Harriet Rose is just getting started

When I walk into the studio for our interview (in true Harriet Rose style, she requested a casual chat on the sofa), the presenter and radio host is rounding off her shoot in a polka-dotted outfit, set against a candy-pink background. The bold prints and colours feel like a solid match for someone so well known for their vivacity — a trait that immediately becomes evident when Harriet summons the team for a celebratory group shot, before comedically returning to the dressing room with her makeup artist behind her to cover the slightly-too-short skirt she’s wearing. “Because I’ve been masc for such a long time,” the presenter says, now lounging on the couch in a shirt-and-tie combo, “people are really shooketh when I wear femme-femme, because I don’t think anyone, including my friends, knew I had a fat ass until recently. Everyone was like, whoah, you’re packing some punch there — there’s some dump in the trunk.” We’re talking about Harriet’s fluid dress sense — the combinations of masculine and feminine clothing she’s sported while hosting the BRITs’ red carpet, the MTV Europe Music Awards and, now, her latest endeavour, The After Mask, which is where conversation turns first.

The aftershow for ITV’s The Masked Singer UK – which has racked up over thirteen million viewers, as well as claiming the biggest audience aged between sixteen and thirty-four on a commercial channel this year – is in its first season and follows Harriet as she chats and plays games with a panel of celebrity detectives. It’s also the first show that Harriet is the exclusive host of. “ It’s really weird,” Harriet says, “because there’s two things that I’ve always dreamed of doing — one [being] to host my own show.” Harriet describes The After Mask as returning to the “silly sausage roots” of classic British telly shows like Cat Deeley and Ant & Dec’s SMTV Live. And, though she’s aware the aftershow was somewhat planned with her in mind, being given the spotlight is a novelty that’s clearly not worn off for the presenter. “Usually you go in and you’re like, please, please can I have a job? And in this instance, it just seemed like the right fit,” she says, adding with a laugh, “I could be saying that and they might have had seventeen other people in the running who said no.”

Harriet’s new role in The After Mask is prime evidence that ITV is switching things up a bit this year. First off, it’s the channel’s debut show on YouTube (as well as playing on ITVX, of course), which Harriet puts down to the fact “this is a brand new show and the main goal is for people to enjoy it”. More importantly, though, it’s about the new talent ITV is positing on our screens. Of course, Harriet isn’t a total newbie – she’s been in the industry for a decade – but the presenter isn’t afraid to admit she’s less-established than some of her fellow cast members. “It’s weird because I’ve obviously been in this industry for a hot min,” she says, “but it’s a massive risk to place a bet on a new face. I’m so grateful that ITV were like, you know what? Fuck it. Let’s give it a whirl and see what happens. Without that, you wouldn’t find the Divina [McCall]s and the Claudia [Winkleman]s of the world.” She adds, playfully: “Poor old Ant & Dec need a break soon — well, not soon, but, like, at some point.” More important to Harriet than this specific TV duo’s work-life balance, though, is the need for diverse representation. “It would be remiss to think that having opinions from different areas of life – different culture, different sexualities, different ages – isn’t absolutely so important,” she continues.

Those that have taken even a brief look at Harriet’s social media channels will know that representation is one of Harriet’s own “superpowers”. Namely, she isn’t shy about “being a big lezza”, as she puts it. “I’ve got to tell you, I love being a lesbian,” she says. “I want to scream about it from the rooftops, so that every single person who contemplates their sexuality can have someone to relate to.” She pauses. “I’m not everybody’s cup of tea, but I’m certainly a version of a person that didn’t exist when I was growing up.” Along with Harriet’s passion for queer representation, though, the presenter has a clear sense of self-awareness — she knows that not every queer person can be so boldly themselves. “I feel honoured that I’m in a privileged position to be able to scream and shout about being gay.” It’s lucky, then, that Harriet didn’t listen when, earlier in her career, she was told to “shut your mouth and don’t tell anyone” about her sexuality. “I was scared into thinking that if [being a lesbian] became my personality, it would be like, she’s just the lesbian presenter,” she explains. “But it’s so different now. It’s not my only thing. It’s like, this is a thing that’s also interesting about me — I fancy girls.”

In a way, it’s hardly surprising Harriet didn’t listen when she was told to conceal her sexuality — she doesn’t like being told what to do full stop. “Since I was a child, I’ve had a problem with authority,” the presenter tells me. “I remember my drama teacher literally saying to me, it’s never going to happen for you. And, then, when I left school, loads of people were like, yeah, sure. But I just had this drive inside of me that was like, you’re all wrong. So it’s like a big ‘fuck you’ to anyone who said that I wasn’t going to be able to do it.” In fact, Harriet has always been so strong in her convictions that she’s never had a back-up plan where her career is concerned — or otherwise. “Everybody knows that, even if you’re good, you might not make it,” she says. “And everyone would be like, haven’t you got a plan B? But I have never once had a plan B.” Aside from her determination, Harriet’s personality has certainly helped with her career, too. “I was not the hottest girlypop in the class, okay? I was kind of struggling in that department,” she admits. “So, at parties I’d sit with the parents — because I could speak to a parent in the same way that I will now talk to Angeline Jolie, or my mum or niece.” 

On top of her natural gift of the gab, there’s one other thing that’s undoubtedly helped Harriet along the way — “I am bonkers,” she says. And it’s this admission that causes me to wonder where the presenter’s seemingly-endless supply of energy comes from. “I found out recently that I have ADHD,” Harriet explains. “That’s why my mind goes faster than a normal person’s. But it’s not always a good thing — I burn out very easily.” For Harriet, that means having to take some space for quiet and solitude. “When I did the BRITs,” she says, referencing hosting the red carpet at last year’s event, “I didn’t want to speak to anyone for about forty-eight hours before it. And I didn’t.” She continues: “And there’s always this moment when I’m about to do something live – it happened with The After Mask, as well – where I go dead silent. Even if I try to speak, it’s like my body goes, okay, baby, it’s show time, and shuts me down. So I do have a side to me that is very quiet, but it doesn’t last long —  and no one really sees it because I take the time away to go and recharge.”

It’s her work with the BRITs that makes up Harriet’s second career dream. “In terms of, in the moment, wow, flashbang, wallop, shit, I’m going to poo myself, the BRITs has been my lifelong dream,” she says. “That’s the moment that invokes a feeling inside me that’s like, fuck.” Having interviewed stars like Kylie Minogue and Dua Lipa “about how many fricking BRITs they’ve just won”, it’s no surprise that last year’s event holds so much importance for the presenter — and she’s about to have another taste of it. This year, Harriet will be co-hosting The BRITs 2025: The Warm-Up – a BRITs pre-party show on ITV2 and ITVX – along with actor and comedian Munya Chawawa. And, according to Harriet, it’s come at the perfect time. “It’s my bread and butter to be in high-stress situations, but I’m so grateful this didn’t happen any faster,” she tells me. “I’ve had a taste of all areas of presenting and, now, I feel like you could throw anything at me and I could do it — I’ve got the experience.” This is the message Harriet wants to pass on to anyone thinking they’re too old for a career like hers. “Age is just a number,” she says. “The more mature and experienced you are, the easier and more enjoyable your job is.” The thirty-five year old is living proof — “The After Mask was one of my biggest dreams, and working at the BRITs was one of my biggest dreams,” she concludes. “So I feel like, what the actual heck, I’ve done two of those things — and I’m only just getting started.”