'I work with Eamonn Holmes and seeing his mobility improve is lovely'

• Eamonn Holmes has recently teamed up with long-time friend Hayley Sparkes to the host Not Just Travel podcast. As well as hosting the show together, they film travel segments on trips together.

• Former This Morning beauty expert Sparkes spoke exclusively to Yahoo about her friendship with Holmes and working together on the travel podcast, where they discuss the hottest destinations across the globe with the industry experts.

Eamonn Holmes is like my TV dad. He will send me a lovely message if I've achieved something to say, "Seeing you do such a brilliant job, you so deserve it, I'm pleased for you."

We get on really well as friends. Eamonn and myself have got another trip coming up in September with our podcast Not Just Travel. We've got a Mediterranean trip where we film travel segments together and also present the podcast. It's with Virgin Voyages and we will go to Corsica, Rome, Ibiza, Cannes; it's a really nice itinerary so every day is different which is just lovely. That particular trip is for a week but when we go away and film it can be anywhere between five and eight days.

Obviously Eamonn is overcoming his challenges with his mobility and that was a little bit of a concern for him. As friends and as a team, we completely can accommodate Eamonn's needs. Once he's in front of that camera, you'd never know that he was struggling. Although it's slow, it's been really lovely for me to witness the progress that he is making. We had our first photograph with him able to stand up for the photo the other day.

What I love about it is Eamonn is so open about those challenges and there are so many other people that are either permanently or temporarily wheelchair bound. When we film or do the interviews, Eamonn really brings that in to find out for people that might be going on a cruise or they might be going to one of these places around the world. How does that company cater for holidaymakers with similar issues? Or he'll do a review of the cabin and make sure that it's fully accessible.

Eamonn really does focus on that because he's got a deep appreciation for how important it is to find out that people travelling with any restrictions or concerns have that full support and that their holiday experience is maximised by great cabins, great staff and great support. So that holidaymakers can have the best possible holiday without the frustrations or restrictions. I love the fact that he's so willing to use his platform to help other people and encourage them to travel as well.

Eamonn brings so much to the table on Not Just Travel. All his interview experience, his humour, he has a genuine passion for travel and he's very inquisitive as well. I'm in awe of him, the way that he is with people on the podcast and he's just so brilliant with everyone. He gets stopped absolutely everywhere we go. Honestly, he’s the king of the selfie. He's always got time for every single person he interacts with. He'll film a video for their mum. He makes everybody feel special but he finds it a real honour if anyone wants to talk to him. Hats off to him for having the time to do that.

If we're working, we go for a nice lunch or something like that. We just get on so well and I've got so much time for him. We'd definitely be doing more travel together. Hopefully we're going to be going to one of Sandals' Caribbean resorts to work with them.

Eamonn gets on really well with my fiancé Ben and he's coming to my wedding in October at Hedingham Castle. It's really beautiful; a privately owned wedding venue with a castle and beautiful grounds and stately home and a big marquee for the evening. Ben and I have been together for three years. Eamonn's been round and he always asks me, 'How's lovely Ben?' He's really happy for me that I've met such a great guy and Ben's truly supportive.

I absolutely love working for Not Just Travel. Whether it be celebrities or tourist boards, we work with the biggest names in the travel industry. After every episode, I just come away from the podcast and think: I need to book a flight! I'm very, very lucky that I get to travel all year round. I always love any aspect of presenting but this is my dream job. Travel presenting was always the long-term goal. I feel like I'm in my absolute element when I'm involved in travel presenting, it's my true passion.

I had a serious health condition, life threatening bowel disease Ulcerative Colitis, when I was a child. I missed out on a lot of life because I was so ill, I didn't used to be able to leave the house sometimes, let alone get on a flight. Now I feel like I'm in such a privileged position where I get to make up the lost time.

It almost feels like I've lived two completely separate lives. It's hard to believe, really. I think I forget sometimes just how bad it was for me. It's just all to do with quality of life, isn't it? I was constantly in the toilet, I couldn't eat anything, I was in and out of hospital, on loads of drugs. I just couldn't do the everyday things like people take for granted like being able to leave the house or go on a journey because of the constant need for the toilet.

At 14, I had a life saving surgery and then two additional reconstructive surgeries. I'm so blessed that now, I just live a completely normal life and I get to do all the things I've missed out on. Because of what happened, I've got an even deeper appreciation for seeing the world. Time is so limited and I learnt that so young, it drives me to encourage other people to travel.

Right at the start of my career, I was one of This Morning's beauty experts. That was just incredible because that's how I met Eamonn. There's so many big names - Rylan and Stephen Mulhern - and just so many people that I got to work alongside who gave me so much support, advice and encouragement. You couldn't ask for a better start in the industry than to to go on a show like that and work with the best people in the business. Now I'd love to go back and do travel segments.

Eamonn really made me understand the importance of being your authentic self on camera and bringing your personality. If you’re human, if you show a bit of your true self, people relate to you more. If you're just being a bit corporate and a standard presenter, people don't feel like they really get the gist of you and probably don't relate to you.

Davina McCall is the classic example. She's such a household name presenter but she's so authentically herself and her personality just shines through. That's why she's adored. Eamonn really made me appreciate that aspect of presenting. Don't try to be a presenter, present as yourself.

Now I like to help others with a few little pearls of wisdom of things I've learned along the way. It's nice to be able to see if you can help anyone else or teach them the things that you wish you'd known at the start.

Hayley Sparkes told her story to Lily Waddell.

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