Danielle de Niese and Loyd Grossman

Richard Coles and Bridgitte Tetteh are joined by Danielle de Niese who became the youngest ever winner of the Australian TV programme Young Talent Time at the age of 9. Her family relocated to Los Angeles, where Danielle made her professional operatic debut at the age of 15 with the Los Angeles Opera. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera at 19 and now performs around the world. She will host the TV coverage of the Proms 2020 later this summer.

Loyd Grossman claims he hasn’t had a career, he’s got a CV. It’s an extensive one; he was the presenter of TV programmes Through the Keyhole and the original MasterChef, he has been a punk guitarist, a journalist, a food critic and launched his own successful food line. And he is now a historian, having published a book about American artist Benjamin West in 2015 and now one on the Italian sculptor Bernini.

Sally Coulthard was a busy TV producer in London until she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue syndrome in her late 20s. She was forced to move back home to Yorkshire where she fell in love with rural life. Sally, who has her own flock of sheep, has now published a book on how the woolly creatures have shaped the world.

Chris Steel was a bouncer in Blackpool when he returned to school to get his GCSEs. Unexpectedly, he fell in love with learning. Chris is about to embark on a PhD in cancer cell biology at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

And ballet dancer Deborah Bull shares her Inheritance Tracks.

Producer: Laura Northedge Editor: Richard Hooper