Selected by none other than Bridal Buyer’s editor, Anna-Marie Desouza, Sandi Toksvig is our Wonder Woman this Wednesday. Whist Sandi is best known for her career in writing, acting, radio and television producing and presenting, today we are also celebrating Sandi’s achievements in political activism.

Catch our very first Wonder Woman - journalist, business brain, football fanatic and television personality Karren Brady here.

Sandi has written more than twenty non-fiction and fiction books for adults and children. In October 2008, she published Girls Are Best, a history book for girls. She also writes regular columns for Good Housekeeping, the Sunday Telegraph and The Lady. She’s definitely our kind of woman!

Alongside writing, Sandi has appeared extensively on the television and radio. As a Cambridge University alumni herself, Sandi took over from fellow Cambridge ex-student, Stephen Fry, as host of the popular television quiz show, QI. In 2017, Sandi’s impressive career in television extended to co-presenting of The Great British Bake Off. Our Wonder Woman also appeared on the popular show Call the Midwife and was a guest on Desert Island Disks.

Sandi’s extensive in the creative industries continues into playwriting. Whilst Sandi will mostly present a comedic stance in her written work, when commissioned to write on any topic of her choice, she wrote her informative play - Bully Boy - which discusses post-traumatic stress among British servicemen.

Alongside her impressive career in the media, Sandi has established ground-breaking achievements within the political and activism sectors. Sandi is the current president of Women of the Year Lunch, an annual charity lunch which celebrates 450 handpicked women for their contribution to society. The charity was founded at a time when recognising women’s achievements was unheard of, and as the now president, Sandi represents everything the lunch was initially founded for.

Our Wonder Woman is also a co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party which campaigns for gender equality in every aspect of working and family life. The Women’s Equality Party party call for equal pay, equal opportunity and changes in the educational system to allow for this.

Sandi’s background of standing up to prejudice also continues in her personal life. In the current climate, since the first Weinstein allegations, and alongside the eruption of the #Me Too Twitter campaign, women are talking more confidently about their experiences of sexual assault. Alongside all of these incredible women, we are celebrating Sandi for her brave actions in 2012. In the wake of the Jimmy Savile allegations, and claims that the BBC tolerated sexual harassment throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Sandi said she was groped by a “famous individual” on air in the 1980s. Ms Toksvig went on to claim that the allegations against the BBC “did not surprise me at all”. Sandi’s commitment to speaking out against prejudice extends into her party’s ideology as Woman’s Equality also strive for equal treatment of all women in the media.

5 Interesting Facts About Sandi:

• Sandi is the adoptive mother of three children who were carried by her then-partner, Peta Stewart. Sandi was reported in The Times, saying: “I wouldn’t care if they came from Tesco. I don’t care about the blood thing. They call me Mummy and I earned it. We love each other. You can’t do better than that”.
• Sandi explains the origins of her ‘posh’ voice as being a result of copying Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter, after she was disliked at boarding school for her American accent.
• Sandi became a British citizen in 2013.
• She lives on a houseboat in Wandsworth with her wife Debbie Toksvig.
• Sandi has a lifetime fear of children’s television puppet Basil Brush.

Having been recognised for her light-hearted comedic personality, alongside her creative work in writing novels, non-fiction and playwright and columns, and her work in radio and TV, Sandi still manages to be a mother, wife and political activist. Here at Bridal Buyer, we are incredibly inspired by Sandi’s achievements and hope that her story has inspired you too.

Read about our previous Wonder Woman - bridal shop owner and bridal columnist Abi Neill here.