Sara Cox reveals how she eases mum guilt
Sara Cox has a daughter named Renee and a son called Isaac with her husband, Ben Cyzer, as well as a daughter named Lola, with her ex-spouse, Jon Carter.
Sara Cox eases her mum guilt by recognising herself as a "good role model" for her children.
The BBC Radio 2 DJ hopes her achievements will inspire her daughters, Lola, 21, and Renee, 15, as well as 17-year-old son Isaac.
Sara, 51, told Good Housekeeping magazine's May issue: "I’ve got a career that I really love, and my kids know it takes me away from them sometimes.
"But I’m also a good role model. It’s good for the kids to see a woman who’s ambitious. I never used to think I was - when I was younger, being ambitious was a dirty secret.
"It’s ridiculous – I doubt a man would ever have that thought."
The star is no longer afraid to be ambitious after raising £11.5 million during her 135-mile ultramarathon for Children in Need last year, in which she covered four counties – Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
Sara recalled: "There were support cars behind me and the car in front was filming me [for the Every Step of the Way For Children In Need documentary], but I felt like the only woman in the world. The last human on Earth.
"Your mind does weird things when you’re really pushing like that… [But it taught me] that, like every other woman on this planet, I can step up if I have to."
The broadcaster is forever grateful for the support she received - especially from her husband, Ben Cyzer - as she was pushed to her limits during the mammoth charity fundraising challenge.
Sara remembered: "In the last six weeks before the challenge, it completely took over my life.
"My internal dialogue never shuts up, and in the middle of the night, I was really adrenalised. There were tears. There was stress. My husband had to put up with a lot."
This year, Sara and the tech company director are celebrating 13 years since they got married at London's The Langham hotel in 2013.
And the couple - who renewed their wedding vows at Camp Bestival while she held a can of Stella in August 2022 - are still madly in love.
Sara gushed: "Ben and I are annoyingly in love, and we laugh a lot, which is a good foundation for [her children’s] childhood.
"They’re very lucky; my parents divorced when I was young, so I didn’t have that… [Ben is] a mensch; he’d drop anything for me and the kids. I’ve really lucked out."
The star - whose name has been tipped to replace either Tess Daly, 57, or Claudia Winkleman, 54, as co-host of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing - has Isaac and Renee with Ben.
While Sara has Lola with her 56-year-old ex-husband, musician Jon Carter, whom she divorced in 2006 after five years of marriage.
When the children attended school, Sara felt better at work.
She explained in the May 2015 issue of Essentials magazine: "Now all the kids are at school, it’s amazing because I can work without feeling guilty for the first time in 10 years.
"It’s insane women feel like that because you can bet your bottom dollar dads don’t."
The full interview can be read now in the May issue of Good Housekeeping UK.
