How can an early inspiration lead to a dream career?
Featuring Oli Bell
Ollie Bell is a horse racing TV presenter who presents for ITV. He had an inspiration for horse racing at the age of 5, following his father, who was also a TV presenter. Overall, his family played a big part in his love for horse racing, as his uncle was a horse trainer and his grandparents also owned horses.
From a young age, when Oli was growing up, he spent a lot of time at the racecourse cheering on his uncle and his grandparents’ horses. Growing up, Oli had always known that he had a big chance of becoming a horse racing TV presenter because there were very small numbers of children interested in jobs in horse racing. In contrast, if someone wanted to become a football presenter, millions of other children would also want to do that.
There was one race which sparked his love for racing. His grandparents’ horse was racing and came past him, and he thought the horse had won. At the age of 5, Oli went crazy with excitement, and that was the spark. From that moment on, Oli loved everything about horse racing.
Him as a TV presenter
Oli is now a very famous horse racing TV presenter whose wishes have come true. Oli prepares in quite a different way from most other presenters. He is relaxed and does not investigate too much detail about the horses he is going to talk about before a race.
Oli Bell mentions that he prefers to watch jump racing rather than flat racing, even though he grew up watching flat racing. He says, “I think that the environment in jump racing is a lot more relaxed and more fun and friendly.” This clearly shows that Oli prefers National Hunt racing. He also shares ownership in different horses, for example, Two For Gold.
Oli describes that slipping up when presenting is part of the job. He says it is good fun for others to have a laugh, but also for yourself to laugh and make sure you are enjoying presenting. It is also something viewers like to see when watching television, and people do not make a bad impression of a presenter when they make a mistake.
He believes that the horse has a much bigger part in doing well in a race than the jockey. People often say it is 90% horse and 10% jockey. He says, “I think a good jockey can make the difference, but any jockey can win on a good horse.” This shows that if the horse is not the best, then the jockey plays a more crucial role.
Some advice that Oli gives to young horse racing enthusiasts who may be looking to work in the industry is not to take anything too seriously, as the worst that can happen really could not be that bad. He also says that they should enjoy it and have fun when presenting rather than stressing.
Reported by Hugo C