Meet Polly James, the tattooed Sky Sports darts presenter who had knickers signed by Tom Jones and is Radio X DJ
POLLY JAMES is the oche rock chick reporter who had her knickers signed by Tom Jones and once went to the darts dressed as Homer Simpson.
The Welsh Radio X DJ will be on our Sky Sports screens this week as the Paddy Power World Championship dominates the festive TV schedules.
James, 37, is the funkiest sports interviewer on telly and admits she’s doing her dream job after going from fan to reporter in a decade.
She revealed: “For some reason with me and darts I was like a leech to it.
“I had always wanted to go because I watched it every Christmas. I think in about 2010 my other half surprised me with tickets on my birthday which is the 27th.
“That was it, I had the darts bug then. I’m sure my first match was Gary Anderson then the following year I actually met Michael van Gerwen.
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“I had a sign which said ‘it’s my birthday buy me a drink’ and he actually signed it.
“It was something that I actually adored watching. When I was asked to work on it, I had to decide to mix business and pleasure.
“I’m a fan first and foremost. I’ve dressed up as Homer Simpson before to go to the darts with a group of friends.
“I’m not a traditional sports reporter. I’m a radio DJ and I’m lucky enough to do my dream job on the side.
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“But I can relate to the fans, I know what they are up to and why the sport is so great to watch.
“I’m in a privileged position to speak to the players immediately after they win or lose. But I will never lose sight of the fans who pay their money to have a good time.”
James has been a DJ with Capital, Absolute Radio and currently on Radio X and admits her favourite radio guests were legendary singer Tom Jones and Gerwyn Price.
She added: “When you go to Tom Jones you are supposed to throw your knickers at him.
“I had the opportunity to interview him a couple of years ago and I thought I better not give him the knickers I’ve got on.
“So I had to buy a pair quickly before I went on air and interviewed him. He signed the clean ones. I was never going to put them in the wash so I got them framed instead!
“When I was on Capital breakfast it had the top 40 and pop music. You would never dream of having darts on it.
“But I was talking about it on the show as I was a massive fan.
“At the time they were in Cardiff for the Premier League. The rising star in darts at the time was Gerwyn Price just after he had won his PDC tour card.
"He came on the show and we gave away some tickets to sit with me and Gezzy in the VIP area!
“The phones absolutely went mental for these tickets. That was a proud moment to bring darts to Capital breakout and a mainstream audience.”
James is part of the female revolution of the sport.
After Fallon Sherrock’s famous wins on stage, there are now SIX women presenters and reporters as part of the Sky Sports coverage.
She admits that social media hate can be a problem, adding: “Because I am quite vocal on social media I don’t get a load of crap. That’s because people know that I’ll probably give it back.
“If you are a woman in a male dominated arena, you just have to work that little bit harder.
“Any mistake that even a man would make, made by a woman, is highlighted.
“You have to be a perfectionist and as a woman you just can’t make mistakes.
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“Every night I’ll get a hundred great comments. Then you’ll get that one person that says ‘oh my god look at the rough chick on the telly with a neck tattoo’.
“Most of the time I laugh it off, that’s what everyone has to deal with on social media nowadays!”
