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SITTING eyeball to eyeball with Theresa May while giving her a grilling over the chaos of Brexit wasn’t a position Rochelle Humes ever thought she’d be in.
But thanks to a series of unexpected events (Ant McPartlin pulling out of his I’m A Celebrity! presenting duties, Holly Willoughby taking over and Rochelle stepping into her shoes on This Morning), that’s exactly where she found herself late last year.
“Before that, I wasn’t very skilled in Brexit,” she admits, adding that producers gave her a crash course in the ongoing saga ahead of the May interview.
“Obviously I knew the basics and that it really isn’t looking great for our country. To be honest, I don’t think the politicians even know what’s going on with it, let alone the rest of us. But now? I could tell you anything – I know it all!”
As the more experienced presenter, Phillip Schofield took the lead when it came to pressing the Prime Minister on the intricacies of the deal she’d negotiated with the EU. Rochelle’s approach was more personal.
“Obviously Phillip is there for the hard-hitting stuff because he’s so well-versed in that. I asked the questions like: ‘What it would mean for my children, for house prices?’ – the stuff people watching at home want to know. I was asking questions as a mum.”
Was she nervous?
“I wasn’t really because I could feel her nerves, which was mad. But when I look at Theresa May as a person, I think she’s just one lady and it looked like the whole thing was consuming her. A lot of the viewers were messaging the show saying they felt really sorry for her.
“I asked her about what her husband thought of it and whether he’d ever said to her: ‘Come on, you’ve given this a good bash – and she bloody has – but let someone else give it a go.’ And I could see her think about it for a tiny second before she said no.
“I don’t think anyone ever asks her how she is. She’s been handed this huge problem and has been told to go away and figure it out and it must be so hard. I don’t think any of us can imagine the stress she’s under.”
On a fast-paced show like This Morning, there’s only time for a quick thank you and goodbye to guests before moving on to the next item. Although on this occasion, Rochelle (to her own surprise as much as anyone else’s) went a step further.
“Phillip shook her hand and, oh my god, I gave her this big hug.” She cringes as she relives the moment. Theresa May isn’t exactly a huggy person, so how on earth did she respond to that?
“Well, I pretty much landed on her so she didn’t have much choice in the matter! She kind of just stood there!”
Rochelle pins her arms to her side and freezes.
“Afterwards, I was like: ‘Oh, did I actually just hug Theresa May?!’ You know what though, maybe she needed the hug.”
This Morning brought Rochelle’s year to a busy end. She was initially only brought in to cover for Holly for a fortnight, but bosses were so impressed that they extended her contract to two months.
She’d stepped in on an ad hoc basis in the past, but taking on the role in such high-profile circumstances meant this time there was much more pressure.
“It was different because all eyes were on me. I knew everyone was watching to see how this one’s gonna go down, the same way I’m sure Holly was feeling in the jungle.
"I’m a This Morning viewer as much as I work on it and I don’t like change! I want Phillip and Holly together so I was expecting everyone to be like: ‘Bring Holly back!’
“I’d said I wasn’t going to read anything until January, but everyone said the feedback was so positive and I was really surprised.”
How was it getting to work with The Schofe every day?
“I mean, hanging with a legend like the Silver Fox, I learned something new every five minutes. He is a broadcasting legend and to watch how he handles different situations, I was like a sponge taking it all in.
I still find Marvin sexy - men get better as they get older
Rochelle Humes
“He’s so relaxed, so easy-breezy. He never flaps on or off camera. I’ve grown up watching him on telly and when he’s as nice as you’re hoping – which doesn’t ever happen, by the way – and so nurturing and lovely to be around, I was just made up. He’s a real gent with everyone and he’s the bones of that show.”Beating off competition from the likes of Amanda Holden and former Saturdays band mate Mollie King to be offered the job was a huge boost for Rochelle, who has spent the last few years honing her presenting skills following The Saturdays’ 2014 split.
Nevertheless, she confesses that she often wonders if she really deserves the success she’s getting and worries she’s going to get “found out”.
“I’ll always feel that imposter syndrome, I think – wondering why everything is going so well. I do get that feeling of: ‘Oh my goodness, they want me to do that? Are they sure?’
“Marvin [Humes, Rochelle’s JLS star turned DJ and presenter husband] tells me: ‘It’s because you work bloody hard, this hasn’t just happened, you’ve been grafting.’ And I do know that.
"Sometimes you have to take a step back and recognise that, yes, you did it and you did it really well, rather than assuming you just ‘got away’ with it.
“I’ve been beavering away doing bits here and there and it’s coming to people’s attention now, which feels good.”
Next month Rochelle, 29, will present her fifth series of Ninja Warrior UK with Ben Shephard and Chris Kamara.
She also has her own weekend show on Heart FM, is currently developing a kids’ natural bath and haircare range, and next month she’s due to start filming a new BBC1 music quiz show The Hit List, which she’ll host alongside Marvin, 33.
“We wanted to work together, but we’ve been waiting for the right thing to come along. We’ve had offers before, but it hasn’t felt right and we didn’t want to take something just for the money.
"We wanted to make sure that it was something we both adored and were both equally as passionate about. It’s taken a while, but we’ve found it.”
This week sees the launch of her debut children’s book The Mega Magic Hair Swap, which was inspired by her eldest daughter Alaia, five. It tells the story of two friends, one with dark, curly hair and the other with straight, blonde hair.
She hopes to help children of colour feel more represented in storybooks and says the current lack of diversity is unacceptable.
“It’s not a reflection of the world we live in, it’s so outdated. There was some research carried out last year, and in the children’s book world, only 1% of the lead characters were BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic]. That’s terrible. And even fewer were female. That just blew my mind.
“A book is your first love of make-believe, and so my aim is to write a series that every child can pick up and see themselves in.”
The seeds of the book were sown back in 2017 when Alaia told Rochelle that she didn’t like her own hair and couldn’t be a princess because she had curls.
The conversation shook Rochelle, who immediately stopped straightening her own hair and embraced her natural curls in order to lead by example.
She posted about it on Instagram and started the #CurlsLikeUs campaign, which is still going strong today. Rochelle admits she could never have predicted it would snowball in the way it has.
“After I shared that post, I got asked to be on the BBC News At 10 to talk about it. It’s been crazy.
"I never imagined I’d become some sort of inspiration for girls, it’s just bananas how it all kind of comes together sometimes.
“And it’s great that we can have these conversations. That’s the power of social media. If it’s used in the right way it can be a really positive place.”
It certainly seems like Rochelle has it all sorted: career, family, marriage and regular Insta-documented holidays in the Maldives. She and Marvin have been married for nearly seven years and as well as Alaia, are parents to Valentina, known as Vally, who turns two next month.
Ask Marvin and he’ll tell you they’re celebrating a decade together as a couple this year. But Rochelle has a slightly different version of events.
“Well, it’s a bit sketchy, “ she says, laughing. “Officially it’s 10 years next year. He says this year. I’m like no, we weren’t official until 2010.”
Back then, Rochelle was determined that they wouldn’t get together at all, but smitten Marvin’s persistence eventually paid off.
“We had loads of mutual friends and everyone would always say that we were the guy and girl version of each other. I’d been living with someone but our relationship wasn’t great, so I was finishing with him and going through a messy break-up and Marvin was asking to take me out to dinner.
“I was like: ‘Look, this is not what I want.’ I just wanted to be single and enjoy myself. That’s where the sketchy bit comes into it. I was adamant I wanted to be on my own. I tried to not like him, but he ground me down.”
She laughs again. Rochelle knew she was falling for him but she wasn’t ready for a relationship, didn’t want to get hurt again and was extremely wary of the reputation of guys in boy bands.
“I knew he was a nice guy and that I fancied him, but I was busy with the girls and I didn’t want to go out with someone in a boy band. I know this industry too well, I didn’t want a player.
[I’d been] messed around in my previous relationship and I just didn’t want to go there again. Little did I know that Marv was actually the biggest homebody in the world. Definitely not the Mr Romancer I thought he was!”
After several months of knock-backs, Marvin persuaded Rochelle to come to his house for dinner and the rest, she says, is history.
“I went to his place and I didn’t leave again. My best friend Georgina, who was staying at mine, was like: ‘Do you need anything? You’ve not been home for weeks...’ I think I’d fallen in love by that point without actually knowing it.
Read a book?
My own! I’ve no time for anything else but proof-reading that!
Binge-watched a TV series?
You on Netflix – it’s so good.
Got drunk?
New Year’s Eve.
Embarrassed yourself in public?
New Year’s Eve!
Watched a movie?
It was 10 Reasons Why on a plane.
Cried?
All the time. Normally at a sob story on The Voice.
Had a kiss?
This morning. With Marvin, I should add!
“We definitely wind each other up just like anyone else, but we’re also really affectionate and always have been. I like the kids to see that as well.
I still find him as sexy as when we first got together. Men just get better as they get older, don’t they? Look at David Beckham – I didn’t get it years ago, but now? Now I get it!”
They are just as loved-up as they were in the beginning, but their parenting styles differ. When it comes to the kids, Rochelle is bad cop to Marvin’s good.
“The other day, I heard him on the monitor saying to Vally: ‘You go downstairs and tell Mummy what you’ve done.’ Hang on, what? Just because he didn’t want to be the one to tell her off, he sent her to me!
He says: ‘I can’t do it.’ He can’t shout at them and he loves that they’re all like: ‘Ahh, daddy.’
“Alaia is like a teenager when we try to get her up in the morning, which is a beautiful thing at the weekend but not on a school day. When it’s 8am and she’s not up, Marvin’s like: ‘Oh, I thought I’d just let her sleep till she wakes.’ Er, she’s not a newborn! Get her up!”
Rochelle turns 30 next month, and Marvin has told her not to book a band for the celebrations as he’s already arranged a mystery performer. She’s under strict instructions not to ask any more questions in case she ruins the surprise. Could it be… a JLS reunion?!
“I hope not! I’ve seen enough of that in my life. But, yeah, I’m intrigued. I’m throwing a big party – a massive one!”
She has a 30 by 30 bucket list stored on her phone and there are plenty ticked off – she’s allowing herself the 12 months from hitting her birthday to complete it.
“I’m doing all right!” she says. “Go to Coachella is ticked. Write a children’s book, that’s ticked. Run the London Marathon, ticked. Renovate our home – we did that.”
Is there anything on that list she needs to get cracking with?
“I really want to learn how to cut Marvin’s hair. He doesn’t trust anyone but this one barber and when we’re away, he stresses about being desperate for a haircut.
“Plus, have a weekend in Amsterdam. I was supposed to go last year but we didn’t manage it. Learn how to make sushi, master a cartwheel, see the Northern Lights, learn Spanish – I’m kidding myself here!”
She’s more than ready to kiss her 20s goodbye and welcome in the next decade.
“I’m so up for turning 30. Why dread it? My mum has said her 30s were the best years of her life. I guess you know what you want to do and what you don’t. You’re settled in knowing what’s right for you. Bring it on.”
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