Getting to know Sky presenter Rachel Wyse

From her upcoming wedding to just how she got her big break as a Sky presenter, Rachel Wyse reveals all to Esther McCarthy.

Love is in the air among the Wyse siblings, with two family weddings on the way in a matter of months. Top TV presenter Rachel said “the easiest yes” when her fiancé, show jumper and successful developer Tim Gredley, popped the question earlier this year. By an extraordinary co-incidence, her sister got engaged the same weekend.

“We’re getting married next year. It’s a busy year in the Wyse household because my sister’s getting married as well. Poor dad! My sister actually got engaged the night before Tim proposed to me,” said Rachel.

“Nobody knew this was happening, the boys just happened to pick the same weekend.”

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She and Tim are planning to wed early next year in a rural Irish setting with the unflappable Rachel saying she’ll get more organised once the GAA season finishes. “I’m way too relaxed about the whole thing.”

She and Tim, who first met at a showjumping event, found love blossomed years later as they bonded over their shared love of the sport. This summer, he caught some GAA in Croke Park as his bride-to-be covered the match programming for Sky Sports.

“He used to compete for Great Britain, he won the Aga Khan in 2008. We met when we were both showjumping years and years ago in Cavan. He loves the hurling, he just thinks it’s the most insane sport he’s ever seen in his life! He can’t get his head around the fact that they’re amateurs and just go back to their normal jobs after all of this, and yet he’s been in Croke Park when there’s 80-odd thousand people there. It’s impossible to explain what the atmosphere is like until you’re in that stadium when the teams are parading around, it’s just incredible.”

The couple now share a country home outside London, and Rachel says England has been kind to her since she first moved to forge a career for herself at the height of the recession.

I’ve been here eight years. I found the first year really tough because I didn’t know anybody. Going into Sky was really daunting for me, I’d never been in a live environment on such a big scale. And if you don’t have friends in London it’s a very, very lonely place. Thankfully for me, my brother moved over, and my sister. That made a huge difference, feeling like you’d someone there. And although my mum hates me saying it, I do feel it’s a home away from home

She still vividly remembers being told that Sky Sports News wanted her to join their team at one of the biggest sports newsrooms in Europe.

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It marked a big move for Rachel, who had always dreamed of working with horses as a child (she was a very good competitive show jumper) but found herself at a crossroads upon graduating from college.

“I remember it as clear as day because I ended up in hospital!” she laughs. “I’d been in touch with my now boss from Sky Sports News and I’d gone over to London for a chat with him. They asked me to come back for a screen test a week later. A week or two after that he offered me the job and I was in City Channel at the time.

It was 2010 when times were very difficult with the recession. I was wondering: ‘Where am I going? What is my next move?’ Things were just difficult at the time. I got the call, then I called one of my friends to tell them the good news. As I got into the car, I hit my head off the frame of the door. Just over my eye I’d slit it open so I had to go to hospital and get four stitches. I’ll never forget the moment.”

She credits her previous job working in City Channel, which broadcast community programming and sponsored content to homes in Cork, Dublin and Limerick, with giving her invaluable career skills.

“We had to learn very fast how to do a little bit of everything from dealing with clients to writing scripts, to understanding the brief they wanted. It developed and they needed people in front of camera. They had this wonderful old newsroom and you’d control the autocue with a footpad. We’d go into studio, record our scripts, then go out and edit the whole piece. You learn how to make a programme, albeit on a tiny scale.”

It impressed bosses at Sky, who were intrigued at her understanding of programme-making. “They said that a lot of people just think that programmes get made and they don’t think about the people behind the cameras and how much work and effort goes into it. I think that’s really helped me over the years.”

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Next month, she’ll be home as a host at Longines Irish Champions Weekend. Now in its fifth year, Longines Irish Champions Weekend is the pinnacle of the Irish Flat racing season and will see horses, trainers and jockeys compete at the highest level. With six Group One races and €4.8 million in prize-money, this unique racing event is billed as the race meeting where the best in world come to meet.

She is thrilled at the prospect. “When I got the offer I absolutely jumped at it. Racing, horses are my first love, and showjumping is where my sporting background all began. I grew up at the bottom of Leopardstown Racecourse on the old Brewery Road, mum and dad used to bring us every Christmas for racing, so it’s nice to be a part of this.” Could she ever have imagined that she’d be returning to Leopardstown as a presenter with one of TV’s most successful sports channels? “Not in a million years! When I graduated from college I was thinking: Where am I going? What am I doing? All I thought in the back of my mind was I’d be doing something with showjumping, or horses.” She knew she had lots to learn on getting the job at Sky Sports News and didn’t fully realise the channel’s reach. “To be honest with you I don’t think I did. I’d watched it at home, in Dublin. I think until you’re on camera and you see social media, reaction, and people want to do interviews with you, you don’t really realise it until they say: ‘You’re live in four seconds’ and you think: ‘Oh my goodness’.

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“I had a huge amount to learn. Sky were brilliant with me, they knew I’d never worked in a live environment before, that I’d come from a very small production company. All of a sudden you’re going into this massive newsroom and you’ve got all of the soccer, the Formula One. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a million and one things to learn. But I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”

Still, she and her colleagues have sometimes encountered sexism and negative comment, usually on social media. She cites the recent case of colleague and good friend Anna Woolhouse, who recently called out trolls who made comments about her appearance.

I know she posted something recently and I think people were even shocked to see the comments that she’d had to deal with and she’s an incredible presenter, regardless of gender,” said Rachel.

You just have to block out the things that are totally ridiculous. I read into things that are constructive criticism, you hopefully learn from them. When you walk around the offices, there are so many females that work behind the scenes

Sky have never put up a boundary to me, so it’s not something I focus on, but I’m very aware that people have opinions out there. So you just put your head down, work as hard as you can, try to improve every single day.”

One of her personal highlights was getting to work with and interview Irish boxer Katie Taylor as she bid for Olympic Gold in London 2012.

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“She is probably my favourite person I’ve ever interviewed. Seeing her success at the Olympics and what a lovely, humble person she is. I had a smile on my face on the news that day. It was just amazing, a lovely moment, and you feel proud to be Irish.”

Longines Irish Champions Weekend takes place on two racecourses, over one weekend – Leopardstown on Saturday 15th and the Curragh on Sunday 16th September.