When Diane Knox was at Culloden Academy, she never imagined that one day she would be interviewing some of the most famous people in the world.
But the stars aligned for the Inverness native, affectionately known as ‘Knoxy’, who took the airwaves by storm across Scotland.
From breaking the hearts of millions of fans when she was asked out live on air by One Direction’s Niall Horan to chewing the fat with Coldplay’s Chris Martin, there was never a dull moment when Diane was on the radio decks.
Fast forward to today and the 41-year-old is living her best life across the pond in Jacksonville, Florida, where she’s embracing motherhood with her new career as a ‘Selling Sunset’ style realtor – a role she says is not as glamorous as the hit Netflix property show!
Diane will never forget her roots…
Laughing as she apologises for her ‘tired face’ when she appears on screen for our video call, it’s easy to see why Diane was such a huge hit with both listeners and celebrities as she instantly makes you feel like you’re catching up with a good friend.
“Right now I’m making my husband watch all the British shows on Britbox like Coronation Street and Hollyoaks,” laughs Diane.
“Funnily enough, we’re also watching The Rig which stars Martin Compston who I’ve known for years.
“So I was telling my husband Garrett all about Aberdeen and the oil industry.”
‘I loved growing up in Inverness’
Life for Diane began over 4,000 miles from the Sunshine State in the chillier climes of Westhill in Inverness where she enjoyed a happy childhood with her parents Val and Mike Knox and brother Russell, who is a Scottish professional golfer.
“I look back on my childhood in Inverness with the fondest memories,” says Diane.
“My parents did everything to make sure we had an amazing life growing up.
“My mum worked as a speech therapist which I always think is quite funny given my radio career and my dad, who is from San Diego, started up an electronics company.
“He would rent out video games, fruit machines, pool tables and juke boxes to pubs and hotels around Scotland.
“He sold it and retired when he turned 50 which was always his goal and not long after my parents moved to Jacksonsville.”
Work experience at the Press and Journal…
Reflecting on her school days, Diane says there were some early signs indicating her future career path.
“I wasn’t overconfident by any means but I had a big personality like my dad,” she says.
“I always say that I was the ugly duckling as I wasn’t a super pretty, popular girl growing up, but I used to always say ‘Diane Knox’, my name sounds like it’s going to be famous one day.”
Diane’s first step into the media world came in high school when she did work experience at the Inverness Courier and the Press and Journal.
“I always said I wanted to be a journalist but when I was really young, I used to record little radio shows on a little tape recorder,” laughs Diane.
First steps into the media world…
Against the advice of her school guidance teacher, who encouraged her to pursue a career in law rather than media, Diane left school and studied media and communications at Glasgow Caledonian University.
After university, she moved back to Inverness where she landed an intern job at Moray Firth Radio (MFR).
“I remember going for the job and the boss at the time saying to me ‘you on paper are the most overqualified person but can you do it?’
“Are you going to be able to be behind a microphone and talk?”
The answer was a resounding yes as Diane quickly made a name for herself on the airwaves and eventually went onto win the UK radio presenter of the year.
Living her best showbiz life…
This led to her being headhunted for Clyde 1 in Glasgow where, after a rocky start, she flourished.
“I remember feeling like a fish out of water and that I’d bitten off way more than I could chew,” says Diane.
“For the first time I didn’t feel confident in my ability to do my job.
“I remember talking to my old boss and he told me to just be myself.”
Finding her stride, Diane ended up loving her experience at Clyde 1.
“I loved it and I look back on those days as the transformative years of my life,” she says.
“I got to lead the showbiz life of being a radio presenter.
“I look back now and ask myself ‘did that actually happen’.”
Asked out by One Direction’s Niall Horan…
During that ‘amazing’ period of her life, Diane says she constantly had to pinch herself while she was interviewing some of the world’s most famous faces.
“I remember when One Direction were coming into the radio studio and it was at the start of their career, it was maybe a year or so after The X Factor, but they already had an insane fan base from day one,” says Diane.
“It was the biggest secret as we knew that if it got out that they were coming in, it was going to be insane.
“I was interviewing Niall Horan live on air and he asked me out on the radio.
“I was mortified and embarrassed as he was so young but he had an incredible amount of confidence, it was so funny.”
Getting the inside scoop from Robbie Williams…
Diane will also never forget interviewing Coldplay’s Chris Martin at Hampden Park.
“He was so lovely and super chatty,” says Diane.
“Nothing was off limits, he talked about absolutely everything.”
Diane’s inner teenager was also screaming when she met Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.
“It was at the time when there was talk of them getting back together as Take That and it had been hammered into me that I wasn’t allowed to ask about it,” says Diane.
“But Robbie brought it up in the interview and I was like ‘what do I do’ but I just went with it.
“It was a pretty good scoop.”
From Inverness to Florida…
In 2016, Diane hung up her headphones and moved to Jacksonsville, Florida, where her parents and brother were already living.
After working for a golf media company presenting the likes of the PGA Tour and the Ryder Cup, life changed forever for Diane when she met her now husband Garrett Balas.
“How we met is a funny story as I lived in an apartment complex by the beach and he lived directly below me but I never met him for 11 and a half months,” says Diane.
‘Having Greyson was the best day of my life’
Love blossomed and the couple tied the knot in 2021.
“We got married without telling anyone apart from my mum, my dad and my brother,” says Diane.
“We found this walk in wedding chapel in the mall, it was so tacky but it was the most emotional day, I cried so much.
“It was an ex-Navy chaplain who married us and the words were amazing.
“Afterwards we enjoyed cheeseburgers and margaritas.”
Further joy was to come when Diane fell pregnant with their son Greyson, who is now two.
“It brings to my eyes as him being born was the greatest day of my life,” says Diane.
Real-life Selling Sunset…
Diane now works in real estate but is keen to set the record straight that it’s nothing like the Netflix show Selling Sunset.
“It’s definitely not as glamorous as Selling Sunset,” laughs Diane.
“I do love it though as there’s a lot of really nice houses in Jacksonville especially in the beach area.
“I have a buyer right now who wants to see a house which is on the market for £3.3 million.”
Content with life…
Happier than ever, Diane feels grateful for where she is in her life.
“This has been the most amazing time of my life,” says Diane.
“I knew I was going to love being a mother but I love it more than I ever could’ve imagined.
“It has changed every part of me for the better, he’s my everything.”
Conversation