As the face of Five's motor show Fifth Gear, did your feet hit the pedals as soon as you could walk?

From the age of 3 I was driving tractors on my father's farm, sitting on his knee, holding the wheel. So for me it was quite a natural thing, and when I was 12 I started competing.

Family full of petrolheads, then?

My mother is not a particularly brilliant driver, but my younger brother races.

Ever come across men who don't think women should be on a racetrack?

No, because I've always let my driving do the talking. When they see me burning rubber and doing doughnuts and stuff like that, it shuts anyone up.

Are you competitive?

Yes. Even playing cards, I need to win. It's pathetic. If you're a woman, and you race, you have to have that competitive element that makes you push, push, push.

Bad loser, then?

Mmm ... I think I'm a gracious loser.

Being on telly, do you ever feel any pressure to look a certain way?

As a woman, yes. For example, if I was the size of Eamonn Holmes I don't think I'd get much work, but he does. There's more pressure for women.

Have you changed yourself to fit into a man's world?

No because I'm happy with my femininity, even though I am in a man's world, work-wise. I think I have found the right balance so I don't feel that I need to bloke it up, or to wear frilly dresses.

Are you 100 per cent body-confident?

I'd say I was curvaceous. I've definitely got child-bearing hips. But I've always been around a size 10 or 12.

Bit of a gym bunny?

I do have a fitness trainer who is amazing and I try to see her twice a week for an hour. I call her “gym bitch”.

Keep a check on what you eat?

Yes. I rarely eat chocolate or cream buns or anything like that. I love spinach and broccoli and anything that's green. As you get older you start understanding that it really is what you put into your body that you get out of it.

Favourite tipple?

Champagne, which is good because it's expensive so it means that I don't have it all the time. So it's self-regulating really.

Complement the champers with a ciggy?

Nope. Bubbly is pretty much my only vice.

Would you ever go under the knife?

I would seriously, seriously consider it, but the bottom line is no because I just don't want to mess with what I've got. I've been given the way I look and if I did have some surgery, what would that look like ten years down the line? I'll just grow old gracefully.

Are you a fan of alternative healing?

All I really know is conventional stuff. But I do think that somewhere in the world, whether it is under the sea or wherever, there's got to be nature's way of curing things. We just haven't found them all yet.

Believe in a higher power?

I'd like to think that there is something else so that when I pop my clogs I'm going to have some jolly party in the sky for the rest of my spiritual days, with all my spiritual friends.

Live your life by any particular rules?

I'm guided by morals, which people could interpret as religious values or not. But they're just decent morals - try to be nice to people, honest and fair.

Is there a man in your life?

My husband of three months [the former Fifth Gear producer and Top Gear studio presenter Phil Churchward. We just got back from our honeymoon in Mauritius. Honeymoons are the best because it's you and nobody else, so it's just lovely.

How do you relax?

I do quite a lot of reading. I've just finished all the James Bond books.

Any mechanisms to help you cope with stress?

My best mechanism is to plan things, particularly regarding work. So stress comes only when something or somebody hasn't planned something properly.

Ever get jittery on camera?

With Fifth Gear I don't get any nerves because being in a car is my first home. But if I've got a big awards ceremony, there are always nerves, which is great because it focuses you. Being out of your comfort zone is quite thrilling sometimes.

What makes you happy?

My husband!

And if you could change one thing, what would it be?

That no matter what I ate, I'd still look like Claudia Schiffer.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Toast with strawberry jam. But if you eat too much, you end up looking like a loaf. Oh! Or cheese.

See cars as a lifelong career plan?

Yes, because driving is what drives me. Pardon the pun! I absolutely love to drive, so I can't see myself going far away from that, even though I would like to spread my wings a bit.

Vicki Butler-Henderson presents Fifth Gear, Five, Mondays, 8pm

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