RELYING on her wit and charisma, Kat Shoob is a well-liked radio personality known for her opinions rather than her looks. And that’s just the way she likes it.

One half of a popular radio duo, Kat co-hosts with Rich Clarke on the Big Top 40 Show on Capital Radio.

The show launched last year amid a buzz of anticipation for a countdown which interacts with its audience, giving them the chance to change what will top the download music chart.

Now the show gets two million listeners and is broadcast across 144 stations around the UK.

Kat, 26, who lives in Rochford, says: “I’m not shocked the show has been such a success.

“I’m not being big headed, it was just the charts needed something which was interactive, allowing people to have their say.

“Also, people just aren’t buying many CDs anymore. In the past, you would get them for Christmas or for a birthday, but it doesn’t happen now.

“It is also good because people can pick and choose the tracks they want, rather than buying a whole album.”

Kat is savvy about the industry she is in, having seen all sides of it. She trained as a ballet and tap- dancer, before finishing her A- Levels and leaving home, in Shropshire, for London, to work as a junior agent for comedians and presenters.

This role gave Kat an insight into the TV world and the opportunities it offered.

Kat laughs: “I first realised I wanted their jobs when I was paying in their cheques and doing the invoices.

“I had wanted to get into presenting for a long time. Having watched presenters like Toby Anstis and seeing the energy change in the room when shows go live, I knew I wanted to do it.”

Kat made her first move from behind the scenes and into the spotlight when she started working on the TV channel pricedrop.tv, as an auction assistant.

She left in 2006 to become a presenter at Big Game TV and on ITV1’s the Mint.

From there she went on to become the face of late night dating show Playdate, before returning to the Mint.

She adds: “I certainly cut my teeth on the live shows. I liked the live element to TV and I think that’s why I like radio for the same reason.

“Although, the danger is you end up talking rubbish sometimes.”

Tapping “Kat Shoob” into Goggle, a dozen blonde-haired, scantily-clad images emerge from a time when she was still finding her own style as a presenter. However, they do not represent who she is today.

She explains: “I was young and looking back I didn’t really know what I had to be. I remember being at a Maxim photoshoot and not knowing whether to play the ‘sexy presenter’ or not.

“I don’t think that I would do anything like that now because it is not really me, but I was young and I think you’re just finding out who you are.

“That’s another reason I liked radio, because it is somewhere which isn’t based on looks.”

Kat’s first break into radio came from a surprising route. She had impressed the radio presenter Bam Bam on a podcast interview he made after he was sacked from Kiss 100. When he landed a show on Capital Radio, he recommended Kat.

She says: “We got on really well and when he got a job on Capital and needed a female host the station approached me.

“I think it did come naturally to me and I always seemed to be the mother in the show, where they’d all be acting like children. I would have to tell them to calm down.

“Also, I don’t take any rubbish and I had been used to pacifying people as an agent. Now if there’s a problem I am usually sent in. They think, if I could handle Bam Bam, I could handle anyone.”

In her new role, Kat gets the opportunity to interview the music industry A-listers. She says: “I have interviewed Lady Gaga a few times and she is really sweet.

“It is strange, because it is usually the people who you expect not to like end up being really nice.

“When Robbie Williams came in for an interview the second time, he remembered exactly what shoes I had worn the first time round and what Rich had been wearing. He was very observant.”

The talented presenter loves her job in radio, but doesn’t rule out a switch to daytime TV.

She says: “A career in radio came as a surprise and I am really lucky to have the job.

“In TV, there aren’t many presenting jobs and they usually go to people like Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton.

“I have been compared to Claudia Winkleman in my presenting style, and Alexa Chung. I wouldn’t mind either of their jobs one day.”

So it’s a case of watch this space for the multi-talented presenter.

The Big Top 40 show broadcasts live every Sunday between 4pm and 7pm. For more information, visit www.thebigtop40.com