I remember being in Vietnam in my early 20s, at the height of Lonely Planet's fame, and all the travellers would converge on internet cafes to send emails back home. It was a great place to exchange tips and recommendations, so you actually interacted with people.

I grew up as a Muslim: it was quite a conservative upbringing; I didn't wear mini-skirts. But my mum and dad had a good sense of humour and were creative. I guess all of that shaped me.

My first ever interview for 'Blue Peter' was a film with JK Rowling.

I say throwaway, jokey things. When you're young-looking and you are presenting something that has gravitas you can't look down your nose, but when David Dimbleby does it, it's OK.

In general, I think we're more or less shaped and formed by our late 20s. Things come along during that time that make us cynical. By the time you're in your 30s, it's hard to unpick those mindsets that have formed. It takes years of therapy to undo them.

I had an instamatic wind-on camera and remember buying the flashcubes and fixing on top of the frame. The flash credits were limited so you had to be careful not to waste any.

We as parents, and the control culture, it is our responsibility to make sure we give the right perceived norms and the right cultural conditions.

Me and my husband think the internet is a really positive thing. We know games that have taught our children problem-solving skills but that doesn't mean we are going to say play 'Call of Duty.'

From a young age I was really into pop music because I had these two older sisters who were into it, and I wanted to be like them. They liked Wham! and so I was really into them too.

I'm the youngest of three children and grew up in Ealing, west London. My eldest sister, Nutun, is nine years older than me, and my middle sister, Rupa, is three years older.

My mum is your archetypal Asian mum, always feeding people. If there was no food in the cupboard, she'd still manage to rustle up a feast - Bangladeshi food such as pilau rice, curry and korma.

Food lovers tend to make life difficult for themselves on their travels. It's like travelling first class, if your expectations are so high, you're bound to be disappointed.

You're an example as a kids' presenter, so there is a responsibility there. But they got lucky with me - I'm not into heavy nights out.

I'm really not aware of much press. I could drive myself mental if I went on the internet. I'd probably overanalyse it anyway. There's so much media that I'd feel bombarded, so I don't pay it much attention.

My A-levels were physics, chemistry and maths. Science is fascinating but I wouldn't say I have used it since then. I decided to do economics.

Economics is a good degree to have but the subject is very theoretical at Cambridge and I found it frustrating that you can't apply a lot of the models to particular circumstances.

My husband Charlie says I get ready five minutes before I go out the door. I am one of those people who can't do anything unless it's imminent - that's how I roll.

I have surreal dreams, so much so that I can never make head nor tail of them.

I don't usually eulogise about people, but I saw Russell Brand doing stand-up before he was really high profile. I didn't really know what to expect but I laughed until my belly ached.

Because my parents are Muslim, there's no doubt they wished I would marry someone Muslim.

My parents really wanted me to have an arranged marriage when I was younger, but I think they have updated a bit with the times.

I've worn a chainmail suit to swim with sharks, glided over Cirencester with a James Bond-style paramotor strapped to my back, eaten hippo steaks and had a bat dive down my bra. And all the while, I had to face the camera and smile.

Life in 'Blue Peter's' world is always presented as happy, positive and fun. It's an adventure that you have to make the kids believe they want to join in. There are no marks for being a scaredy-cat.

The brilliant thing about 'Blue Peter' is the variety of the stuff you do and the experiences that you have, just amazing experiences.

Because Blue Peter can get you access to places - if you go to somewhere like Nasa, you don't just see what most people see, you can get a lot of behind the scenes access. You can talk to an astronaut.

And then I saw this article in 'Time Out' magazine for TV presenters, so I went along with my sisters and we did this audition. It was open auditions, it was just a fun day out, but there were maybe 600 people there or something. It was just crazy.

Since I've left 'Blue Peter' I've presented all sorts of different things. I've done a music show, for instance, and 'Blue Peter' had music on it. I've done a politics show, but on 'Blue Peter' I interviewed the Prime Minister. I've done travel stuff where I've gone abroad, but 'Blue Peter' had that within it as well.

I'm trying to start reading books that you gain knowledge from in order to challenge myself more. As a rule, I tend to read easy reading/populist-type books, but I don't feel like I'm learning enough.

As for other radio, I dip in and out of various channels depending on my mood.

I've just watched the whole series of 'Flight of the Conchords'. I absolutely love it - the humour, the actors, everything about it.

I like interiors as much as exteriors but 'interior designer' just sounds naff as a job.

There's enough wealth in the world that no one should go without.

My parents are very proud that I was a 'Blue Peter' presenter and of me going to Cambridge to do economics.

One minute you're up a mountain, the next you're down a well. One minute you're with Tony Blair, the next you're with McFly. Ten years feels like two years when you're in the 'Blue Peter' bubble.

Blue Peter' scarred me for life. I was kayak-surfing in Cornwall and the waves were so strong it was more like white-water rafting. I had to hang on for dear life. At one point I let go and my hand was crushed on a rock.

I've never been more terrified than when I learned how to paramotor. They attached this machine to my back, as if I was a stuntman in a James Bond movie, and I had to fly over all these trees and patches of concrete in Cirencester.

I've become more cause-driven as I've got older. Maybe that's a result of having kids; you become less carefree and more worried about things.

An experience that shaped me happened early in my TV career when I filmed in Mozambique, Angola and Bangladesh for 'Blue Peter' and Comic Relief. Places with extreme poverty. When you see that first-hand as a young person, you take it with you for life.

I used to watch TV in the days that I was on TV. But in that time, streaming has come along. So I can honestly say, I have no idea what's on real-time TV.

I remember as a kid liking long, funny words. And often being into things like that can be perceived as square. But actually, as we know now that we're adults, it's really cool. The more knowledge you have, the better.

My parents were first-generation immigrants. My mum wore a sari but at school and as a teenager and in my 20s I wanted to fit in.

There were no small brown kids as the centre of the children's fiction I grew up with.

Being a 'Blue Peter' presenter is not well paid.

My husband has a wife who is happy to wander round in old leggings held up with worn elastic. I'm happy with who I am and I'm more concerned with other issues and trying any way I can to make a better world for our children.

In the UK we have general elections roughly every four or five years because we know circumstances, situations and therefore opinions change over time.

In a 24/7 landscape of rolling news, social media, phone alerts and notifications it's all too easy to feel numbed by all the shouting.

A serious economic downturn will undermine women's rights on multiple levels. And it is the women who are already the most disadvantaged, that will be hit hardest of all.

Increased tariffs and a weakened pound would mean higher food prices, hurting the poorest families - and the women trying to make ends meet at the heart of them - the most.

Having seen many of my friends go through the trial of trying month after month to conceive, then finally the joy of getting pregnant followed by the heartbreak of miscarriage, I know how lonely and isolating it can be to have to go back to square one carrying that heartbreak with you.

I'm all for education - in fact, I have spent my career extolling its virtues.