Charlene White: Red carpets are still new and 'quite scary'
Loose Women and News at Ten presenter Charlene White said she is still getting used to life on the red carpet and that she still finds it scary.
The newsreader, who started out on Radio 1 and 1Xtra, spoke to Kate Thornton about her career and how despite being on TV every day she still gets 'in her own head' about things.
Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast, she also told Thornton how Loose Women was a natural move for her. She was unveiled as a permanent panel member in January.
She also opened up about her insecurities on the red carpet, especially when she chose a red jumpsuit to wear to the Pride of Britain awards in October, and had to be persuaded out the house by her friends and her sister because she wasn't sure about the outfit at all.
She said: "All this doing red carpet stuff, it's all very new to me. It's only become a thing since doing Loose Women. So it's all so new and still quite scary.
WATCH: Charlene White on becoming the first black woman to present the ITV News at Ten, on keeping her identity in the media world, and her emotional journey to discover her Jamaican heritage
"I was walking down the red carpet [at the Pride of Britain awards], and I did feel fabulous. Despite the fact that I'm obviously on telly every day, I still do have my own insecurities.
"And those are manifested after you've had kids, especially when you have kids slightly later in life, things don't go away as quickly as they perhaps would have done if I'd had kids earlier. So you end up getting all up in your own head about stuff.
"That [outfit] was very much out of my comfort zone. By the time I got out that taxi on the red carpet, I was like: 'No, it's fine. I'll be fine. This is fine.' And then had a glass of champagne and then everything was fine!"
She said people often say to her that the move to Loose Women is out of character for her, which she disagrees with.
She said: "It's an extension of me. It's me sitting with my mates having a conversation about news stories, which is what I do anyway.
"There just happens to be a camera in front of me, we're just having a laugh and a joke. My thing has always been yes, I'm a geek for news. And I love news. But that's not the entirety of me.
"And I've always said that. I'm really, really lucky that ITV have allowed me to show that and to use that. I love doing it, but it's not out of my comfort zone."
WATCH: Charlene White on the negative impact of 24 hour news consumption on our mental health
