Her serene presenting style made her the perfect choice to lead the coverage of the late Queen’s funeral.
But now Kirsty Young has revealed that one of her abiding regrets in life is that she was not more rebellious.
She said she was always a ‘real worrier’ and that if she had her time again she would tell herself ‘to do the drugs’ and be more adventurous.
The 54-year-old now presents a podcast and BBC Radio 4 series called Young Again, where guests are asked what advice they would give to their younger selves.
Asked the same question when on Waitrose’s Dish podcast, she said: ‘I would probably rebel a bit more.
‘I didn’t rebel as a teenager, I was a good girl. So probably I would tell myself to do the drugs, s*** the guy.’
Kirsty Young has revealed that one of her abiding regrets in life is that she was not more rebellious
The 54-year-old now presents a podcast and BBC Radio 4 series called Young Again
She said she was always a ‘real worrier’ and that if she had her time again she would tell herself ‘to do the drugs’ and be more adventurous
Starting out: Kirsty Young early in her career
She added: ‘Oh my god, I shouldn’t have said that,’ as hosts Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw joined the studio audience’s laughter.
Ms Young, who has two daughters with her husband Nick Jones, was born in East Kilbride and attended Stirling High School, though she described herself as ‘academically average’.
She began her career on BBC Radio Scotland, and went on to become one of the best known faces – and voices – in the country, presenting both Crimewatch and Desert Island Discs.
The presenter started her career in 1989, as she bagged a job as a continuity announcer for BBC Radio Scotland. Ms Young then managed to get onto the main evening news programme, Scotland Today.
She added: ‘I was a real worrier. I was a worrier as a little girl and I’m a worrier as a bigger girl so I would try to get that under control. They didn’t call it anxiety in 1991, well ditto 1981, so I would try to get myself to worry less.’
Desert Island discs – a BBC radio show which has ran for 81 years – is best known for asking celebrities and stars for their eight favourite records, a book and a luxury item to take to a desert island, sparking discussion between the guest and the presenter.
And Ms Young does in fact her own island in Scotland, which she bought in 2020 for a whopping £1.6million.
It has 103-acres of land and is located on Loch Lomond, which is well known for its population of wallabies.
The island was owned by the the aristocratic Colquhoun family from the 14th century and had been uninhabited for 20 years.
Ms Young and her husband Nick Jones – who is the founder of private member’s club chain Soho House – hope to hope to build a ‘world-class’ habitat and tourist attraction.
However, people have expressed their concerns about the wallaby population and argue that it could threaten the future of the species, who have lived on the island for more than 80 years.