Sharon Marshall

Sharon says: I'm a scriptwriter for Emmerdale - a job I got after over 20 years of reporting on the soaps. I started as a showbiz journalist, columnist and TV critic for Fleet St before joining This Morning in 2003.

I then trained in scriptwriting and joined the EastEnders writing team in 2011 before moving to Emmerdale last summer.

Books include Tabloid Girl - a novel based on my time as a tabloid journalist - and The Naughty Girl’s Guide to Life - a spoof self help book co-written with Tara Palmer-Tompkinson. I also edited The Power of Positive Drinking by Cleo Rocos and I'm afraid that little book project is why Phil and Holly ended up loving tequila.

I’m best known for: Soaps! Watching them, gossiping about them and writing them. I spend most days in a parallel universe in fictional TV pubs.

The proudest moment of my career is: Telling Denise Robertson I was joining her favourite soap - Emmerdale - is a treasured memory

The first thing I do in the morning is: Wish I'd gone to bed earlier

My favourite breakfast is: Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs

The most famous person in my phonebook is: Barbara Windsor

The actor who would play me in a film about This Morning is: Possibly Corrie's Kate Ford - I often get told we resemble each other. Although she'd play a much younger and thinner me, obviously.

My favourite memory from working on This Morning is: Meeting Morph - a childhood hero. He was very charming and had the smallest of riders - just a bit of cling film.

If I wasn’t featuring on This Morning, I’d be: Writing

You’d be surprised to learn that: I've ghosted books and columns for several celebrities but as they like to pretend they wrote them themselves, I can't tell you who!

The one thing I couldn’t live without is: My telly