Decca Aitkenhead

Reading Decca Aitkenhead’s interviews, you feel as though you are in the room with her and her subject. She establishes an immediate rapport, even with the trickiest of interviewees, and her mix of empathy and challenge elicits secrets, indiscretions and heartbreaking admissions.

In revealing cyclist Sir Chris Hoy’s terminal cancer diagnosis, she brought her own cancer experience into the conversation as she explored his feelings about his own mortality.

Her entertaining interview with Nigel Farage presaged his return to frontline politics in the General Election. A mix of robust challenge (from her), coy (on his part) banter about whether or not he would stand, a colourful romp through his background, and revealing admissions such as his fear of being humiliated on ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!’, created a vivid portrait of the person behind the politician.

Aitkenhead’s talent for extracting a sensational interview even from less well-known subjects was demonstrated in her encounter with the literary agent Andrew Wylie, who predicted a Trump presidency would mean “the end of the democratic experiment,” with America run by “cruel people with too much power.”