About me

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

Homeless!!!!

As most of you probably know, QVC are on the move after nearly nineteen years at Marco Polo House, Battersea. We are moving to a new purpose built building in Chiswick and it's not a moment too soon really, as the old building has started to creak and groan a bit - metaphorically speaking.

We have known about the move for a couple of years and it's one of the reasons I sold my house eighteen months ago as I didn't fancy the commute from the Surrey village of Woldingham, where we used to live. We have been renting the house we are in now since then, but although it is a lovely house it was never really far enough to the west of London, and anyway it was too big for our needs when Sophie moved out in February.

So I gave our landlord two months' notice with the intention of moving by the end of April. Well that was the intention, but we simply didn't see anything that we particularly wanted to move into. Our landlord decided to put the house back on the market, which had always been his intention, but I didn't think it would sell quickly in the current market.

Apologies!

Just to let you all know that Julia has been having problems posting and replying to your comments due to technical difficulties. We know many of you have mentioned experiencing 'computer gremlins' before so we're working on getting rid of them and hopefully Julia will be back blogging as soon as possible!

Au Revoir but not Adieu

Last Tuesday was the leaving 'do' for one of my backstage colleagues at QVC - the infamous 'Dickie'. I'm sure you have probably heard his name mentioned a lot over the last seven years as he was a very popular member of staff, but to me he is more than that, he is a friend. I will miss his innate ability to put a smile on my face, even on days when I don't feel like smiling.

We became friends during the audition stages of QVC's Search For A Presenter, or SFAP as we renamed it, when he was on a permanent mission to get me slightly 'tiddly'! Because I was working I would limit my alcohol intake to a glass of wine with my evening meal - I know my limitations.

Busy Bunny!!!

I hope you all had a lovely Easter? After my Good Friday shows, I had the rest of the Easter weekend off but far from relaxing I was busier than if I had been at work!

On Saturday I had to have a 'flick around with a duster' as my brother and his girlfriend, Remy, were staying the night with us, prior to flying out to the Philippines on holiday. I made risotto for dinner and also a 'luscious lemon cake', as it was Remy's birthday. 

Easter Sunday saw us up early to take them off to the airport and later Sophie arrived so we could all sample our Easter eggs. We had a lazy family afternoon with the footie on in the background while we played games of 'Guess Who'! This is a game my children loved when they were very young, so a couple of Christmas' ago we bought the new updated version, which has sheets of additional 'characters' that you can slot in.

Chris and I kept making mistakes with the characters we were flipping down, which had us in hysterics, and the children rolling their eyes at us - after all it is supposed to be a game for 6 year olds and I promise we hadn't touched a drop of drink at that point!!!!

Aussie Rules!

Firstly apologies for not posting the promised photos of Sophie's trip to Australia sooner. I was away last week and only had my 'baby netbook' with me, which didn't have the pictures loaded onto it - schoolgirl error!!

The first one is a picture of Sophie and the group she met up with for her 'Intro to Oz' week, with the iconic Sydney landmarks of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

If any of you have any offspring planning on a trip to Australia in the future, this 'intro week' is a really good idea, as they are shown around the sightseeing spots en masse and they also meet fellow solo travellers who they can then team up with if they want to explore a bit further afield, which is what Sophie did.

What happened to spring?

Last weekend we put the clocks forward so that it is officially British Summertime and for once it actually is! What is going on with the weather, and what happened to spring?

Looking at the weather forecast though it doesn't look set to last beyond the weekend and apparently some of us may even have snow at Easter! Let's hope this week wasn't the entire British Summer, just a taster of things to come.

Even before we put the clocks forward we had some pretty nice days. I managed to nip up to Nottingham to see my Mum last week, as I had missed her on Mother's Day, and it was so warm in her conservatory, with the sun streaming in, that we had to evacuate to the lounge to cool down a bit. I had taken her a tin of chocolate chip cookies, sadly not home baked, and some Elemis and Liz Earle goodies.

I also handed her the first fifty chapters of my book. It's the first time I have seen the words printed on paper rather than the computer screen and she is the first person to read it other than the odd chapters I've read out to Chris and the children. I really hope she likes it, although I don't know how far she will have got with it as the lens fell out of her reading glasses the following day. I hope that's not a bad omen?!

I am busy writing the final few chapters in my time off that I had to take before the end of March. What is it they say? 'Use it or lose it'... or is that an exercise mantra?? 

I am back 'on air' on Tuesday evening so hopefully see you then, much love Julia x

Happy Mother's Day!

It's Mother's Day this coming Sunday, and I just wanted to wish all Mums a very happy day.

As I'm working I won't be able to visit my Mum in Nottinghamshire but I'm sure we'll have a nice long chat on the phone. I have just been choosing the flowers for both my Mum and Chris' Mum. I have chosen pinks and purples for my Mum (now you know where I get it from) and a spring selection in a creamy coloured, old-fashioned bucket for Audrey, Chris' Mum.

I'm hoping I will be able to visit Mum this coming week as she hasn't been feeling too well lately. I do wish she lived nearer so that I could just pop in whenever I wanted as I miss seeing her. I carry her picture with me all the time though - she was just three years old when this photo was taken. Apologies for the quality, but it was taken eighty two years ago!!!!!

So sew!

Sorry I didn't do a blog last week, but I gave myself a week off as I was so busy writing my book. I'm pleased to report that there is just another twelve chapters to write, which may sound a lot, but I managed twelve in the space of four days while I was away on my own last week. It's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have the interruption of work, family mealtimes and constant phone calls. 

One of the chapters I was writing was about the little 'cottage industry' my sister and I had making clothes for a boutique called 'Quintessence', in a small town in Scotland. As I was writing I realised how much I used to enjoy making all my own clothes, both sewing and knitting, so I've decided that I am going to start again... just as soon as I have some spare time!!!

Talking of clothes, I have a new fashion range this afternoon at 5pm called Weird Fish. Last night I tried on a dress from the range, that had appeared by magic in my dressing room, and fell in love with it. It has a hint of 'hippy chic' about it, and is actually a little reminiscent of the clothes I used to make for 'Quintessence'. Let me know what you think of the range and also if any of you create and make your own clothes.

Who needs eight hours' sleep?

I am very fortunate in the fact that I normally manage to get between six and eight hours sleep a night. Last night was the exception. I was at QVC until two in the morning working with lovely Ouida Oliver - hope you like the TSV today? It was Sophie's last shift at QVC so we arrived back at our house around 3 am. 

Thankfully Sophie had done most of her packing for her Australia trip but the only thing she hadn't organised was any Australian currency. I had volunteered to pop into the travel agents to get her some as the exchange rates at the airport can sometimes be less favourable. Unfortunately, they didn't have any actual cash, but the girl in the travel agents was extremely helpful and suggested a pre-pay debit card. What a great idea, and probably a lot safer than carrying cash!

Flying the nest

It's been a funny old week with Sophie finally picking up the keys to her flat last Saturday that she's going to be sharing with a friend from QVC. Up to that point, we had no idea how much of 'her' furniture she would be taking as we had no dimensions. So on Saturday she measured up and, with the help of her brother, calculated what would fit into her new bedroom. 

Sunday was the first trip over with 'stuff', followed by another trip on Monday and the big things like her bed and chests of drawers on Tuesday. Sophie was working the late shift on Monday and Tuesday so her first opportunity for packing the smaller fiddly bits was Wednesday, and then finally on Thursday everything was ready for her to move in.

It felt very strange leaving for work at lunchtime yesterday knowing that I would be returning to a house that Sophie no longer shared with us. I must admit to a lump in my throat and a few tears as I drove off up the road.