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ast month, we caught up with Nikki Fox - BBC News Disability Correspondent – to hear her thoughts on the BBC’s new diversity targets. There has been some noticeable change recently in the diversity we are seeing onscreen. The Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ community have made significant progress in bringing attention to the barriers they face every day, but recently, the voice of disabled people and those with additional needs has been quieter. Nikki and her Watchdog co-presenter, Matt Allwright, have visited our TV studio a number of times, so we nabbed Nikki for a chat about working in TV with a disability and how things are changing. When did you know that you wanted to work in television? Not until I was in my twenties! I never liked having my picture taken or being on video. I’d always struggled academically, but my primary school offered free music lessons and, because of that, I found something I was good at. I studied music at uni and working in TV was not on the agenda at all! Were you aware of the obstacles you might face at work because of your disability? I have Muscular Dystrophy which is a progressive disease and comes on slowly.
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We just overcame any obstacles by sorting things out ourselves. I remember when I got my first radio job on a breakfast show, my mum used to get up with me at 2.30am to help me get ready and, on the first day, my Dad, who was a builder, came to fit some ramps and a grab rail. I know the BBC would have helped, but we just sorted it. I was lucky to have them. What have been the biggest obstacles for you? The days when I was freelancing were difficult. The work was sporadic and I never knew what I’d be doing next, so getting support was hard. At one job, I didn’t want to say that I couldn’t access the bathroom, so I would ‘hold on’ from 6.30am until I got home at 8pm. Looking back, I don’t really know why. I suppose I was so grateful to be there, I didn’t want to be a pain. I would never do that now and would never advise it. It pays to be open. What, or who, has been the biggest help in your career? I was presented with a mobility scooter – a leaving gift of sorts! – when I was made redundant from Sainsbury’s, my student job. What a gift! Without it, I would have been stuffed, so that was a big, big help. The Channel 4 Disability Researcher Training Scheme really was my springboard.
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