BOLTON babe Sara Cox made a bubbly start to her eagerly awaited Radio 1 show today -- despite the news that her beloved stepdad Ken Costello is suffering from cancer.

Sara, whose debut should have been this morning, stunned BBC bosses by barging her way into Broadcasting House on Friday morning to make a premature start to her stint as Radio 1's headgirl.

After coming off air at 9.00am, Sara said: "It was definitely the right thing to do -- dive in and get it over with. It felt so good. I'm definitely going to have no problem with the early starts if every show feels that good. That and a good sausage butty at 7am."

This morning Sara, an avid Wanderers fan, shared her sadness with millions of listeners over Bolton's heartbreaking exit from the FA Cup. "I'm gutted," she said.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.