVC, we all clubbed together and bought him a Formula One Experience Day at Brands Hatch. He was very surprised (and I think quite pleased), but he did make some comment about beating the record for the slowest time round the track, and was wondering if the sat nav would come in handy to make it to the finish line!

Have you ever had an 'experience day' as a birthday present? And if so, what did you do on your special day?

Speak soon,
Julia. xx.