Why would I be bitter about Daybreak? Emma Crosby is the new face of Channel 5 News

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Cherishing the lie-ins: Emma Crosby was replaced on ITVs morning show but now fronts Channel 5 newsMost people would be nervous about replacing Natasha Kaplinsky as the glamorous face of Channel 5s nightly news bulletin. But not Emma Crosby. Its good but it could be better, she says. My challenge is to get the ratings up; to bring in more interviews.Kaplinsky, who left in December, was fabulously remunerated for doing a job thats hardly quantum physics. Her 1 million deal made her the highest-paid newsreader in Britain, but she chose not to renew her contract after having her second baby.Emma, who took over on Valentines Day, is adamant her salary isnt nearly as high.Those big money days are over now, she says. But I wont say how much I earn.When we meet, Emma looks glossy and self-assured. But the 33-year-old hasnt always displayed the innate sense of style on show today.
Two years ago, when she joined Andrew Castle, Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard on the GMTV sofa, taking over from Fiona Phillips who quit to spend more time with her family she was cruelly castigated for being frumpy.
One vibrant yellow dress in particular elicited fierce criticism. Oh, the daffodil dress! cries Emma.
It was by Diane von Furstenberg and it cost a fortune. Somebody said Id successfully pulled off the young-woman-dressed-as-an-old-one look. I gave the dress away to a charity shop after that.When she secured the coveted GMTV spot, having arrived from Sky News where she was business correspondent, there were murmurings that Kate Garraway, ten years her senior and already ensconced on the famous red sofa, was irked at being passed over for the role Fiona Phillips had vacated.Phillips on her own admission had had the top job. Garraway had made it clear she wanted it. So what was the real story?Emma looks stricken. My position was never a senior one, she protests, even thoug! h her ar rival as Phillips successor was heralded with great fanfare.
Surely there must have been resentment when Crosby, junior in age and bereft of showbusiness experience, breezed in?
Emma is having none of it. There was no friction whatsoever. The editor always said we would all have equal status and I never got the impression Kate was unhappy with that. She and I got on very well.She does let slip, however, that sharing a dressing room with Kate gave her an insight into her co-presenters more bizarre traits. She was so bloody messy! She always came in dragging a suitcase and carrying lots of bags. If I offered to help shed say, Its fine. Im perfectly balanced!

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Shes so eccentric. On one occasion she brought in the standard lamp from her lounge. It was there in the dressing room for months. I never discovered why.Emma admits she found the hours gruelling during her 18-month tenure on GMTV.I had to get up at 3am, and by Friday I was always really grumpy and would have a row with my boyfriend [stockbroker Leo Roubicek] over something trivial, like leaving his socks on the floor. And Id just want to eat. You get so hungry and you sugar-load when youre exhausted.

No hard feelings: Emma (left) with ex-GMTV co-host Kate GarrawayBut the compensation was the sheer adrenaline thrill of the job itself. When youre in the middle of a programme its so exciting. Even now I watch Adrian [Chiles] and Christine [Bleakley] on Daybreak and think, That looks such fun.Which brings us back to the demise! of GMTV , and on to Daybreak, the new breakfast programme universally regarded as a flop that succeeded it in September last year.
Emma was briskly dispatched from her 120,000 post five months ago to make way for Daybreaks new co-hosts Chiles and Bleakley. She must, surely, have been resentful that her brief stint on GMTV ended so abruptly? I bear no hard feelings to Christine or Adrian, she says sweetly.A person of a less sunny disposition may well have been delighted to learn about the poor viewing figures for Daybreak and read the tepid reviews of the show. But Emma insists, There are teething problems with all new launches. GMTV was a part of viewers lives for 17 years and it takes time to adjust. But I think Daybreak will get there. Will 5 News, though? Emma will do her damnedest to make sure it does.

Emma Crosby presents 5 News on Channel 5 each weekday at 7pm.