Angela Scanlon on being a rocking redhead and breaking the rules

Angela Scanlon is the new kid on the presenting block at The One Show and the new ambassador for Garnier Nutrisse and Garnier Ultimate Blends. Susannah Taylor delved into her life to discover how she copes with pre-show nerves, her first-hand experience of Donald Trump, and why she refuses to conform to ‘redhead beauty rules’

ST: What’s been the best part of hosting The One Show so far?

AS: “Matt (Baker) has been just brilliant - it’s like a little family. And they just get amazing guests - I’ve loved meeting such amazing people. Last week it was John Richardson, then there was Faye Ripley, Michael Ball and Sir Ian McKellen. It’s a really, really fun show to work on.”

ST: Do you get nervous and how do you cope with the nerves?

AS: “Sometimes I do, it depends on the day really. What I do is I try to distract myself or I do a small shoulder a shimmy to shake out the nerves. I then take a deep breathe and if I’m feeling particularly nervous I have a bit of Bach Rescue Remedy and just do it. I also drink a chamomile tea in the green room beforehand. Deep breathing really works.”

ST: What’s the key to on-screen confidence in your experience?

AS: “My hair has to be 100%. If my hair doesn’t feel right then I don’t feel right.”

ST: What does 100% hair look like?

AS: “I love a bit of texture. I like it lived in and naturaI-looking. I’ve always looked to French women in the way they approach beauty. I tell hairdressers to make it look like I’ve done it myself, but better. I love it glossy, natural, and not crazy Dolly Parton volume at the roots, I want the volume more at the ends of my hair.”

ST: Your role as the newest Garnier Nutrisse and Garnier Ultimate Blends Ambassador sounds really exciting. As a mother of two redheads do you think redheads are well represented and catered for in the beauty industry?

AS: “It’s definitely now much cooler to be a redhead. I did a show called ‘Oi Ginger’ and that was was born out of a conversation I’d had with a lady a party who had two beautiful redhead girls who got bad feedback about their hair. But I think it’s different now - back in the day it was only Julia Roberts who was the cool one with red hair, but now there are so many more redheads rocking it. I feel there is a shift in how redheads are viewed and that we want to embrace it not mask it. I feel people really want to be redheads.

"I have a funny story about my redhead skin – once a lady in Thailand tried to sell me a bleaching product for my freckles. She was pointing to them and I realised what she meant and I had to explain to her that I actually like my freckles and didn’t want to get rid of them! There were times when I was growing up that I didn’t always love being a redhead but now its an intrinsically cool thing and part of who I am and I like celebrating that.”

ST: I love the fact that Garnier have taken on a redhead as an ambassador.

AS: “Garnier have responded to a market that celebrates redheads, and they understand that women want to be enhanced not completely changed. I had tried other brands’ red shades, and found myself desperately trying to wash it out - it was always that very dyed colour. When I used a Garnier product my mum didn’t know I’d had my hair dyed which is the true gauge of things.”

ST: Since you are always on camera, what’s the best behind-the-scenes beauty tip you’ve learned?

AS: “Someone once came up with some redhead rules that we should all wear green or amber or brown and in my opinion we just end up looking like leaves! I never wear green - I once had an Irish dancing dress that was green and it has scarred me for life. I like the idea of breaking the rules and the colours I have most in my wardrobe are reds and pinks and mustards. As for makeup I will often wear an orange, a bright pink or a classic red lip for example. As a redhead I really love wearing red.”

ST: What’s your biggest beauty mishap?

AS: “I had a fringe in secondary school which was literally horrendous. I was quite liberal with the hair spray and I think it was probably very flammable - it was a crispy fringe.”

ST: If we were to take a peek inside your makeup bag and bathroom shelf, what would we find?

AS: “I would always have a concealer - I use a Becca under eye concealer or YSL Touch Eclat. Nude by Nature does a great concealer too. Then I will always carry a brow gel - I like quite a feral, unkempt brow and I use an eyelash curler too. Bobbi Brown porcelain foundation stick is really good….my gauge is if I can put it on without a mirror then it’s a go-er.

"In my bathroom I love serums, masks, and the Garnier Ultimate Blends Mapel Healer Hair Mask is amazing. Being my colouring then SPF is always a bit feature in my life as well. It used to be that as a redhead you needed a thick white cream to block out the sun but now there are some really brilliant formulas. I use an Ambre Solaire spray which you can spray on under or over your makeup.”

ST: As the co-host of Robot Wars, we were wondering what other cult TV shows would you like to see making a comeback?

AS: “Am I allowed to say Friends? I would like to see Rachel and see what her hair would be like now, what the ‘Rachel cut’ would have morphed into! I had my nails done in a salon recently where they had reruns of Sex and the City and that was a visual feast! I would absolutely love them to do a series where we see what they would all be like now.”

ST: You’ve tackled a range of really interesting taboo subjects in the past. Out of the shows that you’ve worked on, what’s been your most shocking experience or interview so far?

AS: “Quite a surreal moment was covering the World Naturist Convention. I was in a hot tub with some elderly men basically in our birthday suits! That was quite a gear change for me. I walked in and everyone was in the nip but I felt I had to remain professional at all times. Weirdly I became immune to it quite quickly.

"I also did a documentary more recently on Trump in the States in the run up to the US election and attended one of his rallies. That was quite full on. It got very, very heated and at one point he turned the whole crowd on the media. We felt like we were in a pen being heckled and it got quite aggressive and not an environment I really wanted to be in.”

ST: Have you had any embarrassing TV moments?

AS: “One of the first reports I did on The One Show was the Queen’s birthday and we were lighting beacons on a hill in Somerset. The wind blew in the wrong direction and I nearly had to rescue a 93 year old woman. It made me remember why I do live TV.”

ST: Who would be your dream interviewee?

AS: I would love to interview Oprah Winfrey – I have been listening to a podcast called Making the Oprah Winfrey Show and I think she is just an incredible force of nature.”

Angela Scanlon is the new ambassador for Garner Nutrisse and Garnier Ultimate Blends in the UK & Ireland #Blendedwithlove