Sara Cox

Sara Joanne Cox (by marriage Cyzer; born 13 December 1974) is an English broadcaster.

Cox was born Sarah Joanne Cox on 13 December 1974, but later dropped the use of the letter 'h' from her first name.

Her parents lived in the village of Little Lever near Bolton, Greater Manchester, where she grew up on her father's farm.

She was the youngest of five children.

Her parents separated when she was six or seven, after which she moved with her mother and a sister to another house in the same village.

Cox attended Smithills High School until the age of 16, and left Canon Slade School after her four A-levels to pursue a career in modelling.

She appeared in the music video for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 1993 single "Everyday", and on a controversial promotional poster for the 1995 video game Wipeout.

Cox won her first television show role in 1996, presenting The Girlie Show on Channel 4.

She later had stints on Channel 5 entertainment show Exclusive and Channel 4 music programme Born Sloppy.

In 1997 Cox presented on the UK feed of MTV, hosting MTV Hot, a late-night music show.

In 1998 Cox won her first film role in The Bitterest Pill.

In September 1998, Cox became a presenter of The Big Breakfast, following in the footsteps of her close friend Zoe Ball.

During her time on the programme, she interviewed stars including Robbie Williams, Sting and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Cox preferred to do interviews in her father's caravan, situated in The Big Breakfast garden.

A transfer to radio came on 19 September 1999 when she joined BBC Radio 1.

She launched the hugely popular The Surgery with Mark Hamilton, where Cox acted as "Nurse Coxy".

She also co-hosted the Saturday lunchtime show with Emma B from 13:00 – 15:00

In December 1999, it was announced that Cox would again step into Zoe Ball's shoes as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast.

She presented Radio 1 Breakfast on BBC Radio 1 from 3 April 2000 until 19 December 2003.

Cox's breakfast show stint began on 3 April 2000.

Initially, her listening figures were very good, growing from 6.9 million to 7.8 million listeners during her first fifteen months in the job—earning Radio 1 its largest breakfast audience ever—higher than that of her predecessor and ex-BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Evans.

By August 2002, however, numbers had dipped back under 7 million.

In January 2003, Cox denied rumours that she was preparing to leave the BBC for a rival show and signed a three-year contract with the public service broadcaster, tying her to the breakfast show and with the BBC for two years after that.

In August 2003, the BBC again denied rumours, reported in the Daily Mail, that she had been given 10 weeks to increase ratings, or to face replacement.

Cox hosted her final breakfast show on 19 December 2003.

Cox then presented the afternoon "drivetime" slot, effectively swapping shows with Chris Moyles.

She hosted the Drivetime show for six months with features such as "For Your Ears Only", "Me, Myself and I", and "Chap's Eye Pub Quiz" (referring to her former sidekick Mark Chapman).

However, just two months later, the BBC announced that Cox, whose listening figures had slipped to 6.6 million, would be replaced by Chris Moyles in January 2004.

In June 2004, Cox began her maternity leave to give birth to a baby girl, Lola Anne.

Before she returned to Radio 1 in early 2005, Scott Mills, the presenter who took over her slot during her maternity leave, was given the drivetime slot permanently.

From February 2005, Cox took over the afternoon show (13:00 – 16:00) on Saturdays and Sundays.

On 17 February 2008, Cox presented her last show for six months before leaving for maternity leave to have her second child.

Annie Mac presented the show during her absence until Cox's return in September 2008.

Cox and Annie Mac both later covered for Jo Whiley who was on maternity leave between 29 September 2008 to 20 February 2009.

Following Whiley's return, Cox returned to weekends to present a Sunday mid-morning show, broadcasting between 10:00 and 13:00.

In March 2010, Cox went on maternity leave for the third time, leaving her show in the hands of the newest Radio 1 presenter, Matt Edmondson.

She returned to the station on 9 August 2010 to cover for Fearne Cotton for three weeks.

Cox made a self-confessed unexpected return to the breakfast show on 2 and 3 September 2010, as she sat in for the unwell Chris Moyles.

Cox has also presented a number of television shows for the BBC including The Great Pottery Throw Down (2015–2017), Too Much TV (2016) and Back in Time for... (2018–2020).

Since January 2019, she hosts the BBC Radio 2 drivetime show, Monday to Friday.