At 5 to 7 I insert my BBC filter... before then in rehearsals IT'S REALLY BAD

Alex Jones cannot believe she is still hosting The One Show after 14 years - joking that if the BBC aired her rehearsals she would be instantly cancelled.

- LAURA ARMSTRONG

The TV presenter, 47, who became a household name thanks to the early evening show, said she only inserts her "BBC filter" five minutes before it starts, describing her run-throughs as "really bad".

And despite more than a decade on the sofa, she admits feeling scared about having a break in case she loses favour with bosses and they kick her back down the M4 to Wales.

She is so determined not to take anything for granted she has kept all of her rejection letters from the early years so she can show her kids success did not come easy.

Alex says: "I love live television because it keeps you alive.

"The danger of doing a job for that long is you become complacent but the live element keeps it fresh.

"Every night is different. People think it's edited - but none of that. And oh my goodness, I make mistakes. I don't feel pressure to be perfect, at about five to seven I insert the BBC filter. So before then in rehearsals, it's really bad, like things I'd be massively cancelled for.

"At five to seven the filter goes in and I think because I've been there so long I feel really relaxed. It's like a home from home.

"There's a nice atmosphere. But sometimes my husband still forgets what I'm doing at 7pm on a week night and will call like, 'Hi Al, I'm just in Sainsbury's, what do you want?" They'll be like, whose phone is on?

"Once I had Nick Robinson on and I went, 'Please welcome Rick Nobinson!' Me and Nick Grimshaw, who was presenting, just could not get a grip for love nor money."