star Storm Huntley has said she was “delighted” when her name was linked to the presenting job on prior to and taking over the helm. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk about being associated with one of the most coveted roles on TV she said: “I’m delighted. I really fall off my chair every time it happens. I’ve been put in the same category as Cat Deely and .
“These were idols for me growing up. These were the people that I grew up watching that were like the mega stars, and now all of a sudden, I’m in papers being named alongside them. I still have to pinch myself that I’ve got my own show on a huge channel like Channel 5. I just feel delighted to be in the mix. Keep me in the conversation. I think my family find it particularly hilarious,” she said.
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Storm Huntley’s name was linked to This Morning following the departure of Holly Willoughby (Image: ITN)
Admitting her family don’t always beiieve her when she denies such rumours she joked: “Sometimes it’s nice just to make them think that you’re lying. It’s very surreal at times. What’s weird is, for somebody that studied journalism and was a journalist, to be on the receiving end of this is like, ‘how did this happen?’ Yet, somehow I’m lucky enough to be in this position. I’ve been incredibly lucky…so I can’t really complain.
Storm, 38, is currently on maternity leave from her eponymous Channel 5 current affairs show as she awaits the arrival of her second child with husband Kerr Okan, who is lead vocalist of The LaFontaines.
Having started as a weather presenter and pivoting into children’s TV, presenting Down On the Farm with star , 38, she admits her career trajectory to date appears somewhat unconventional.
“It does seem like there was no logic to it, doesn’t it? And that’s because there wasn’t, I think,” she laughed. “So when I got into weather, I was so I was a trained journalist and then I was in the newsroom. Everyone in the newsroom was getting fired in this kind of last one in first one gone [scenario].
“And so I thought, ‘how do I get a job for life?’ I thought with a name like Storm weather is the way to do that. And then I started working presenting for a local channel. They had me cover their flagship programme whenever the main anchor was off. So I started presenting magazine style shows, and that’s really how I ended up here.
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The This Morning presenting role eventually went to Cat Deeley (Image: ITV)
“My degree was in economics and politics so I was always going to end up in some sort of current affairs or factual programming. Down On the Farm came about because of the weather presenting – and ended up not really being about weather.
“So although it doesn’t seem logical, every step was a sort of progression. And I’m delighted by my career so far, because it has been a bit of a ping pong. But I think all the best and most interesting careers are.
Storm landed her own show in May 2023 following her return from maternity leave after giving birth to her son Otis and she says it is her “dream job” but she is already planning for the future with ambitions to make more documentaries.
“This was the dream job, you know, to have a job in factual programming, have a show with your name on. It was so far out the realms of what was going to happen that I don’t think it was even a goal. But now that it’s here, I’m kind of sitting in this position thinking, ‘Well, I’m going to have to come up with a few other challenges for myself and a few other goals’.
“I’d love to do more documentary work. I would love to do more stuff that are passion projects, maybe as well with documentaries. [But I’m] delighted at where I’ve got to.”