Sara Cox Pictures

Sara Cox, "Coxy" to her friends, was born on December 13th, 1974, in Bolton, Lancashire, England. In spite of coming into the world on Friday the 13th, she seems to have suffered no ill effects. Growing up, she wanted to be "A man, firstly. Then a vet. Then a policewoman." In school, Sara was a straight-A student, but she knew she didn't want to go on being a student, so when she turned 18, she tried her luck as a model.

Early into her modeling career, Sara was already attracting the attention of British television producers; in 1994, for example, she was scouted by the producers of The Girlie Show on Britain's Channel 4. Yet, hosting didn't become a full-time job right away.

It wasn't until 1999 that she made another foray into the field, working a stint on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, which had Sara in the studio every morning at 4:30.

In September 1999, Sara switched to BBC Radio 1. She began as a co-presenter on the Saturday lunchtime show alongside Emma B. At the same time, Sara helped launch The Sunday Surgery, where she tackled listeners' personal problems, along with Dr. Mark Hamilton. In May of the following year, The Sunday Surgery show, and its production team, took home a Sony Gold Radio Award for Public Service.

On March 31st 2000, Sara took over as host of Radio 1's flagship show, The Breakfast Show -- becoming the second woman presenter in the program's history. Airing weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., Sara didn't have to be up quite as early as she did for The Big Breakfast. This show, and other media appearances, from The Big Breakfast, The Girlie Show, Channel 5's entertainment show Exclusive, and shows on MTV, have made Sara a hot commodity in Britain.

And of course, Sara has been keeping up her profile. During the summer of 2000, Sara helped lead Radio 1's Live Music assault of the UK, by being a presenter of One Big Sunday events around the country. In addition, she took her show to Ibiza and Glastonbury and the Radio 1 Love Parade. Likewise, in summer 2001, Sara went to Ibiza and did an even bigger set of One Big Sunday.

Sara has also managed to keep up her modeling to some degree throughout this time. She's made her way into many British magazines since the mid-'90s, including FHM, Maxim, Sky, and Loaded. Sara has also won awards for Best DJ in British polls in Smash Hits and The Sun.