JUNK EMAIL SETS PUNAM ON THE ROAD TO STARDOM

25-04-2008

BBC WM travel presenter Punam Verma boldly upped sticks from her home in Walsall last June to try her chances as telly presenter in the Middle East – all thanks to a junk e mail she almost deleted. Now she’s a star worthy of front page coverage in OK magazine - but still misses Bescot Market.

As we revealed earlier this week, Punam is now presenting travel and entertainment show Out And About on TV channel Dubai One (see link here).

As we’ll hear, she had an amazingly lucky break, but also worked immensely hard to get her opportunity, quitting her cushy number as the radio “travel girl” to retrain as a journalist.

Those early days in the WM newsroom weren’t easy, but as she tells Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg – a former colleague on WM’s Breakfast Show – fortune favours the brave.

Here’s the details of their recent conversation…

AG: Hi Punam…It’s great to hear you’re doing so well in Dubai. But is their anything you miss about Walsall and the West Midlands?

PV: My family and friends of course, and while this might sound crazy, I also miss Bescot Market in Walsall, simply because Dubai is full of shopping malls only.

I like walking around Birmingham city centre when I'm back. I miss looking at old buildings.... as Dubai is very new

I also miss the rain !!! In the last year Dubai only had 3 days of rain - and in June temperatures reach 48 degrees... so I long for the cold during the summer months

AG: I remember being shocked when I heard you were moving so far away. How did that come about?

PV: My friend sent me an email which went to my junk box. I was going to delete it but decided to have a look instead.

At the bottom of the email I saw that my friends colleague had sent her an email from Dubai, in which he had accidentally attached a small advert saying 'Dubai TV were looking for Presenters.' The job was only advertised in Dubai so I would never have come across it in the UK if it wasn't for the email.

So I decided to email them and then sent a two minute showreel I had put together. Four days later I received a phone call saying I had been offered my own show. They hadn't met me and I hadn't met them, but we both went with our gut instincts. Two weeks later I had quit the BBC and was heading to Dubai.

AG: Are you recognised and stopped in the street now?

PV: I have had a few people grab me and say 'you're that girl on TV....' which is nice. Otherwise I get the odd glance, but most of the time no one knows who I am which I prefer. Keeps you grounded

AG: So what do the folks at home make of it all?

PV: My friends and family are really happy and proud of me. But then without their support I wouldn't have got this far anyway. So they have all played a part in my success.

A few of my friends have visited me and I even use them in the show. Last week my best friend came to visit and we had to do a story about surfing. So both of us as part of the show ended up surfing for 2 hours, it was so much fun. I really should get a proper job!! (laughs).

AG: Sounds like you’re having fun?

PV:  Presenting 'Out & About' for Dubai One TV is the best job I have ever had. Each week I'm out doing something different from deep sea diving, Formula One race car driving to eating at unusual restaurants. No one day is ever the same.

I think I've seen and experienced more of Dubai in 9 months than anyone else.

Sometimes I think I'm in a dream.... waiting to wake up. But it's real, it's fun but also a lot of hard work. All those years of Presenting the travel news, doing 5.30 am starts, and then training as a Journalist all paid off in the end. So keep dreaming everyone... it can happen !!!

To see some of Punam’s work on Dubai One, watch her showreel here http://www.punamverma.com/showreel2.htm

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