THEY say landing your dream job in the media is a matter of getting your foot in the door.

And Kate McIntyre found an ingenious way to do just that after graduating from Nottingham University.

The former Bridgewater High School student decided to take a year off to explore South America but wanted to make some TV contacts before she set off.

So she found the name and address of 10 TV show producers and got creative.

Kate, who grew up in Stockton Heath and Appleton, said: “I sent them all a card which said ‘cheeky’ on the front and I wrote a little ditty which basically said ‘just graduated, want to work on TV but you can’t have me yet – I’m going travelling’.

“Then in South America I sent them a postcard from each country I visited. So over a year they had 10 postcards and when I got back I sent them all a card saying if they were interested in finding out more about me then to give me a call.”

It worked.

Seven out of 10 TV bosses got in touch and from that Kate got a job on Wish You Were Here.

The 41-year-old started out as a runner, which mostly involved making tea and delivering tapes.

But Kate was so determined to be a presenter that she made a little showreel promoting Stockton Heath as a tourist destination with the help of her parents Paul and Carole.

Her mum and dad still live in the village and run the gift shop Etc in London Road while Kate runs the store’s sister branch in Islington.

Kate, who grew up in Grappenhall Road, Stockton Heath, and later lived in Highwood Road in Appleton, added: “My dad was on the camera and my mum was holding the radio for background music. It was all very high tech!”

Her big opportunity came when Wish You Were Here were doing a feature on weekend breaks to Paris. Julian Clary was supposed to be doing it but dropped out the day before.

After a day of begging, Kate was given the assignment.

Kate said: “I had to put my money where my mouth was because I’d not presented properly before and I found myself in Paris meeting Judith Chalmers.

“I was a wet behind the ears presenter, thinking: ‘This is make or break time’.”

But the show was a success and she went on to get work presenting children’s shows like The Core and Milkshake!

Other opportunities then begun to spring up from ITV’s Countrywise to BBC’s DIY SOS.

Kate added: “It was a good four years before I got to do any presenting and I had to put the hard work in.

“But it was really good to start from the bottom that way because I sat in on edits and I went out with directors so you learn how TV works and how to put it together which ultimately makes you a better presenter.

“You’ve got to really want it.

You’ve got to be really tenacious and stick with it as the rejections can be relentless sometimes.”

More recently Kate has rumbled uninsured drivers, flytippers and conmen selling fake designer goods in MacIntyres Big Sting and has finished a stint confronting criminals on Police 5.

Does she get nervous?

Kate, who is appearing on The Wright Stuff as a panellist on Channel 5 this week, said: “Your heart is going like the clappers and your adrenalin is going but the buzz of it carries you through.

“I’m quite feisty and quick witted and live TV makes you think on your feet naturally. I find it challenging but I enjoy it.”

Kate also became the face of the ‘Two Six’ programme for The Royal Navy when she spent time with soldiers bound for, and returning from, Afghanistan.

“It’s been fantastic,” she added.

“I’ve done everything from meeting new recruits and training up with them to doing interviews about defence cuts.

“So it was really varied and quite humbling as well at times because I was meeting guys who had come back and had lost limbs.

“I spent time at some of the rehabilitation centres and saw what they do to get themselves back on track which is incredibly inspiring.”

Kate told Weekend she gets back to Warrington whenever she can and was here last week to meet her new niece, Mia.

It is her brother Andrew and his wife Kate’s second baby after Eva, aged two.