| Though they make a great presenting team, Rickie and Shantha are poles apart when it comes to how they got their dream job. They told YME all about it. YME: So how did you get your jobs presenting on MTV? Rickie: I always wanted to be a presenter ever since I was at school, and it was a case of deciding whether or not to go into media or do I do sports? I was really interested in media, but I was really good at sports. I decided to go the route that I was most interested in, so I went to the BRIT school and from there I got into radio. Then I did a radio degree at university. After that I set up my own company with a couple of friends from university to highlight our talents, and I’d be filming plays and fashion shows and stuff, and we’d put it up online, and off the back of that myself and a mate of mine did a show reel and I got some work because of it. Then I got the Kiss 100 Breakfast Show, and then MTV. Shantha: It was a huge surprise to get this job. I’d done a few things for BBC Scotland. I’d worked on a couple of really low budget music shows. They got me involved, which was great, so that gave me a little bit of experience, and then I helped out at T in the Park. But then I thought I should probably spread my wings and see what was happening down in London and do some screen tests and auditions. So I came down for one for MTV, but for a different programme. I realised they were looking for someone who was fresh out of school, and I was a little bit over the hill! Luckily they pointed me in the direction of News, and they liked my show reel and I got involved with them instead, so it was all ridiculously lucky. YME: So you both had really different routes into the business. Rickie: It’s been a really long journey to get to where I am now and there were times when I thought to myself it’s never going to happen, or there were times when I thought I can see it happening but I just can’t see how I’m going to get there. It is hard. You just need someone to say, “you know what I’m going to give you a chance. You might be rubbish in the beginning but you’ll learn”. It definitely took perseverance. Shantha: For me getting in was a little girl’s dream really. Getting in to BBC Scotland was very flukey. I’ve always been interested in film and telly but never really believed that it would ever be possible. I did French and German at uni and was always chopping and changing - my heart wasn’t really in it - and I wanted to go to art school as well. But I was just never quite sure, because I think ultimately I did really want to be in the bizz, but didn’t have the focus when I was younger, or the clarity of thought to know what route to go down. I never ever thought about doing journalism. I was very lucky in that I was working in a coffee shop in the west end of Glasgow and a presenter for the BBC came in. She asked me in for a couple of screen tests and I got my first gig that way. It was totally random. Really jammy. I couldn’t believe it. I was hoping that something might come of it and I’m quite a keen actress as well, but of course you never think it’s going to happen and so I just tried to be responsible and do my degree. I wasn’t really happy with that, but did it, and kind of thought “Oh what if I had gone to art school, and what if this, and what if that”, and before I knew it I was offered the opportunity to do a screen test and it just started from there really. It was wonderful. YME: What’s a typical day for you at MTV? Shantha: Depending on what talent comes in in the morning, Ricks and I share duties interviewing various talents and getting some juicy soundbites. I love meeting the artists. It’s always really surprising to see them just being normal human beings. You always expect them to be about twelve foot tall but of course they’re not. Then about 2 o’clock I put my slap on - quite a lot of it unfortunately - and stand under some bright lights for about half an hour and whap out the news and have a bit of a giggle with people in the gallery. Then as soon as they’re done I take all the make up off straight away and then hang about and do some emailing, and depending if there’s any events to cover in the evenings or the mornings or the weekends, then that’s pretty much me to enjoy London. Rickie: I can’t go out much in the week because of the breakfast show – I’ve tried. My weekends start at 5 o’clock on a Friday night! YME: What advice would you give people hoping to break into the business? Rickie: I’d say, just get as much work experience as you can. Make sure you’re around what you want to do in whatever capacity, because you never know what opportunity is going to come about. So if you want to be a presenter always be doing something that is to do with presenting, usually you’ve got to be doing stuff to camera yourself, whether it’s messing about with your mates and just a camera in a park, or you’ve got a club night or something that your mate’s put on, or there’s an event. Just always be doing something so that you’re nurturing yourself, nurturing your talent and any opportunities that may arise. Shantha: There’s a million and one ways of doing it. I suppose that’s the difficult thing. I certainly had the right place at the right time on my side. I think that’s a lot to do with it. Definitely keep following your dream but be adaptable and allow for it to change. Try not to be disheartened if auditions don’t go well because you learn so much from doing them. I didn’t have an agent before I came to MTV so it’s possible to do it off your own back. Just develop a thick skin and keep plugging away and allow for your plans to change, because one thing quite often leads to another. So take the opportunities as they come and create them around you as you can. Siobhan O’Neill Check out: MTV News. Weekdays at 4pm Visit: www.mtv.co.uk/news |
 Rickie Haywood Williams  Shantha Roberts |