I had the upmost pleasure of interviewing the one and only Charlie Hedges of Kiss FM fame recently. Charlie is the youngest female breakfast DJ, presenter and all round brilliant entertainer in the UK. She has a following of over 5 million listeners every week winning her an Arqiva Awards for the best breakfast show!! Impressed then keep reading!
From the age of 7 Charlie had a dream. She wanted to be a DJ and she hasn’t stopped ever knowing this is what she wanted to do. When you have passion for something and that passion is so strong it will see you through. She is such an inspiration to millions and she’s not just stopping with music. Charlie is amazing voice for charity work. She’s an ambassador for Prince’s Trust Mencap, Help for Hero’s, and was there for them last year representing Great Britain by carrying the Olympic torch last summer.
Can this girl ever want to stop…It looks like she won’t and by golly are we glad. One hell of a presenter. She also has a show on Sunday mornings 2-3am. All the latest top tracks for the decreeing clubbed and music fan. If thats not enough for you she has landed a 3rd show with Kiss Fresh on Friday nights 7-9pm
Her love of dance music and ‘Electro-House with a twist’ she has gigs and festivals across the globe, including Pacha London where she is a resident DJ. Charlie is also known on the UK fashion party scene regularly DJing for fashion brands such as New Look, as well as being the official DJ at the Kardashian Kollection for Lipsy last year. This girl just had to be interviewed by myself as my love of fashion is insane!
Highlights of her time at KISS include interviewing everyone from Daniel Craig and Jennifer Aniston to Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Kanye West and Britney Spears plus her teenage idol, Justin Timberlake.
This summer Charlie has been filming with lucky life TV, interviewing superstar DJs across Ibiza. Last year she presented a Puma and FHM event with Professor Green, was a judge at the final of open mic live at the 02, introduced x factor star Amelia Lily’s new single, and is continually doing voiceovers on MTV.
Does this girl ever sleep? I guess when you do what you love and love what you do its not like work. She’s stunning and so much fun! I tried to get the cheeky side out of her with a few fun questions
1. If you could have any artist on your show who would you have and why.
Probably Simon Cowell, I know he’s not an artist but let’s be honest he’s got access to some of the biggest celebs in the world, make friends with him and I think you could then have whoever you wanted
2. What sort of leading questions do you like to ask them to really get them talking
Start with talking about the product they are there to promote and then ask cheeky questions be it about their relationship, earnings, as long as you do it tongue in cheek they normally play along
3. Who is your style icon? Or what’s your favourite look of this season
I LOVE Mollie from the Saturdays, her girly style is my favourite celeb style by far, I think she’s beautiful
4. Presenting kiss FM is an amazing job. If you were not a DJ what else would you love to do?
My honest answer to this was that I never let myself focus on another job/career. I always told myself that is the job of my dream and that’s what I want and I honestly didn’t have any other jobs in mind. I studied journalism at Harlow college so maybe focus on journalism as an option
5. Your such a busy girl with all the charity work you do for the Princess trust it must be hard to get down time. What do you do to unwind on days off.
If I get a day off I’ll go for a run in the morning and spend the whole day catching up with family and friends and still probably take a sneaky peek at emails every now and again, I’m a nightmare!!
6. Working for a radio station must be amazing but does it impact with your personal life.
Personal life as in our whole lives go on air? I don’t mind it it’s fun and you get to share your experiences with millions of other people
7. Who has influenced your career the most.
Mum, dad and brother definitely as they’ve always been supportive from day one. In the industry, bam bam as he gave me my first radio break really, he took me on as a kiss breakfast show assistant where I spent my time making tea…but it was here that I learnt everything. I also think Chris evens is a genius! He is an amazing presenter to look up to.
8. If you could collaborate with another DJ for an evening who would you pick?
Back to back with Calvin Harris then Swedish house mafia and bring them back together
9. Who would you have loved to DJ for ie. like Marilyn Monroe or Sinatra?
Michael Jackson, I loved his music growing up
10. Leading me onto the next…where would be your dream gig? It could be anywhere or imaginary!! For anyone!
I would love to play in Vegas, any club but just bringing London house to Vegas would be my dream
So as you can see this unstoppable young lady had passion and believed in herself. She followed her dream and made it a reality. I for one can’t wait to hear her play live in London soon. She’s a huge inspiration to me and everyone around her. So follow your heart and visualise the amazing future that lies ahead each and every one of you! You can do it too….
Charlie will be playing at the Ibiza Space Opening Party alongside the Chemical Brother on Sunday 25th May. For news on all other gigs and projects go to: http://www.charliehedges.com/dj-charlie-hedges and Twitter @charliehedges
Charlie presents the Kiss FM breakfast show Mon-Friday (6-9am), the Sunday morning Kiss Mix Show (2-3am) , and on the new Kiss Fresh show on Friday nights (7-9pm – which you can tune in from Kiss’s freeview channel 712, on the Kiss Kube app, and on the KISS FRESH Player online).
Charlie has her own soundcloud page, each weeks Kiss mix will be uploaded here: www.soundcloud.com/charlie-hedges
Make sure you follow me on Twitter @sarahbacchus for more exciting Fashion, food, beauty and even more interviews coming up soon. Check out my website www.slbstyle.com too!!