Cerys Matthews has said she longs for a time when being named as a female presenter of a radio programme is not such a big deal.
The former Catatonia star hosts a long-running programme on BBC Radio 6 Music, a monthly show on the BBC World Service, and earlier this year took over the Blues Show on BBC Radio 2 from Paul Jones.
Matthews, 49, told Radio Times magazine: “I’m yearning for the time when it’s not relevant.
“We’re not there yet, but I was over the moon to get the show because it felt right. And because I have so much great music to play.”
She said she does not intend to adapt her style to suit the Radio 2 audience, though.
“I just make radio shows that I want to listen to and I hope other people think the same,” she said.
“To think too much about the individual listener isn’t my job. I’m instinctive and I trust my ears, because that’s what I’ve been doing my whole adult life.”
Matthews, who rose to fame in the 1990s in Welsh rock band Catatonia before they split in 2001, said that she feels it was a “tiny portion of my life”, but that she is “glad it happened”.
“I was young and finding my feet, and it was an extraordinary place to find myself,” she added.
“But fame puts this glass shield around you and you become this person that you’re not. It’s not healthy.”
Radio Times magazine is on sale now.