Sabet Choudhury is a familiar face on ITV West, and is known for his warmth and humour. From his early days at BBC Points West to a cameo role in Bong Joon-ho’s latest film, Sabet’s journey is anything but ordinary. His friend and ex-colleague Ali Vowles meets up with him to see how he’s managing without her.
Sabet Choudhury is one of the good guys – friendly, warm and a lot of fun. He’s also full of surprises, as you’ll find out!
He now works as one of the two main presenters for ITV West. We first met working together at BBC Points West. Like me, one of the things he loves about the job is that no two days are ever the same and you never know what the day will bring.
We meet at the old HTV building in Bristol – now the HQ for ITV West, after he’s presented the lunchtime news, greeting me with…
“You know you were the first person to teach me the basics of presenting, Ali? And yes, I do still get nervous before the adrenaline kicks in!”
Sabet was born in Bangladesh, where his mother was a well-known TV presenter and producer. Although he moved to the UK at the age of two, his mother was determined that he wouldn’t forget his roots. As a youngster they travelled back and forth between the two countries, first moving to Bury in Greater Manchester for his dad’s job as a surgeon. The family moved to Gloucestershire when he was eight and he’s lived in the county with his wife, Kate, since then.
“We were the first Asian family in the town of Stonehouse, near Stroud, and dad used to work in the local hospital. What I remember is how nice people were. It’s a lovely place. Of course, as I grew up there were incidents. Racial abuse is a funny thing when it happens to you. It kind of wakes you up from a dream when you realise, ‘I am different to you, but you don’t like that’. As a child it’s very confusing. But I know I was lucky growing up in Gloucestershire. I’m in regular touch with my school friends and play cricket for my local team. It’s my community and I hope I never leave.”
Racial abuse is a funny thing when it happens to you. It kind of wakes you up from a dream when you realise, ‘I am different to you, but you don’t like that’
Alongside his news presenting role, Sabet is currently working on a national ITV documentary about the riots of last summer following the Southport stabbings and the attacks on the hotels where migrants are staying. He says it’s making him see how divided some communities are.
Sabet got into journalism via his local newspaper and then joined BBC local radio, national radio and then TV. So having spent a lot of his career working for the BBC, what was it like jumping ship and working for ITV, plus working with one of his best friends, TV presenter Alex Lovell?
“It was a bit of pressure when I got the job, as there have been some very well-liked presenters who’ve sat in the seat that I now occupy. It’s a real responsibility, but I love helping the young reporters that work here. When Alex made the same move to ITV it was great because she brings such warmth and friendliness to the programme. She is so likeable and she’s made such a difference to the newsroom as well.”
Ten years ago Sabet’s world came crashing down. His much-loved mum Sakina had diabetes, which quickly led to a diagnosis of renal failure and living on dialysis. The family were told she only had months to live. For many reasons, including cultural and religious ones, not many people in Asian or Black communities donate kidneys, and a match for her couldn’t be found.
Despite his mum’s reservations, Sabet put himself forward and was a match. “There was literally no other option, no other matches anywhere. And even if there had been, because my mum was 70 it would have automatically gone to a younger person. I’ll never regret that decision. We had some good years together before she died. And because I now only have one kidney I have to look after myself more and keep healthy. I’m also on a personal crusade to make more people from different communities donate.”
Talking about his mum, it’s clear Sabet was the apple of her eye and, like my mum for me, had proudly watched everything he had ever done in his career. She died within a month of him starting at ITV West Country and never saw him in his new role. It was a tough time, but there are some things he’ll never forget.
“I miss the love she used to show through food. That’s what an Asian mother does. She cooks and fattens you up with these amazing dishes. My dad and I are still trying to recreate her cooking. We are both trying to learn how she did it – but she was a typical Asian mother. She just threw in the spices, followed her heart, filled the food with love and it always tasted amazing.”
Two years on from her death Sabet says life is good. He doesn’t worry about the small stuff anymore. He loves his job and is still the complete practical joker that I remember. “When I was at the BBC the weatherman Ian Fergusson and I had a long-running saga of surprising each other and trying to make each other corpse. During COVID he used to do the weather reports filmed remotely from a shed on the roof. I once hid in the shed for an hour so I could film him as I jumped out. After that it was tit-for-tat revenge stuff every evening. I’m surprised HR weren’t involved!”
And he had one more surprise for me. As I was packing up my recording equipment to leave the ITV studios, Sabet casually mentioned he was a going to a film première that night in London. “Actually I’m hoping my part hasn’t been cut out and that I’m still in it. I’m playing a reporter for director Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi film, Mickey 17.”
“Yeah, yeah” I said as I was leaving. “Nice try Seb.”
Watch the first 10 minutes of the film – this time he really wasn’t joking!”
Instagram: ali_vowles; sabet