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where I was with my career and ask<br />
myself if I was winning and adjust it<br />
accordingly.”<br />
Her TV career had started at<br />
Morriston Hospital, which was only<br />
one of a few hospitals in the UK at<br />
that time to have its own TV station.<br />
“I got my first big break presenting<br />
for Manchester United TV. I’d found<br />
out that their usual host was off<br />
work for two weeks so I pestered<br />
them for a shot at it. They said they<br />
would have preferred someone<br />
local to the area so I responded<br />
‘How about I get on the train first<br />
thing tomorrow morning. Is that<br />
local enough?’ I then got work on<br />
a dating channel, setting people<br />
up and visiting all these wonderful<br />
places.<br />
"I also worked at the Pop Factory<br />
with Steve Jones, which was a big<br />
deal back in the early 2000s.”<br />
The gigs kept coming, but Liz was<br />
happy to take her time learning her<br />
craft in a certain role before moving<br />
onto the next.<br />
“The shopping channels came<br />
calling so I started working on<br />
those. I loved the fast energy of live<br />
TV. Then Quizcall came knocking.<br />
They were looking for a presenter<br />
and wanted someone with good<br />
viewing figures at the shopping<br />
channel. I fitted the bill so Channel 5<br />
took me out to lunch. It was at that<br />
moment that I knew I was doing<br />
something right!”<br />
Quizcall was a new kind of quiz<br />
show, that allowed viewers to<br />
call in and win prizes on live<br />
TV. Its interactive element had<br />
made it a huge hit in Germany,<br />
and Quizcall went on to do well<br />
in the UK, benefitting from Liz’s<br />
professionalism and popularity.<br />
“I was only supposed to do it for<br />
6 months but I ended up hosting it<br />
for 5 years. Unbeknown to me, an<br />
agent in LA had watched me on one<br />
of the shows and wanted to sign me<br />
up. I got my visas sponsored and<br />
moved out there 14 years ago. I’ve<br />
been there ever since.<br />
“I’m now a partner in a talent<br />
management firm and produce<br />
films. We started off very small but<br />
now have over 1,200 actors on our<br />
books. Showbusiness has always<br />
been my life and I have managed<br />
and mentored many beauty queens<br />
and actors, and also introduced TV<br />
presenters and hosts to jobs over<br />
the years.”<br />
She fiercely advocates for her<br />
actors.<br />
“I protect my actors. No one takes<br />
advantage of them. The US is very<br />
different to the UK. There’s a lot of<br />
political upheaval there and it’s not<br />
Liz's modelling work has<br />
taken her all over the world<br />
at peace with itself. There were riots<br />
in LA in 2020 and it made me realise<br />
that I missed home. The hiraeth<br />
that all Welsh people experience<br />
when they are away from home<br />
started calling me back. I spoke<br />
on the phone with my mother one<br />
day. She’d been diagnosed with<br />
dementia a few years previous. And<br />
she said to me ‘I need you. Please<br />
come home’. It was as if everyone<br />
was calling me home.<br />
“When I was little, there was a<br />
carving we had at home that read<br />
‘Give your children wings so they<br />
can fly but roots so they know how<br />
to come home.’ Reflecting on my<br />
situation made me realise that<br />
family and health are the most<br />
important things in life. I realised<br />
that I needed to find a balance to<br />
live and work in both Los Angeles<br />
and Wales.<br />
“I met my now fiancé, Phil, who’s<br />
Phil proposed to Liz<br />
in style in Dubai<br />
people<br />
a <strong>Rhiwbina</strong> boy. His family used<br />
to own a fruit and veg shop in the<br />
village so we made <strong>Rhiwbina</strong> our<br />
forever home when in Wales. He<br />
proposed to me last year and did<br />
a very good job of it. He took me<br />
to Dubai and I had some inkling<br />
that he was up to something. We<br />
got in a car, he blindfolded me,<br />
and then when he got me out of<br />
the car, all I could feel was sand<br />
underneath my feet. He’d taken me<br />
to an undeveloped piece of land in<br />
front of the Burj Khalifa. The boy did<br />
well!”<br />
For now, Liz aims to split her work<br />
between the US and Wales.<br />
“My plan is to continue working<br />
between LA and London for the<br />
next ten years,” she says.<br />
"With Phil being an exsnowboarding<br />
competitor, we<br />
would like to live in Big Bear, which<br />
is two hours away from LA during<br />
the winter months; it reminds me so<br />
much of the forestry in Wales."<br />
When in Wales, north Cardiff gives<br />
her time to step back from the<br />
glamour and the glitz, and to savour<br />
the simpler things in life.<br />
“I don’t have to be an exaggerated,<br />
fun version of myself in front of the<br />
cameras as much these days.<br />
"The real-life Liz is happy to be<br />
walking through the Wenallt with no<br />
makeup on and hair tied back. And<br />
I’m happy for those people I come<br />
across on my walks to not know<br />
about the things that I’ve done or<br />
achieved so far.<br />
“I love the jet-set lifestyle, but I still<br />
love coming home to <strong>Rhiwbina</strong>.”<br />
9
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