Army Major Helen fighting to win dream Blue Peter job
She's climbed the ranks in the Army, completing a tour in Afghanistan, scaled mountains and even gone trekking in Nepal. But Major Helen Haigh from Staffordshire has one more burning ambition which she is desperate to fulfil – becoming a Blue Peter presenter.
The 30-year-old, who is based at Whittington Barracks near Lichfield, is now putting together her showreel in a bid to land her "dream job".
"It is just something I have always wanted to do since I was a little girl, and it really would be amazing," she said.
Major Haigh currently works in the assessment centre at the barracks, looking at new cadets to see if they have what it takes to join the Army.
However, after a six-month tour of Afghanistan, a trek through Nepal for the Gurkhas Welfare Trust and adventure training, she will be leaving the Army at the end of the year.
And now she is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Anthea Turner, Richard Bacon, Tim Vincent and Konnie Huq by fronting the long-running TV show. "When I handed in my notice, I saw this job had come up for the Blue Peter presenter, and I thought it must be a sign," she said.
In her free time, Major Haigh also enjoys snowboarding, skiing, road cycling, keep fit and ballroom dancing, as well as volunteering. On holiday she has even been known to try her hand at scuba diving.
In a bid to boost her application, Major Haigh is now working on improving her creative talents and has started this weekend by fashioning leftover chocolate egg boxes into photo frames.
She has also begun baking and doing arts and crafts while volunteering at the Postbox Youth Club, at the barracks, which involves young people, every Wednesday.
Her favourite Blue Peter presenter is Matt Baker, and she has a postcard he signed as a souvenir of the show to inspire her. She said: "I just think he's such a down-to-earth guy, and he's very natural at his job and talented enough to do it."
She says she hopes to combine the best skills of three of the other best known presenters of the long-running children's programme if she gets the job. "I want to have the daring of Helen Skelton, the longevity of its longest presenter Konnie Huq and hopefully a bit of the cheesiness of Anthea Turner," she added.
Blue Peter is advertising for someone to join the current presenting team alongside Barney Harwood and Helen Skelton. A number of the applicants will be chosen to take part in a TV series, which has a working title of So You Think You Can Be A Blue Peter Presenter, which starts this summer.
They will have to win their way through a series of challenges to reach the final, where the winners will be chosen by CBBC viewers. Major Haigh, originally from Bradford, will be sending off her video application shortly and hopes to get through to the next round in mid-April.
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