Byline: MARION McMULLEN
Cov girl Gabby on the ups and downs of broadcasting as she heads to South Africa for the World Cup COVENTRY'S Gabby Logan seems to have it all.
She has a successful television career, adorable twins, a happy marriage - plus, she's about to jet off to South Africa for a month.
The daughter of former Wales international footballer and Sky Blues skipper Terry Yorath is part of the BBC's World Cup lineup of presenters and will be on the ball next Friday for the start of coverage of the top sporting tournament . Gabby looks entirely happy with life, but it hasn't always been so easy for the former city schoolgirl who went to St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in Styvechale.
This time four years ago, even then an accomplished broadcaster at ITV, Gabby was widely reported as being marginalised in favour of her male colleagues.
She had become a mother in 2005, and covered her first World Cup overseas the following year, but speculation grew over her status at ITV Sport when the returning Steve Rider joined Jim Rosenthal as co-host on the main shows.
With ITV also reportedly banning her from participating in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Gabby soon left the channel.
But the 37-year-old doesn't bear a grudge. 'I don't think you should ever look back and feel that you regret something,' she says.
'At the last World Cup, I was an ITV anchor and if you'd said to me during that World Cup, 'Oh, next time around you'll be working for the BBC', I wouldn't have believed you.'
Fast-forward four years and Gabby is sitting pretty with one of the top jobs in sports broadcasting.
'It's almost like starting again in a lot of ways, to try and get the confidence of the people you're working with,' she says.
'It's tough to build relationships again when you've been with a company for eight or nine years, but it's been a brilliant experience and I've done things that I would never have dreamed possible.
'Things happen for a reason. I think you have to look at the positive in the situation and not dwell on what might have been, or get bitter.'
Gabby was an international gymnast in her teens and the family first rented a house in Coventry at Cannon Hill Road from Jimmy Hill, who was then the Sky Blue's chairman. They later bought it and settled in the city.
Gabby has made strides since moving to the BBC in January 2007. She's covered Wimbledon for Radio 5 Live, the Six Nations for television, and presented the corporation's flagship football programme Match Of The Day.
'Working on the Beijing Olympics was amazing, and hopefully I'm going to be here when 2012 is on,' she says, eyes twinkling.
'All those things are fantastic and I love the breadth of the stuff I can do here.'
She baulks at the suggestion there is any continuing sexism in sports broadcasting.
'Having done this job or been in this environment since 1996, when I first joined Sky Sports, it's a long time to still talk about that...' She pauses, before adding: 'I am where I am and I'm doing what I'm doing.
I think everybody in this industry has to work hard, whoever you are, male or female.'
No sooner were the ITV shackles off than Gabby took up a place on Strictly Come Dancing three years ago, appearing opposite her husband (former Scotland rugby international) Kenny Logan, whom she married in 2001.
The couple's appearance on the show was a big draw for viewers, many of them aware of a difficult part of the Logans' past.
Like many couples, they had trouble conceiving and, desperate to start a family, turned to IVF treatment.
The presenter has been endearingly candid about their experience, and concedes they were lucky it worked so well.
'It's not the way that you necessarily think you're going to get pregnant, but its the way that worked for us in the end,' she confides.
'It's nearly six years since we went through the whole thing but obviously there were a couple of years before that with all the other things that go on when you can't conceive a baby naturally and you really want to have a family.'
In the end, Gabby says warmly, it worked out well. 'I think we were strong with each other; we were a good team together and we got the result that we wanted, which was a family,' she says, smiling wistfully.
'When you have the children at the end of it you can only see it as a positive experience.
Obviously, had I gone through seven or eight IVF cycles and not got pregnant, then I'd probably feel very different about the experience, so it's very hard.
'I was lucky. I didn't feel too unbalanced throughout the process and, hey, it worked first time for us, so that is a really positive experience for me, but I understand that's not always the case.'
Gabby is leaving the twins behind with her husband to be the BBC's England team reporter, embedded with the squad at their camp in Rustenberg.
'My job is to be with the England team, so I'm doing presentation on site and reporting and stuff,' she says, attempting to control her excitement.
Her job will be to cover stories, conduct interviews and provide a running commentary on the national side's progress through the tournament, feeding back to the main studio.
She'll also report pitchside at their matches.
It's a busy schedule, but it's all in a day's (or month's) work for a modern mum.
'Like a lot of mums, you juggle your family life and work life and somehow get through it all without dropping plates too often,' she jokes.
'Sometimes they drop, you know, but like a lot people it's a balancing act.'
But Gabby has a trick up her sleeve to bring her luck.
'Whenever I do a new show I always want to wear something red because the Chinese think red is the colour of luck.
'Obviously if I'm not wearing outer clothing that's red then the under clothing would be red - so my secret's out there!'
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BACK TO SCHOOL: Andreanna Kosmirak welcomes Gabby Logan back to St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in 2000 FAMILY: Ex-Scotland rugby union international Kenny Logan, with his wife, presenter Gabby and Gabby's dad Terry Yorath (below)
