Ed Chamberlin: 'Des Lynam is my ultimate TV hero - he could do anything'

Over the course of the next few weeks we will bring you a series of app-exclusive Q&As with star racing broadcasters. First up: ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlin

How did you get into TV?

I got into TV by complete accident. I was the editor of a sports betting magazine called Sports Advisor. To promote it, because spread betting was a big part of our audience, I used to go to the city every Friday morning to appear on Bloomberg television. The show was called Spread Your Bets and I was lucky enough one of the Sky bosses was watching from a hotel in the Middle East and got me on to Sky off the back of that.

Who were your TV heroes?

Des Lynam is my ultimate TV hero. He was a man who could present any sport, a doyen of TV presenters. Racing wasn't his sport yet he was the greatest Grand National presenter there has ever been. Mick Channon would be my sporting hero as he combined the two loves of my life outside of my family, Southampton Football Club and horseracing.

What's your favourite meeting?

The best thing about my job is every meeting is different. There are so many things I like. The Grand National is the biggest day I do, the Derby is another, Cheltenham is Cheltenham. I love going to Glorious Goodwood because it has got the setting, the weather and the racing – it's got the lot. It's a brutally difficult question for me to answer!

What's the most challenging meeting?

Presenting outside anywhere where the weather is terrible. It makes it difficult with your notes, trying to hold an umbrella and a microphone and the wind blowing things everywhere. The hardest one I've ever done was our first show in a monsoon at Cheltenham. We'd made a promise to take the viewer to the heart of the action and sometimes that's a rod for our own back!

What's the funniest thing you've seen on a racecourse?

Oli Bell meeting Her Majesty the Queen after Big Orange's Gold Cup win was extremely funny as she asked who the lunatic running on to the racecourse was [it was him]. Luke Harvey has also been locked out of his hotel room on the racecourse, mistaking the door for the bathroom door, which was quite amusing. There's lots that goes wrong with the ITV team invariably.

Ed Chamberlin: "With all the the chaos going on around you, as the presenter, the main anchor, you just have to remain calm"Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

What's the key to doing your job well?

Being calm. Even if your legs are going a hundred miles an hour behind the desk you have to be calm from the waist upwards. Remembering it's sport and it's not life or death, it's entertainment. With all the instructions in your ear and the chaos going on around you, as the presenter, the main anchor, you just have to remain calm. I'm sure people at home can imagine panic situations, be it after a Grand National or a big race at Cheltenham, but if you panic then chaos will ensue. People don't realise you have three people talking in your ear at the same time.

What was your most embarrassing moment on TV?

I read the classified football results on Gillette Soccer Saturday one time and I called Wrexham rectum; that wasn't great. We've had the giggles a few times on ITV. Spoof names always give us the giggles, when you get an email from Ivor Windybum, and I've fallen for pranks a number of times. I am a bit of a giggler. I remember the Wood Ditton when one of the horses had it all on display, Francesca blushed and we all laughed. Jason Weaver is an absolute schoolboy – he's a menace for making us laugh.

Which horse are you most looking forward to running again?

I'll go with Galopin Des Champs. He's a spectacular jumper and it's going to be fascinating to see him going for the Gold Cup as I think he's got the speed for two miles. Willie Mullins has so many exciting horses to come out. How can you not be excited by Facile Vega? He looks like a monster and his trainer talks about him unlike any other horse I've known.

Who wins the King George?

Let's go a bit leftfield. They're all beatable at the front of the market for me. Let's go for Noble Yeats, the Grand National winner. He's just getting better and better and I was really impressed with him the other day. We don't know how good he actually might be. He's won since Aintree and I think there's a stack of improvement to come. He's 33-1 in a race that could fall apart.

Read our exclusive trainer Q&As:

Milton Harris: 'I've been backing my horses at prices I couldn't believe' 

Kim Bailey: 'You can ask my jockey David Bass why the win was so satisfying' 

Fergal O'Brien: 'The only person who is a worse tipster than a trainer is a jockey' 

David Pipe: 'She asked if I was David Pipe - and if I could sign one of her boobs' 

Paul Nicholls: 'I felt my head was on the chopping block - he had to win'