Fast confession – Zorka Hejdová: I had a guardian angel watching over me

Zory, what’s new?

A few things, but I’m not allowed to talk about them yet.

So you’re pregnant!

No, not yet. It’s about work matters. There will be a few changes for me in March.

I am beginning to feel like I can see and hear you everywhere. There’s Snídaně s Novou, then I hear you on the radio and then I pick up a magazine and you are smiling at me from the cover. You are everywhere lately.

A lot of people think that. Because I do get up in the morning, go to the television studio, then straight to the radio studio and then I moderate events in the evening. I basically work all the time and anyone who manages to observe me throughout the day, must think I’m mad. But it’s not as bad as it looks.

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How long have you been on the Snídaní show?

Gosh, it’s been nine years. Since I was nineteen. I’ll soon be another Pavel Svoboda, but in a skirt. The fact that I’m on it with Míra means I also enjoy it a lot. Even now. And I have been working with the radio for a total of ten years. But presenters primarily earn a living from all the related activities, which is why I am always moderating press conferences, events and such. It is very varied.

You’re nearly like Leoš Mareš, he was also everywhere at one time.

I think I’m nowhere near being Leoš, although it is true that I have tried this type of schedule a couple times. But I am not someone who enjoys this. Sometimes I take on so much that I’m on the brink of collapse, but you can’t pull the handbrake when you arrange things in advance like this. But you know what, it comes in waves and you just have to work to the bone sometimes. That was my life in December last year. The end of the year is always chaotic. But then there is a little peace and quite for a while.

Why do I feel that you are practically the face of some diet and sports posters?

That started three years ago when I started training with Hanka Mašlíková and her André. We really worked hard...and because I keep on training and running, I have retained this image.

But why? You don’t need it, you’re not fat or anything.

It’s about how you feel. I was thin, but I wanted to tone my body and get fit, I was extremely unfit. I started to train with them. We trained three times a week with very quick results. And then the media caught on and started to call me a sports enthusiast, which I didn’t mind at all. It actually motivated me. This lasted for quite some time, about two years ....then I took a break and now I am back to training, this time with excellent trainer JAkub Kraus.

And I’ve also teamed up with Adidas and become their ambassador, because I run. So that is how I came to do this.

But you don’t diet?

No I don’t. I’ve never needed to lose a lot of weight. But you know how it is, three kilos up, three kilos down. I do experience that. So I always say to myself, I’ll start dieting tomorrow. Míra always laughs at me, because I only last until the afternoon, then I start craving cake and have to have some. I simply can’t resist my cravings. So I basically try to eat healthily all the time, try not to overeat or eat junk food. That is all I need along with some physical activity. I have recently been eating Vitalbox for lunch and dinner, which is a boxed meal system, and I think it’s excellent. Especially when I’m in the radio and don’t have time to go out to lunch, I have a meal ready and it’s fantastic, healthy and I just have to heat it up.

I’ve noticed that you’re an Instagram queen. A lot of people follow you.

I have 160 thousand people following me. That’s a lot, but on the other hand there are a lot of people here who have a lot of people following them. For example Leoš has 400 thousand. It’s fantastic and I enjoy it a lot. I also have a good background story to go with it. I opened an Instagram account eight years ago, I started it when not many people knew about it here, but it was gaining popularity in the rest of the world. I read somewhere that it was an application for modifying photos. So I used it to modify photos, but I never shared them, because no one knew about it here. Then Instagram became popular here and boom, mania, so I thought that was funny. Today Instagram is all the rave, in my opinion it has wiped out Facebook and everyone is all about Instagram. But because I have always had fun with photographs and with the Instagram concept, it is my second nature to function in Instagram.

Do you get a lot of job offers because you have a big fan base?

Yes I do. I am contacted by plenty of interesting clients and it's a new form of collaboration. I have even had clients hire me to moderate and also want me to share on the social networks in relation to the job.

Have you ever wanted to be a youtuber?

No I haven’t. Lots of people have asked me why I’m not a youtuber, when I am used to filming something all the time....I just think taking a camera and filming myself is stupid, I don’t feel comfortable doing that. It’s not my thing. I am used to speaking in front of the camera, but I don’t really feel like filming myself and showing people what I am doing, what my day is like.....I don’t even know what I would film. I put everything interesting on Instagram....and I also truly believe that I am too old for it. If I was ten years younger, then maybe I could interact and enjoy it, but now.....

I have to say that I don’t understand youtubering at all.

Neither do I. I think that we are not actually capable of understanding, maybe if we were sixteen and were looking for someone to look up to....but I think its outside our age group now.

Zorka, you’ve been married for five years, you’ve been living peacefully in Plzeň, when will the baby cravings hit you?

I’m still not worried. I think I have a slightly different time schedule. When Míra and I married I had just turned twenty three and everyone has been asking me about a baby since then, even though it’s not that usual to have a baby this early nowadays. I have been listening to this sort of question since then and I am probably immune to it all now. It’s not as if we haven’t discussed this with Míra, of course we have, we want a family, but it’s certainly not something on the agenda now, now is not the time.....definitely not.

When I asked you about a baby two years ago....

…I am sure I told you in two years time, didn’t I? I always say that, in two years time. (laugher)

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No… you said you wanted to travel, that you wanted to visit New York…

We’ve been there, and everywhere else. (laughter)

I understand that your friends, reporters, etc. ask you about this, but what about your parents? They have to be impatient.....

My parents occasionally have a dig at me, but it’s mostly fun. Neither my parents nor my mother-in-law are people who would ask me every other day when they can expect grandchildren, it’s also probably because Míra and I both have older sisters – Míra has two and I have one. They all have children, so our grandmothers already have their work cut out for them.....we are waiting for their workload to decrease and then we will have children. (laughter).

So, you got a dog… Barney?

Yup, Barney. He has a hashtag From the life of Barney Boo.

I read somewhere that he is a very expensive dog. How on earth did you come to that conclusion?

Well look … Instagram. I live a lot of my life on it and I saw a lot of photos of these dogs on there. So I started to get interested in this breed and by chance I also started to think about getting a dog. My friend told me she knew a lady who breeds them. Not only did we like the breed’s appearance, but their temperament, they are teddy bears, social and friendly dogs, also meets our requirements. We went to visit her to see the dogs and decide. But when we arrived everything was absolutely clear. I told myself I wouldn’t buy myself an expensive handbag, but I would invest into a dog.

This breed costs between 50 and 70 thousand crowns. We paid a little less, because we don’t intend to show him. We wanted a pet, I don’t like dog shows. So he was a little cheaper. But he is a dog like any other, just a little more expensive. (laughter)

I understand he is a member of the family…

Of course. It’s interesting how things develop. I have never had a dog before. I didn’t know what sort of relationship people have with their dogs. I do now. Which is why I would probably take a dog from a shelter now. Before, I simply found a nice dog, now I think a little differently. I think about how the dog shelters treat dogs. We are actually thinking up various systems for walking dogs from the shelter in Plzeň...hopefully it will work out.

Another article about puppy farms was recently published....

I can’t even read things like that. It’s terrible what people are capable of doing to animals. And when you have a dog, things like that affect you even more. I really can’t read articles about this or see the pictures. It makes me very emotional.

Lets talk about something else. Travel.

Míra and I love travelling. We wanted to see the States, I wanted to see New York. In the end we didn't do our own thing, but took some advice. We ordered a tailor made holiday from the USA na míru agency. These are guys who have travelled the length and breadth of America, Hawaii (we went there last year) and other places. They have various tricks and planned our route for us to last the allocated time, so we managed to see as much as possible, and so it was logistically possible. It was fantastic....I would do it again at the drop of a hat.

But that’s not a travel agency.

It actually is, but a little more personal. They arrange whatever you want. They create an individual travel schedule for you. They also arranged our tickets and accommodation, because we were very short of time and couldn’t do it ourselves. But I most appreciated their services when I drove into an elk in Arizona. When something like that happens you are completely f....., in a situation after surviving your own death. Our hire car was completely totalled, we didn’t really know where we were or how to get out of there. They made all the telephone calls for us and arranged all the official matters so we could continue our journey as soon as possible.

Wow… how could you run an elk over?

Well, imagine you’re driving along the motorway in Arizona when its completely dark, in the fog. There are no crash barriers on the motorway. The animals just walk all over the road. I was driving at about a hundred kilometres an hour and an elk just appeared out of the fog....there was no way to brake in time. I simply crashed right into it. It died immediately, it was an awful experience. We were all right thank God, just shocked and a little scratched from the windscreen, which broke over us.

The local sheriff told us some terrible stories. This apparently happens quite often there, he said we had a guardian angel watching over us. Either the crash kills you immediately, or the animal often falls into the car through the windscreen and there are several tragic scenarios that can happen.

We only drove in the daylight after this experience. It would not wish it on my worst enemy.

OK, are you planning another journey?

We will certainly plan a longer trip. But right now I will be travelling to Italy, I was there last year too – I am the ambassador of the Calzedonia brand, so I will travel to Verona to see their next show. The amazing Julia Roberts was there last year, she is the face of their brand. I am curious to see who will be there this year. She was wonderful. She kept smiling. Everyone was gobsmacked by her, she is a real star.

I am not sure where else this year, we feel like travelling to Asia – Thailand, Bali....But I am feeling less worried about travelling with children. We don’t feel like we have to do all this before we have children. I think that we will keep travelling when we have children. It’s our passion.

I remember the story how you fell in love and all that....but can you really imagine being with Míra for the rest of your life?

I can, I wouldn’t have gone for it if I couldn’t. But on the other hand I am a realist. I hope our marriage will last, but of course if we may no longer want to be together later on in life..... You have to be objective. These things happen every day. But I really believe and hope that we will stay together.

Do you keep assuring each other that you love each other?

Yes. We keep surprising each other. It’s important to tell each other and treat each other nicely.

Let me mention Julia Roberts again – do you feel like a star at least in this country?

I don’t take it too seriously, I remain objective about myself. Maybe I should be radiating some sort of “star aura” around myself, like some of my colleagues, but I am always aware that I am basically an ordinary girl from a small town, jut doing a job that I enjoy and this job means this world, which seems all shiny, but you know yourself that when you look deeper, it is not as shiny as it seems.

Thanks for the interview Zorka.