Mary Rhodes – 'I grew up watching Midlands Today – I never imagined I'd be presenting it'

Mary Rhodes has been part of the evening news landscape in the region as a presenter on BBC Midlands Today, both from the iconic red sofa at the Mailbox in Birmingham and on location across the West Midlands, since becoming presenter of Inside Out in 2011 and a full presenter of Midlands Today since 2012.

The 54-year-old was the presenter of the 60th anniversary broadcast of Midlands Today on Friday and said the show had a sense of community to it that meant so much to her.

She said: "Having grown up watching the programme, I never imagined that I would be here presenting the 60th anniversary edition of it, which is extraordinary and while I don't tend to get terribly nervous these days, I might have been for that programme as it's such a special programme.

"For me, the show has a sense of community and knowing that we have a special place in people's hearts, which we saw when we took the red sofa out on tour and the amount of love for the programme was just amazing.

"It's nice to be part of something iconic, which is a word I think is overused, but I also think we're allowed to use it for our 60th anniversary."

Mary's own journey to the red sofa has seen her move to London and become a sports correspondent for national TV and Radio, before moving back to her roots in the Midlands, having been born in Herefordshire, to present Inside Out.

She said the journey had been an odd one and one that she said had taken her in a number of different directions.

She said: "The role at Midlands Today is a bit of a gift and I've found this to be an odd career as if you set out to do something, you don't always go in a linear direction and tend to dive from one thing to another.

"I grew up in Herefordshire and was a student doing a Media and Journalism degree in Birmingham and always wanted to work in radio, which is my first love.

"When the opportunity came along to present Midlands Today, I remembered how it was a programme I watched as I was growing up and thought it was too good an opportunity to turn down."

Mary said the specialness of the programme to the viewers became more apparent to her as she started presenting the show, noting the differences between presenting nationally and regionally.

She said: "On national television, I think you're seen as a little bit more remote, whereas on regional television, you're very much part of the audience because you live here as well.

"Having grown up and studied here, I know the area very well, but I think the relationship is very different because they feel like they know you and that's very evident when you go out to the supermarket or gym and people will stop me and say hello or recognise me as the news lady, which is lovely.

"It's interesting the reaction I get because when I'm on TV, I've got my hair and make up done, whereas I'm usually very casually dressed when I'm out and people do a lot of double takes when they see me, but what's so nice is that they come up and talk to me and they're so lovely about it."

Outside of the programme, Mary has been a long-standing supporter of West Bromwich Albion through family connections and said it was a place where she could be herself and people knew her as Mary the Baggies fan, not Mary off the TV.

She said: "I must be very professional on air as I don't boing boing when it comes to West Brom, especially now when we're flying high in the Championship, but I've been going to about 25 years and was a season ticket holder until recently, but trying to get to all the games was proving impossible.

"I still go though and it's wonderful as I can be myself there and I love sport, having spent years as a sports correspondent and it's the thing I'm passionate about, but being a fan of a club like the Albion, which is so rooted in the community, is great.

"I've worked quite a bit with the Albion Foundation, which do amazing things, and I know that every club has got some kind of charitable foundation or division, but when you see the work that they do and you see people like Blind Dave Heeley and his charity challenges, it's really grounding and inspirational."

Mary said that while it had been an honour to interview famous faces and celebrities over time, she said the biggest privilege was being able to talk to people and tell their stories.

She said: "We get the trust of people to tell their stories and we've had people who have been through the most awful tragedies, such as families who have lost sons or brothers to knife crime, or people who have done extraordinary things for charity and really push themselves.

"Thing is, they don't know me and while they might have seen me on the television, they don't actually know me, but when they come into the studio or I go to them, they trust me to tell their story, which is quite something.

"I think because they've watched the programme, they know who we are and they can trust us to tell their story and I always try to put people at ease and tell them that it's just a chat between the two of us.

"The TV cameras are there and it can feel intimidating to be in a TV studio, but I hope they know that it's just a chat between the two of us and I always enjoy having the chance to tell their stories."