WITH her girl-next-door looks, Nicole Holliday often had Gunners fans’ pulses racing.
The 29-year-old TV presenter from Highbury, North London was a freelance presenter for Arsenal – delivering their Media Player interviews with the Gunners’ talented stars.
14
The stunner was also part of their Facebook Live match day team, warming us up online before the main event kicked off up until 2019
Since her time with the Gunners, she has become a radio presenter for talkSPORT, as well as works on entertainment show Unmuted for Sky Arts.
ARSENAL THROUGH AND THROUGH
A devout Gooner, Holliday is a fanatical fan – regularly cheering on the Arsenal on social media.
She told SunSport how she scored her dream job.
“I had been making some videos on YouTube after Arsenal games, kind of like match reviews, and I think one of the producers came across them and messaged me asking to come in for a meeting,” Nicole revealed.
14
14
14
“It all happened quite quickly and pretty out of the blue. I’d been working as a presenter in entertainment for a couple of years. but hadn’t crossed over into sport yet. The football videos were more of a passion/hobby thing!
“I was so nervous initially because I knew how amazing an opportunity it would be.
“I was born and raised in North London. I come from a family of Gooners, so they were all so excited too.
“The weirdest thing was getting used to sitting next to legends like Nigel Winterburn and eating pizza whilst watching games.”
14
14
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Being a lifelong Arsenal fan, Nicole’s pinch me moment came when she was asked to interview legend Tony Adams.
“He has to be my favourite interview,” she said.
“He was wearing the most incredible suit and was so lovely and funny. I never really get nervous during interviews but it was quite surreal sitting there having a chat with him.
“Jens Lehman is really funny too, he has a lot of stories! All the guys are great to be honest, it’s always a real pleasure interviewing them.
14
14 14
14
“I’ve probably interviewed Rob Holding the most. He is hilarious and great fun to work with.”
CAN I MARRY YOU?
Because of her high-profile job, Nicole is often stopped on the street by Gooners asking for a photo-op. Some even ask for her hand in marriage.
She told us: “I love meeting Arsenal fans out and about. It’s not an everyday occurrence, but I’ve been asked for photos a few times and then we’ll always have a chat about the footie afterwards.
“I’ve always found everyone to be super respectful and sweet. But you do get the odd marriage proposal on Instagram. It’s all very flattering though!”
14
14
RAMSEY MOMENT
No stranger to a blooper, Nicole recalled a moment she embarrassed Arsenal favourite Aaron Ramsey during one particular interview.
“Most of the Arsenal interviews I’ve done are live, so of course you never know what can happen in those scenarios. But sometimes you do have to be careful with your wording.
“I did embarrass Aaron Ramsey once though by showing him an old social media profile that had a picture of him as a teenager with a bit of a dodgy haircut.
“He found it funny though and we ended up having a chat about all his past questionable hairstyle choices.”
14
14
