ODDI,

Buildingonmer successWith Property Ladder back, we get the particularson its host - and new mum - Sarah Beeny

~ ropertyLadder,the show that

Ifollows the ups and downs ofamateur developers, has been ahuge success for Channel 4 and

recently returned for its fourth series.Much of its success is down to theno-nonsense Sarah Beeny,who givesadvice based on her own experiencesas a successful property developer.Sarah, 32, recently became the proudmother of son Billy.She is married toartist Graham Swift and they splittheir time between homes in Londonand Yorkshire.Whendid your interestin propertystart?Probably from when I was a child, myfather was an architect, plus my brotherand Iwould makecamps- that mighthave a little to do with it. But, seriously, Ialways had to go and survey sites withmy dad and hold the tape measure - Ieven had my own hammer so I could getreally involved!Wouldyou consider yourself the pin-up ofthe property world?.Veil,it's very flattering. It's quite nice'vorking in a male world because menare great! I think I possibly get away witha bit more, being female.00 you prefer working with men?

.fy mother died when I was quiteoung, so I've always been used to being

around men. But when Billywas bornfound myself thinking about my mum

::lOrethan ever.HOWdid your pregnancy affect work?.had a really trouble-free pregnancy, justa bit of tiredness, and I was workinguntil six days before Billy arrived."ou come across quite stern on screen....:5 that thing that, deep down,e"'erybody wants to be told what to do! I.:on't know how stern I am in real life,

,'.

. !!. ,. "

~ "

but it's business, isn't it? I mean peopleare more to the point when they aretalking about work. I meet people andthey say, 'Gosh, you're not as scary as Ithoughtyou'd be.'Are you a fan of property shows?Do you know what, I have to say, Ireally don't watch too much telly andI don't really watch property shows.I've caught little snippets - it would berude not to, really. I think Grand Designs[Channel 4] is interesting.How has life changed with yournew-found fame?

Not a lot actually. I'd say I've beenspotted about 30 or 40 times. I don't thinkpeople really recognise me. You've got tobe at least A, B or C list to be recognised.When you're down at M or N like I am,then I don't think that many peoplerecognise you.What would you do if you had tochange career?

I really love what I do, and it's not reallywork - it's a bit like having a hobby. Butif I had to change, I'dlike to take over afarm, with anorganic shop anda safari park. Infact,Jimmy's Farm[the BBC2 seriesabout novice pigfarmer JimmyDoherty] wasfantastic, reallycompulsiveviewing.Maybe that'ssomethingI could doin thefuture. ~

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