October's Interview

This month's interview is with Narinder Kaur. Narinder is a TV panellist, broadcaster, social commentator a published author, she was also one of the first people to participate in Big Brother. On top of all that, Narinder is a wife and mother. It is my pleasure to have her agreed to do this interview. You will often see her on Channel 5 and the BBC.
You can find her on Instagram @narinder22

Questions

CC - What inspired you to start your business? 

NK - 'I think the simple answer is (as cheesy or as cringe as it sounds I should say) I just wanted to be famous. However, I did have an acting background. I acted in theatre with Women Theatre Company in Birmingham and then I went and did some Bollywood, I was in a Bollywood film. After that, I got married and things have quiet down, but I still had that urge. Then reality TV phenomenon started , Big Brother came about and I was like ooh - that could be my way of getting my foot back in the door into being a TV presenter or being on TV. I always wanted to have that kind of political stand, maybe not political stand but that 'changing the world' wish, as I had experienced racism growing up, and I wanted to have the ability of having some kind of influence in change'.

CC - What was the one mistake you've made that taught you a valuable lesson?

NK - 'Oh, I love question 2. So many mistakes. I think the first one is taking too much advice from people, especially when I started Big Brother (Do this, Don't do this, Do that, Don't do that). I have been listening blindly to all these dos and don'ts and that was one mistake. That was the first big mistake, I didn't follow my instinct as much as I did before Big Brother and I think the second one was actually not doing this seriously enough and making sure I was always seen. I was always seen but not seen doing something relevant , that was another mistake I regret'.

CC - If you were to start over, what would you do differently from the very beginning? 

NK - 'I would of played Big Brother very differently. I went into Big Brother and they always give this advice to you in reality TV - Be yourself! I was myself and it didn't work. I wish I was a bit cleverer. People in Reality TV are not totally themselves. I don't care what they say, it's not true. You can only win a game of that level and cleverness I would say (because there are so many people in the house) by not being yourself. You have to be, you know - hide some of your real reactions, but that takes consistency and a hell of a strong personality, to not show all your reactions all the time, and I am too reactive. I wish I just wasn't as reactive as I was and maybe I would of lasted longer in the house; cause you know, in those days, you came out of the house - there was no social media, you didn't really make any money and if  you left early, it was only if you wanted.'

CC - What trends should aspiring TV panellists look out for? 

NK - 'The advice I would give to TV panellists is carry on tweeting, social media, do clips of yourself talking about what event is relevant in the news that week, put it out on social media, don't be afraid if you get no traction. That's really important and that's important to anyone doing social media and thinking of starting a business of any kind. Don't be put off - OMG, only 3 people are watching my live! OMG - I've only got 11 likes! I know that is disheartening especially if you've been doing it for years. I mean, I've been doing Instagram for so many years and I have still not kind of cracked it there; but for TV panellists is just - carry on putting stuff out there and try and make as many contacts as you can. For me, remember I did Big Brother 24 years ago and I didn't become a TV panellist until 2 years ago and it was a case of me keeping in touch with people on a friendly basis. I didn't really know what I was going to end up doing. For example, I kept in touch with Dan Wootton, I never asked him for anything, but he saw that I was kind of political on my Facebook post and he said - do you want to come to the show? So, I kept in touch with people. Keep in touch with people no matter who they are. Keep friends, keep your thoughts out there, because one day, someone will notice! I promise!'

CC - Can you describe a typical day in your life as a TV panellist & Social Commentator?

​NK - ' I love this question as well cause not many people know that when you are invited on the show to debate, often it can be early morning shows and I do love the morning shows but you do have to be up at about 3 o'clock in the morning. All the night before you would have done all your research, and that can take hours, then you are up; I mean, I get up early because I like to do my own make-up then I will do another hour research to make sure I get it right even for just a 3 minute debate, because you never know what the other person is going to say. Then you get to the studio, they do your hair and make up, they go through more questions and then you are ON AIR. And then, after all of that, it all lasts 3 minutes (what is that? what was all the research I've done?)except that those research notes, (I started learning, because I never used to do this), but keep them because that debate will come again and to save you doing all that research again, it's there so you can look back on it. Sometimes, you can have another TV debate so you go to the next studio, if you are lucky. It's very hard for TV panellists because there are so many people out there who are brilliant political commentators and social commentators, the competition is very hard, it's very hard to get work consistently if I am being honest so it's more of a hobby as opposed to a full time job. You can research 3 topics that you may have and those 3 topics, more often than not will completely change by the next day so you have to genuinely know what is going on in the news and this is key: have an opinion! You must have an opinion one way or the other, there is no sitting on the fence because it doesn't work on TV or radio.'

CC - What are your aspirations as a TV Panellist?

NK - 'My aspirations have always been from day one to be a news woman and I have never got there. I've emailed them straight for 20 years, and I've had couple of responses but they were not interested so my aspiration has always been to be a news woman and it kind of eludes me, it gets further and further away from my vision.'

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CC - How do you maintain a healthy work - life balance? 

NK - 'When I am really really busy with the TV stuff (cause it seems to be like waiting for the bus and then 7 come at once), then it's hard to do the life - work balance but where the balance comes in is when you are not sat in front of anyone, suddenly you can be quiet for a week or even two weeks and then you rebalance that work - life balance and then you get to be busy again.'

CC - How do you want to be remembered? What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

NK - 'OMG - number 8 is so deep, it's going to make me cry. I think the legacy I'd like to leave is that even if I didn't make it to where I wanted, I did kind of paved the way for others behind me to, you know, South Asian women, Indian women to be stronger and have a voice and be confident and that you matter in Britain.'

CC - What was the hardest decision in your career so far? 

NK- ' I'd say the hardest was just when I was a mum, when I became a mum and to give up everything to be a full - time mum and having to say no. You know, part of me didn't want to, but having to say no to work, because if the TV wants you, they want you then and there and who was going to look after the kids; how I was going to get to London, it was jumping through the hoops of fire and it was actually, basically - this isn't going to work! So it was walking away from my dreams of my TV career so that was hard.'

CC - This question is from my last guest -  How to you find inspiration in the dark & moody days?

NK - 'It's incredibly hard and I think we need to normalise those days. All of us, it's just hard to get inspiration and just accept that this is just going to be a moody day and I guess that the dark days don't always last, and if you accept that then you also know the good days won't always last and things come and go. The good days won't always last, the bad will come and the bad won't always last and then the good will come. So it's accepting that life is a roller coaster and know that moody and dark days will lift.' 

Thank you for your time Narinder, it was great finding out more about your journey.