The daughter of Bryan Forbes and Nanette Newman, the TV and radio presenter Emma Forbes, 44, was educated at the Italia Conti stage school. She presented the children’s show Live & Kicking and currently presents the BBC Radio 2 breakfast programme every Sunday, and co-hosts a show with the comedian Alan Carr on Saturdays at 6pm. Emma lives in London with her husband, Graham, and their children, Lily, 12, and Sam, 10

I had no choice but to love travelling. Whenever my dad made a movie, he insisted that the contract included a two-week family holiday on set — producers must have loved that. We lived in France for a year, then in Connecticut while he and mum were shooting The Stepford Wives.

The trip I really remember is our six weeks with Elton John in Malibu. Elton was our next-door neighbour — he was just starting out, and I remember sitting in his living room when he played Rocket Man to us. Thank God we said we liked it! My father did a fly-on-the-wall documentary on Elton and his band in Los Angeles, so we all went.

I was about six, my sister a bit older, and Elton was like our mad uncle: he took us to Disneyland and would babysit for us when mum and dad went to the theatre, balancing fruit on his head and feeding us these really disgusting lollies called Fudgsicles. That delighted mum, who was a heath-food nut.

My hols: Michael Caine

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My Hols: Anastacia

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• Frequent flyer: Erin O'Connor

BACKGROUND

• My hols: Phil Daniels

• My hols: Roger Moore

• My hols: David Mitchell

• My hols: Tracey Emin

• My hols: Colin Firth

BACKGROUND

• My hols: Ricky Gervais

• My hols: Sam Robards

• My hols: Jimmy Carr

• My hols: Johnny Vegas

• My hols: Moby

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• My hols: Tommy Lee

I still absolutely love America. Brits are often scathing about it, but I always feel energised there. It’s the positivity of the people — I like the fact they say “Have a nice day”, even if they don’t mean it.

My daughter likes the glamour of New York and LA, the ever-present, if remote, possibility that she might bump into Lindsay Lohan in a clothes store. Whereas my son is crazy about nature and wildlife, so he and Graham take off into the desert in Arizona, a favourite holiday place of ours.

We stay at the Biltmore, in Phoenix. I spend my time mooning over the lakes, the sunsets and the bonkers Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, while the boys go off in a dune buggy and trek up Camelback Mountain. Last time, Sam came back with details of how to survive on cactus juice, in case I ever go missing in the desert.

Our last big trip there was an epic West Coast road trip to Las Vegas. It was our 20th anniversary, and I wanted to renew our vows in a chapel of love. I booked on the internet, and it only cost $30 extra to be wed by Elvis, which must be the bargain of the century. He was a bit of a seedy Elvis, though, slightly paunchy and sweaty.

He sang a karaoke version of Fools Rush In as we came down the aisle — but the backing track kept sticking, so he had to jump back and repeat the same line. It was wonderfully kitsch, everything I’d hoped. Graham had to vow never to break my achy-breaky heart, and I had to promise not to step on his blue suede shoes.

We paid an extra $20 to have a video of the ceremony, and when Elvis says, “You may kiss the bride”, you can hear Sam in the background, going “Eurggh, gross!”.

I’m a fan of holiday-house rental. I like the idea of taking a break in somebody else’s life for a fortnight, and I’m a homemaker type — Graham usually ends up telling me off for rearranging the kitchen cupboards. Our greatest find was a house in Ibiza, which I booked online, so a bit of a gamble. It was at the end of a terribly bumpy track. From the distance, it looked like a Turkish prison.

But the interior was all blinding-white millionaire-minimalist, which is not my home life at all. It was fun to live the dream for a few days. I can really recommend the island. We didn’t go for a midlife crisis, to rave all night at Pacha or wherever.

Ibiza has a lovely quieter side, and we especially loved Formentera: you can visit on a day boat and have a picnic on the beach. You can walk for miles along beautiful beaches, up to your knees in purest-blue sea — it’s the Maldives without the 17-hour flight.

My guilty travel secret is my souvenir collection: I’ve now got about 40 snow domes, collected everywhere I’ve been. Even in the Caribbean, you can usually find some cheesy shop with a snow dome to sell. Having children is perfect — they’re like special agents, rooting them out for me.

Only trouble is, a glass bubble full of water can be a bit of a disaster, travel-wise. I’ve not been stopped as a chemical terrorist yet, but I have been known to wrap them up in hotel towels so they don’t smash in transit. I don’t suppose I should have admitted that...

Emma Forbes talked to Vincent Crump

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