Sunday lie in? The only thing I don’t like about my job is the tug of war with my alarm. I’m up at 4.30am in the Holiday Inn in Salford before my Radio 2 show. It gives me that airport tummy feeling.
First thing you do? The great thing about radio is nobody can see you, so I just walk into the studio, the coffee goes on, the papers come out and my co-host Jason Mohammad and I open our takeaway bags from the hotel and stare into them in the hope it’s some beautiful Heston Blumenthal creation instead of yesterday’s croissants.
Sunday morning? We’re on air at 6am for three hours. I’m the daughter of a steel worker and school cleaner so this job is an unexpected joy.
Sunday church? I drive home to Retford for the last half hour of church and walk in as the sermons finish and they’re on the bread and wine. I’m a supply vicar, so duties can come into my Sundays but I don’t have any of the responsibility, I just turn up in a dress and show off. People recognise me and say, ‘I know you, don’t I? Did you do my cousin’s wedding in Shropshire?’
Sunday lunch? My yorkshires are amazing. I’m from Sheffield – they revoke your citizenship if you can’t make yorkshire pudding. I feed people, literally and metaphorically. My mum died in February, so I feed my dad, and I make food when people are sad. I like to think what I do well – and not just from the pulpit – is offer people nourishment.
Sunday workout? I swim in a local river and I’ve got a cold water barrel in the back garden which is more of a dip, but it resets me.
Sunday tipple? Red wine with leftovers from the roast. My top tip is yorkshire pudding with jam or golden syrup.
Sunday wind-down? I fall asleep doomscrolling on social media. I tell myself I’m not going to do it every night. I also tell [my husband] Graham I’m not going to be asleep when he comes up but I always am.
Radio 2 in the Park is in Leicester on 16 and 17 September – listen live on Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, and watch on BBC iPlayer
Have A Little Faith: Life Lessons on Love, Death and How Lasagne Always Helps by the Reverend Kate Bottley is published by Penguin Life, 14 September, £18.99
