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Kirsty Young to be Desert Island Discs guest on Christmas Day

Lauren Laverne and Kirsty Young - AMANDA MANGO BENSON/AMANDA MANGO BENSON
Lauren Laverne and Kirsty Young - AMANDA MANGO BENSON/AMANDA MANGO BENSON

Kirsty Young, who stepped back from broadcasting to cope with a crippling illness, is to return to Desert Island Discs - but this time as a guest.

The broadcaster will share with listeners her emotions on the day of the Queen’s funeral last September as part of three special editions marking the end of Desert Island Discs’ 80th birthday year.

Young will appear with Lauren Laverne, her successor as the host of the long-running BBC Radio 4 show.

She will also look back at her early years on air in Scotland, her career in TV news and - having cast away nearly 500 people during her time presenting Desert Island Discs from 2006 until 2018 - she will reveal the eight discs she couldn’t be without.

Speaking about appearing on her former show, which is being broadcast on Christmas Day, Young said: “It was a slightly discombobulating and thoroughly enjoyable experience.”

Joking about Desert Island Discs’ famous format, which has run since it was first devised by Roy Plomley on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January, 1942, she added: “Although making anyone narrow down their favourite discs to just eight is frankly unreasonable. It’ll never catch on.”

Kirsty Young - BBC/PA
Kirsty Young - BBC/PA

Young, 54, came close to tears as she ended the BBC’s live coverage of the funeral at St George's Chapel, reflecting what many people across the nation felt about their monarch.

As her own tears welled up she spoke of how many people would have been watching the day's events with great affection for the Queen and everything she had done.

Young, who had come back from illness to take part in the funeral coverage, added: “She made history, she was history. Queen Elizabeth II has gone, but she will surely never be forgotten.”

Young retired from the limelight in 2018 while battling crippling rheumatoid arthritis with secondary fibromyalgia, a condition that left her too tired to walk up stairs and in constant pain.

The former Crimewatch presenter said in July 2019 of her illness, that while she was “well on the way to feeling much better”, her enforced absence had “altered my perspective on what I should do next and so I've decided it's time to pursue new challenges".

Her appearance on Desert Island Discs will be preceded on Sunday, 11 December, by Cate Blanchett, who will discuss an acting career that so far includes winning two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs and three Golden Globes.

Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett

Blanchett will recall her early years in Melbourne, Australia, and her sudden rise to international stardom, playing the role of Elizabeth I in the acclaimed 1998 film "Elizabeth".

On Sunday, 18 December, it will be the turn of Steven Spielberg to share his choice of eight discs, a book and a luxury item, in conversation with Laverne.

He will reflect on a lifetime of film-making, starting with the childhood mini-movies that he says gave him power over the popular kids who usually ignored him.

Spielberg will also recall his first big break as a director, with the terrifying truck chase drama "Duel", and also consider why the child’s perspective has always been important, in films including "ET", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The BFG" and most recently, "The Fabelmans".