NME

Cox rises in the morning

• 1st April 2000

Leeroy's girlfriend Sara Cox started her breakfast show this morning on BBC Radio 1 as expected, but some fans may not realised that she did her first ever breakfast show last Friday, confusing many, as Radio 1 had announced that Monday was to be the official launch. The reason? Sara claimed she was so excited about the show, she couldn't wait.

In a Melody Maker interview, this cropped up : Zoe was criticised for playing Fatboy Slim. Are you going to get in trouble for playing Prodigy tunes, seeing as you're engaged to Leeroy? Sara : "Maybe we should have a Prodigy half-hour. I like Breathe, I'm sure we'll play that. But there was that whole 'Fatboy FM' thing" In the Mirror newspaper today : [Prodigy "promised" on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show] A big interview feature was in yesterday's News Of The World newspaper with Sara Cox, the girlfriend of Prodigy dancer Leeroy Thornhill. In it, there's mentions of Prodigy working on the new album, wedding and offspring plans for the couple and the possibility of Prodigy being played lots on Sara's new radio show! The whole article was to plug Sara's new show, the weekday breakfast slot on BBC Radio 1, due to start next month. She admitted being a bit nervous : "I'm not a dead confident person. The other day I came home with my bottom lip wobbling and saying 'I can't do this, I'm c**p.' But Leeroy soon calmed me down. " The article goes on to explain more about their relationship... : "Sara used to be a hard-partying, wild girl but since falling in love with him she'd much rather snuggle up at home than paint the town red. "He's tamed me," she admits. "I envy how chilled out and laid back he is. Hopefully it's starting to rub off on me. But I still have the occasional mad night like at The Brits. I think I had a great time. " Leeroy is far more restrained. Sara reveals: "Although he's in a rock band he doesn't live up to the image by hurling TV sets out of the window, setting fire to the furniture and filling the bedroom with Page 3 stunners, thank goodness. "

Their romance has made them the hottest new couple in showbiz. Zoe Ball has Fatboy Slim, Sara has Big Fella - her nickname for her skinny 6ft 6in sweetheart. "He's a tall fella, and I'm not exactly short," says Sara. "You should see our bed, it's really large. Well it has to be to fit both of us in it. " The pair met two years ago at a London film premiere. Sara recalls: "He apparently told Keith Flint from Prodigy, 'There's that Sara Cox, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on her'. And he soon did! "The premiere party was at Battersea Power Station and he helped me over the rubble outside as I struggled to walk in my high heels "It's been a slow-burning romance since then but now I know he's the only man for me. He cooks for me and everything. "The relationship works so well. I don't know what the magic ingredient is. Maybe it's that we both care about each other's feelings. I'm always sticking Post-it notes around the house asking how he's doing and writing soppy messages. " Suddenly Sara comes over all slushy. "Leeroy is so adorable that I even like watching him sleep," she admits. "I won't be doing that any more though, because it'll be early to bed for the show. Leeroy can watch me sleep instead - and hear me snore!" The article then mentions her brief presenting duties for early morning Channel Four show The Big Breakfast. : "I think I've learned to be a bit less self-centred. After returning home from The Big Breakfast I would think the world revolved around me and snap at Leeroy saying 'Do you know how long I've been up?' "It's not like he'll be lazing at home anyway. The band is busy in the studio at the moment and he's got lots to work on too. " The couple live in what Sara calls "Leeroy's big posh house in the middle of nowhere in Essex" but are currently shopping for a flat in London, too.

They intend to marry later this year but have not set a firm date. Sara said: "We are agreed on the type of ceremony we want. It should be small with a few friends and family, some vol-au-vents and some sausage rolls. No big Posh and Becks style fuss. "I don't know where it'll be. My instinct is to bog off and do it somewhere hot. " Children are also in their plans. Sara says: "We both want kids - eventually. I've got quite a romantic idea of babies and imagine I could strap them on me and go in the studio to do the show, but I'm sure the reality is quite different. "I think I'll have to work up to being able to look after a child. I've got a goldfish at the moment so I'll see how I do with that. Hopefully in ten years' time we'll be settled with kids, a nice house and a helicopter. I've always fancied one of those. " Of the breakfast show she says: "I'll just be myself and play a lot of Prodigy records. There are just not enough of them at 7.30 in the morning!"

SARA GOES FLAT OUT : Sara Cox has bought a London pad so she can catch an extra 40 winks before work as Radio 1's new breakfast show DJ. Sexy Sara is moving into the £300,000 North London flat on Saturday. The former Girlie Show host moved in to fiance Leeroy Thornhill's converted windmill in Essex, after her rented flat in Kensal Rise was burgled. Her new home means she won't have to endure a two-hour journey from Essex to the Radio 1 studios for the 6.30am show "We're looking forward to having a place in town," she says. "I've been spending all my money on hotels in London.

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• Sara Cox
• Leeroy Thornhill