© Jess Upton Photograph by Robin Mills
son, was working with Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall in the early days of the River Cottage TV shows. I would come back to Dorset to visit my then boyfriend, who was also cooking with Gill and Hugh. It turned out I knew one of the girls on the River Cottage team from London when I’d worked as a PA, so when Hugh needed one, she suggested me. Until I actually had my first day at work with Hugh, I had only had two phone calls with him, so it was a bit of a baptism of fire. He handed me a huge file of correspondence and I’ve been trying to catch up ever since! That was 2005, so
I’ve been with him 16 years. I’ve worked on all the books and TV series since then. It’s the most diverse job I’ve ever had, but it’s never, ever dull. I love working for Hugh; he’s so passionate about what he does, it’s hard not to. I was only in the office at HQ a couple of days a week before all this, so working from home isn’t that different, but I do miss the company sometimes. Just to have someone to bounce ideas off. As a musician, at the beginning of the pandemic our entire diary was emptied within a few days. A year of work down the drain. I was lucky I had a job to fall
back on. For those whose sole income it was, it has been devastating. And obviously there were weddings, parties etc… people’s plans up in smoke. Some postponed and rebooked, but some found that with the financial uncertainty, they just couldn’t afford to. It has been very sad. Thomas and I sing harmonies in the car sometimes; he picks up a tune quite quickly. But in true offspring style he finds me acutely embarrassing—when I remind him people actually pay me to sing, he’ll say “yeah, Mum, I know, you told me already…” But he did wish me luck with this interview.
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