Quotes from Steph McGovern

If someone chooses a vocational route, why do they not get the same respect in society as someone who just does a pure academic route?

I look at my bank account every day. I constantly think about what is going in and out, and I will always try to save money on something if I can.

I meet a lot of people with my BBC Breakfast job who have great businesses.

I'm always on the go, which means my health has often been the thing that suffers.

Since becoming a BBC breakfast presenter I have been paid four-figure sums for doing hour-long speeches for associations and at awards dinners. That has been an eye-opener. I am surprised by how much people are willing to pay TV celebrities to do that kind of stuff.

I see myself as a bit of a capitalist really - I like enterprise and making money.

Young people have so many great ideas so I can't wait to hear what children from around the country have come up with. 'Pocket Money Pitch' will encourage them to believe in themselves and 'have a go.'

I am not with child - I am with pot belly.

Having once met Trump... Ah he's creepy, man.

Drinks-wise, I stick to water, sometimes a Diet Coke.

When I come to schools like Norton Primary Academy and meet children who have their lives and careers before them, I hope in some small way that I can inspire them to do better by sharing my own story with them and telling them never to give up on their dreams.

Given how dangerous it is for someone to consume something they are allergic to, you would think that companies would just make sure they print labels which have the allergy information on.

Growing up in Middlesbrough I was taught to be resilient and competitive. My teachers made us believe that just because kids were at private school up the road, it didn't mean they were better than us.

I had people who said I was a brilliant producer but I wouldn't get on the news because I was too northern. But there was no way I was changing my accent - it is the key to my identity.

I have had people come up to me in the street - one woman actually told me she hated my accent, she can't believe I'm on the telly and my accent is so annoying. I ended up laughing because I thought, 'this person doesn't know me but she felt she could come up and slate my accent.'

Even my own auntie asked me once if I was pregnant after seeing me on the telly - that's just life on camera.

I meet so many business women who shy away from the limelight or hesitate to put themselves forward for promotion, despite the fact they are brilliant at their jobs.

I am not frugal - I'm quite a big spender - but not on credit.

My first attempt at a business was a jumble sale which I ran at the end of my next door neighbour's drive. I used to rummage through her garage, looking for anything that I thought people might buy. I'd then set up a table and try to sell what I could to the people walking by.

I, like many annoying pedants, will wince when someone says 'less' when they should have said 'fewer.' But my 'poor' sounds like poo-ah, not pore; and my 'grass' rhymes with mass, not farce. What's wrong with that?

The problem in business isn't that women are overlooked because they are women, it's that most people subconsciously look to employ a mini-me. It's not a gender issue, it's about diversification full stop. It's hard to change that mindset and it hits women particularly hard because men historically have always been the recruiters.

We concentrate too much on ethnic diversity and not enough on class. It's dead important to represent loads of different cultures. But what the BBC doesn't do enough of is thinking about getting people from more working-class backgrounds.

I get up at 3:30 A. M. We're on air from 6 A. M., so if I'm in the studio, I'll have eggs at around 7 A. M. from the canteen - scrambled or poached, occasionally with a slice of brown toast.

It's inevitable that not everyone will like me, and that some will find me annoying. That's fine. All presenters deal with that. What's scary is the ignorance about what having a regional accent means, or indeed doesn't mean. It certainly doesn't equal ignorance.