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If you are under six years old, the children’s TV presenter
Sarah-Jane Honeywell is definitely an A-list celebrity, star of C-Beebies,
in the pre-school magazine show Tikkabilla and the zany Higgledy
House. Dancing is a lifetime thing for Sarah-Jane - she has danced
since she was two and admits to being a chocoholic, but works off
the calories. “I’m very active. I’m either moving or I’m asleep.
There’s no in between. It’s just as well because I love my food.”
 Now
in her early thirties, Sarah-Jane has an impressive CV. Besides her
TV profile, she has done quite a lot of theatre: Kaa the snake in
the nationwide tour of The Jungle Book, which was hard work. “You
have to get yourself to each theatre so you drive from Berwick on
Tweed to Yeovil then up to Newcastle – it’s tough. But it was a
great role.” She has done leading roles in Take Away, Hard Times,
The Suitcase Kid - and a flying nun in Falstaff at Covent Garden.
She was in the West End in Cats for two separate runs – in the mid
90’s and for the final year in 2001. “That was wonderful to dance,”
she recalls. “I was sorry when it closed. But I did get to dance in
the last ever performance and that was such a thrill.”
When I first met Sarah-Jane, she was embarking on a national tour
with the Fimbles. I then met her again when she starred as Peter Pan
at the New Wimbledon Theatre last season. In fact, Peter is one of
her favourite roles and she has played it four times! Thankfully,
she doesn’t get sick flying through the air at top speed.
She studied dance and singing and became professional at age 18 –
not earlier because her parents insisted she complete her A levels
before embarking in showbiz. She has produced a CD, Love and Magic,
with 5 original songs for children – it can be ordered from her
website – and it’s very good, rather funky and very lively. You can
also buy a Sarah-Jane doll, which looks amazingly like her.
For this interview, Sarah-Jane has driven a long way, from her house
in Forest Hill to mine in Twickenham, simply because she wanted to
meet my greyhounds. Dogs are the love of her life. She does a lot of
promotional work for the Dogs Trust and she sponsors one of their
long-term residents, Brock, who happens to be a greyhound. “He’s
enormous!” she laughs. “He’s much bigger than me!” Not difficult
because she’s just under five feet.
She is shocked and upset when I tell her about the plight of
greyhounds, both during and after their racing careers. Immediately,
she wants to help. Don’t worry, I tell her, there’s a lot she can do
to support the WGW. There’s dog walking and fund raising, collecting
towels and blankets and cuddly toys, promotion – she’s up for all of
it. “I love dogs,” she says simply. “I would love to make the world
better for animals, but my special love is dogs. And I just love
your greyhounds.” They take to her instantly – even Molly who is
generally terrified of everyone.
Sarah-Jane seems to have an affinity with Jessica, the most
mischievous one in the family. She laughs when Jessie tries to lick
the plates as they are fed into the dishwasher; when Jessie tries to
get food off the kitchen table (but I am too fast for her, because
she has done this for years!) and when Jessie cuddles up to her as
though she is an abused dog who has never known kindness in her
life. “I love them all,” says Sarah-Jane, “but Jessie has that hint
of naughtiness that I really like.”
She’s a big star of children’s TV, and she will be on the road with
them this Christmas so you can see her live – details will be on her
website. She loves working with children, “They are so honest. They
let you know if they’re bored and they won’t tolerate being
patronised.” Nevertheless, Sarah-Jane longs to go into other things
– maybe a series on TV about animals. After all, wonderful as it is,
can C-Beebies go on forever? “Well, I suppose when the crows’ feet
start to show around my eyes, it’s time to stop. The thing about C-Beebies
is that children are only watching it until they’re about four years
old, so the BBC can repeat episodes every few years to a whole new
audience. So I can just picture it – there I’ll be in Higgledy House
on TV – and in real life, I’ll be 87, living in Forest Hill, with no
money because I’m spending it all on my house full of rescue dogs.”
We pause to picture this for a moment. “Actually,” she muses, “that
doesn’t sound too bad does it? But you know, when my life calms down
and I’m doing less travelling, I intend to adopt a greyhound. At
least one. One to start with!”
I am in no position to recommend taking it easy, since I have six
greyhounds, so I just agree with this. I do think Sarah-Jane would
be a wonderful mum for greyhounds. I tell her that black ones find
it particularly difficult to find homes, because people tend to
prefer white or brown. “That settles it then,” she says. “I shall
adopt a black greyhound as soon as I can. Only, I would like him or
her to have a hint of naughtiness like Jessie. Do you think Denise
can find me one like that?”
Somehow, I think she can.
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Sarah-Jane’s website has all the information about her career.
Check out www.sarah-jane.biz
for info on her CD and doll.
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