'I wasn't quite ready to be pregnant again'

Sam Quek on having two babies within a year, mum guilt at work, and being inspired by a special young woman

- OLIVIA BUXTON

Sam Quek may only be 34 but she’s packed a lot into her life. Hot on the heels of winning a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics as part of England’s hockey team, she quickly signed up to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, where she finished in a very respectable fourth place.

Since her stint in the jungle, the Liverpool-born star’s TV career has gone from strength to strength, and she’s now one of the team captains on the new-look A Question Of Sport, as well as a regular presenter alongside Gethin Jones on Morning Live.

In between all these career achievements, Sam, who is married to property entrepreneur Tom Mairs, 43, has also managed to have two children within the space of just one year. The star is now mum to Molly, two, and one-year-old Zac, and is the first to admit that she struggles with mum guilt as she balances her blossoming career with looking after her little ones – but she tells us she’s a better mum and wife when she’s working.

We caught up with Sam on Ladies’ Day at Aintree, where she told us about her upcoming role on Eurovision, her desire to do Strictly and battling the baby blues…

Hi Sam! Are you excited about co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest opening ceremony? 

I can’t wait. It will be broadcast on the European Broadcasting Union YouTube channel, and apparently gets 160 million views, so the pressure is on! 

Speaking of pressure, you worked on Morning Live up until the day before your son Zac was born, didn’t you?