On the sofa with...Jo Whiley

The Radio 2 DJ, 51, is a huge fan of Sky Living crime drama Blindspot. Here she tells Ellen E Jones what she enjoys about the show — and how it could inspire her to get a tattoo…

I’ve got four kids: an eight- year-old, then a 15-, 17- and 24-year-old, plus a husband, and they’re all very opinionated. Nobody can agree what to watch on TV at all, so I really treasure the times when no one else is in the house and I can watch what I like.

We were all arguing so much that we’ve now got Sky absolutely everywhere. We’ve got it so you can watch one programme in one area of the house, then watch a different programme in another room.

During the week, I’ll do the school pick-up and then I come in and we’ll watch quiz shows before I head out to work. Because I’m on air with my Radio 2 show in the evenings, I need to keep up with the shows the whole nation is talking about. I tend to watch a lot of stuff on my iPad on my journey to and from London, so I’ve got no one interrupting me.

Quite often, I get off the train and carry on watching with my headphones on and my big iPad Pro. I’ll be that person walking across Euston, not watching where I’m going, bumping into things. Sometimes the train journey is just too short and the episode hasn’t finished!

I don’t get back home until about 11.30pm and then I’ll sit in bed and I’ll watch something about gardening or property — all those kinds of programmes — before I go to sleep. They’re really calming and I can just drift off and not worry.

There’s absolutely nothing we can all watch together as a family. Even my husband Steve and I never usually want to watch the same programmes — so it was a happy surprise that we both really enjoyed Blindspot. It works for both of us, just because there’s a lot of intrigue and not too much violence, or I wouldn’t be able to watch. Plus the fantasy element of it is my kind of thing.

We’ve just bought a new telly — I’ve resisted having a big, dominating TV in the past, but we bought a massive one and it’s fantastic. That’s what we have been watching Blindspot on and I couldn’t believe the quality of the picture and the sound — it was so good.

Blindspot is very fast-paced and it’s interesting to see what is revealed in each episode. I like guessing what’s going to happen in thrillers. Steve always goes, ‘I know it! I know it!’ and then he’s completely wrong. I’m just interested in the back stories of everybody — that’s always fascinating. You have the plot, but also you want to know what’s going on in the characters’ stories and why they behave the way they do.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Broadchurch is in it. She’s a great character, I like her a lot, although my favourite is probably Jane Doe [Jaimie Alexander] — I think she’s cool. She was obviously chosen because she’s a great actress, but she also wears those tattoos really well. She’s so elegant and the way she uses her body is really impressive.

I did say to myself that this was the year I was going to get a tattoo, but I just cannot work out what it should be. There’s a friend of my daughter who is almost covered in tattoos in such beautiful pinks, turquoises and purples — he actually looks like Jane Doe a bit, he’s got so many. He had a Playboy bunny done recently and I said to my kids, ‘Maybe that’s what I’ll have’ and they just all looked at me and said, ‘Mum! You cannot have a Playboy bunny on your arm!’. If I did have anything I would have some kind of black inking somewhere, I think.

I can also sympathise with Jane Doe’s memory troubles. I wrote a memoir a few years ago and it was really, really difficult to remember things. I actually had to have phone calls and meet up with friends to reminisce and it was really lovely, unearthing memories together. Photographs are incredibly important — and artefacts as well. I have so many drawers of gig tickets and passes and stuff that remind me of events that have happened. I do like collecting things, just to remind me of my life, I suppose.”

Jo Whiley's Screen Grabs

My TV snack “Vodka and lemonade with passion fruit and lime, hummus and sweet potato crisps — that’s the go-to.”

My most annoying TV habit “Getting distracted. I’ll be sitting there and my mind will wander and I’ll think, ‘Oh God, I need to get the washing out.’"

TV habit I find most annoying in others “Pausing with the remote control and analysing things. Pointing no fingers at my husband, but…”

First TV crush “The dad in Little House on The Prairie [Michael Landon]. He was hot, he had really lovely curly hair and twinkly grey eyes.”

Current TV crush “Monty Don from Gardeners’ World. He replied to a tweet of mine the other day about pruning raspberries. I was beside myself with joy!”

I never sit down to watch without… “Pillows. Lots of pillows and a fluffy throw.”

My TV soulmate “I tend to watch with my daughter India, who’s 24 now. She’s my buddy who has similar tastes.”

Screen Style Icon “Claire from Modern Family — I was quite obsessed with the way she looks. That was my nickname for quite a long time. My family was like, ‘She’s sooo you!’”

Blindspot tells the story of Jane Doe who is discovered naked and covered in tattoos in Times Square, with no memory of who she is and how she got there. Teaming up with the FBI, they soon discover each of her tattoos is a crime to solve — leading them closer to uncovering her true identity. Find out more at sky.com