Janet Street-Porter: A fearless, funny and frank night at The Edge

Striding on stage in a dazzling green outfit, she made it immediately clear that, in her words, she was “in the flesh, not an avatar or hologram.” From the moment she launched into tales of her post-war Fulham childhood — a shared house, no inside toilet, baths only on Sundays — to her rebellious early years in London’s club scene, she captivated the audience with her signature mix of irreverence and resilience.

Over the course of the evening, Janet charted her extraordinary career with warmth and wicked humour. She spoke candidly about her fashion journalism days, her groundbreaking work in youth television during the 1970s, and her later years as a television executive and newspaper editor. Nothing was off limits — from unfaithful romances to her many marriages, and from punk rockers to primetime politics — but she deftly refused to spill any secrets about her Loose Women co-hosts. The stories of slithering down Highland slopes on all fours after breaking her ankle, or her forthright opinions of certain people in the entertainment industry, drew gasps and laughs in equal measure. “I’m practically bionic,” she quipped, gesturing to her scaffolding of replacement joints.

The evening ended with a lively Q&A session that underlined just how loved and admired Street-Porter remains. Despite glaucoma, impending surgery and a lifetime of reinvention, she still radiates a fierce independence and zest for life. Fifty years after her first television series, Janet’s still ranting and raving and turning the air blue — and the audience wouldn’t have it any other way. As the crowd returned to the car park (where, earlier, she’d been rescued by two kind locals after getting stranded), the buzz of excitement lingered. Janet Street-Porter was, once again, utterly and unapologetically herself — off the leash and on top form.

The new November-December Edge Arts Centre brochure is available to download at edgeartscentre.com