Broadcaster Sara Cox has said she is no longer afraid to ‘crumple a man’s fragile ego’ as she steps into the spotlight amid reports she will replace Scott Mills on the Eurovision Song Contest.
The BBC favourite, who commented on the Eurovision semi-finals on Radio 2 last year, is expected to take on a more prominent role following Mills’ departure from the BBC.
While the broadcaster has yet to confirm the official 2026 line-up, Cox’s growing presence around the contest suggests a natural next step, and The Sun has reported that she is set to replace Mills.
The news comes as Cox graces the cover of Good Housekeeping’s May issue, where she opens up about ambition, resilience, and letting go of self-doubt.
Now in her 50s, Cox says she has embraced a more confident version of herself, one that is no longer concerned with appeasing others. ‘I say what I think a lot more these days,’ she explains.
‘I’m much less afraid of crumpling a man’s fragile ego by just having an opinion. I don’t really care what people think as much. It’s liberating, actually.’
It marks a shift for a broadcaster who admits that, growing up, ambition felt like something to hide.
‘I’ve got a career that I really love, and my kids know it takes me away from them sometimes. But I’m also a good role model. It’s good for the kids to see a woman who’s ambitious. I never used to think I was – when I was younger, being ambitious was a dirty secret. It’s ridiculous – I doubt a man would ever have that thought.’
Much of that confidence has been forged through challenge, including her 135-mile ultramarathon for Children in Need, which raised £11.5 million.
‘In the last six weeks before the challenge, it completely took over my life,’ she says. ‘My internal dialogue never shuts up and in the middle of the night I was really adrenalised. There were tears. There was stress. My husband had to put up with a lot.’
At times, the psychological strain was overwhelming. ‘There were support cars behind me and the car in front was filming me, but I felt like the only woman in the world. The last human on Earth. Your mind does weird things when you’re really pushing like that.’
The experience ultimately reshaped her sense of what she is capable of. ‘[It taught me] that, like every other woman on this planet, I can step up if I have to.’
Despite her success, Cox is candid about what she had to overcome to get there.
‘I was never athletic at school. I was always the last to be picked. From the age of 10 I avoided walking in front of people on the way to school because I was bullied horribly for being knock-kneed and having very skinny legs.’
That sense of exclusion has never entirely disappeared. ‘I don’t think the experience of being bullied ever really leaves you – that feeling of not being in the cool gang can bubble up quickly, well into adulthood. It probably stays with you for the rest of your life.’
Away from work, she credits her 13-year marriage to tech company director Ben Cyzer as a source of stability. ‘Ben and I are annoyingly in love, and we laugh a lot, which is a good foundation for [our children’s] childhood,’ she says.
‘They’re very lucky; my parents divorced when I was young, so I didn’t have that. [Ben is] a mensch; he’d drop anything for me and the kids. I’ve really lucked out.’
As the Eurovision Song Contest prepares for its next chapter, Cox is clearly prepared to take on the challenage head-on, even with Scott Mills’ sudden absence.
Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping UK’s May issue, on sale from 1 April.
Sara Cox hosts her Teatime show on BBC Radio 2, airing Monday to Friday from 4pm. Her podcast, The Teen Commandments, is available on all major podcast providers.
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