An East Lancashire woman has landed her dream job and will be presenting segments for this year’s international dog show Crufts.
Chloe Fuller, 24, from Haslingden, has loved Crufts since she was a child and has always wanted to take on a presenting role for the televised show.
She said: “I cried when I received the news as achieving these goals means so much to me.
“It’s so surreal and a real ‘pinch me’ moment.”
Chloe said she watches the show every year and has always had a fondness for dogs.
She said: “This is something I have dreamed about for as long as I can remember. I have watched Crufts ever since I was a child and I have always been very interested dogs.
“I believe we don’t use dogs enough. We have them as pets but there are so many ways they enhance our lives and vice versa. I think Crufts is a celebration of this.”
Chloe, who has two support dogs called Ted and Cinna, suffers from a genetic connective tissue disease called Ehlers Danlos syndrome, dysautonomia which affects her heart, as well as intestinal dysmotility.
In 2018 she finally got to visit the show for the first time after falling seriously ill.
She said: “As a kid I could never afford to go. In 2018 I was really sick and was in hospital for a few months. When I was discharged we took on a ‘life’s too short’ attitude and mum said we would go.
“In 2019 I visited for the first time and it was a proper childhood dream realised.”
While there she met Crufts presenter Clare Balding, who interviewed her and encouraged her to consider a presenting career.
Chloé said: “She told me I should consider going into the presenting and television side of the industry. This really gave me hope.
“I messaged her and told her the news when I found out and she thought it was amazing.
“It’s been amazing to meet these people on television that I have idolised to have this belief in me.”
Chloe, who was recently announced as a permanent cast member of Channel 4 show Steph’s Packed Lunch, will be filming several segments for Crufts.
In one she will be interviewing Clare for Steph’s Packed Lunch.
Chloe said: “We’ve come full circle. This all started with me meeting Clare and her interviewing me - now I will be the one interviewing her for the show I work on.”
Chloe is also set to discuss pet nutrition with a vet, interview fellow Crufts presenter Sophie Morgan and film a segment about how her assistance dogs changed her life.
“It’s nice to be chosen for my love and knowledge of dogs and not for my disability,” said Chloe.
“Even when I do talk about my disability and assistance dogs the narrative will be about empowerment.
“I have to commend Channel 4 and have to say it goes above and beyond for people with disabilities without the issue of tokenism.
“I am so excited about what I am doing at Crufts. I want to continue this relationship with Crufts in the coming years and hope I can come back in the years to come.”
Crufts 2023 is on from today (Thursday) until Sunday at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
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