Turn off the alarm and imagine you’re in Bali

The opening scene of Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s The Morning Show has the dreaded sound of the morning alarm going off in the anchors’ houses at some terrifying hour of the night.

As they drag themselves out of bed and through the daily toil of getting to work, putting on the makeup, getting briefed, you realise what a miracle the bright, sparkly personalities warming up your TV screen really represent. And then they go home and do it all again the next day.

This was Leigh-Anne Williams' life for the best part of a decade at Espresso. She tells me she can’t bring herself to watch The Morning Show — too close to home.

“It was madness. I think nothing prepares you for live TV. Nothing prepares you for morning TV. Nothing prepares you for the hours. You never get used to waking up at 3am every morning.  But it was the best thing too. The friendships that you make, the confidence that you gain, the skills that you learn ...  something that I would never change.”

But she stopped just before the pandemic hit. “During that time I lost so many friendships; I missed out on so many beautiful moments like weddings, funerals, that was hard. But it's so fascinating. I've been away from the show for almost three years. And I walk in the street and people will be like, 'Leigh-AnneWilliams!' Like my whole name.

I remember the first week: I felt like I had been knocked over by a train. Every part of my body was in pain from being on my feet. I thought, is my body rejecting this industry?

—  Leigh-Anne Williams

“You became a friend to so many people. You became like a family member — people woke up to you they got to know you, while they were getting ready for school you were in their home and they chose to watch you. And I think that's the most beautiful part of the journey — to know that you meant so much to people. That's really special. It's just to know that you were part of people's most intimate time of the morning. You were there in the midst of all that.”

We are meeting in the midst of her new life, which is still pretty hectic — but now she has less dramatic wake-up calls.

She does a daily show on Good Hope FM called Mornings with Leigh-Anne, with an all-female team and great ratings, which she is very proud of — as she is of her new baby — and a food business she opened with three friends last month, including Ben Ungermann of MasterChef Australia fame.

It’s an Indonesian kitchen at Mojo Market in Sea Point called HONG (House of Nasi Goreng). She introduces me to Ben who has roots in Bali and saw a gap in the market for what is essentially very fragrant, spicy comfort Indonesian street food.

He presents us with great big tubs of rice topped with pork and prawns. Everything in the business is fresh, eco-friendly and biodegradable.

Leigh-Anne tells me she was inspired by Starbucks's 80% recycled Nespresso capsules and that everything you produce needs to be true to your values. 

Being on the other side of the food industry was intense.

“I remember the first week: I felt like I had been knocked over by a train. Every part of my body was in pain from being on my feet. I thought, is my body rejecting this industry?”

But I get the impression that this daughter of a single mother, whose  father walked out to get milk one day and never came back, is  a driven force of bountiful energy. That explains her ability to put her cheeriest foot forward. Every day. Even when it’s really hard, which the Covid time certainly was.

“I was really lucky to have a radio job because everything else dried up. But you can start a new chapter, you can start a new job. You can, you know, leave your job, and do something else. I just would love to be an inspiration to women out there.”