MUD, SWEAT & TEARS

With make-up running down her mud-splattered face and her dress dripping wet, it looks like she got caught in a downpour. But Edith Bowman is having a ball.

Bopping away to Fleetwood Mac, she laughs out loud as the photographer captures her in her element for our Festival Issue. This is Edith doing what she loves best - getting into the festival groove.

Usually the Radio 1 DJ's honey highlights are perfectly groomed, but today she's happy to get covered in mud and soaked to the skin. All she asks for is a hairdryer to dry her underwear before she leaves.

"I'm off out tonight and even I wouldn't go out in wet pants!" she laughs.

But Edith, 34, is used to breaking the rules. She's the Festival Queen who's never touched drugs, the street-cred chick whose best friends are Kylie and Cat Deeley. And, regardless of her delicate features, she's the only girl in the business who would agree to roll in the mud at Glastonbury minutes before presenting a live TV show.

"I can't tell you the amount of times I've been told to jump about in the mud while I'm presenting," she laughs. "You can't go to festivals and act like a prima donna. It just doesn't work. I don't give a toss about mucking in and getting all messed up and dirty.

Edith with fellow DJ Colin Murray

"I've never been one for posing and thinking: 'I'll ruin my hair and make-up.' I honestly don't care. I've never thought of myself as the sexy girl. If I want to be sexy, I reserve that for my boyfriend, Tom [Smith, frontman of the Editors]. I don't do sexy underwear or anything like that.

"For me, it's all about shoes. We went on holiday to the Greek island of Mykonos a few weeks ago and I bought a gorgeous pair from Miu Miu with really high heels. Very, very sexy. They definitely did the business!"

Judging by the smile on her face, there's no disputing that, right now, Edith couldn't be happier. After years of rocky romances and painful break-ups - her exes include Elbow singer Guy Garvey, 35, and film-maker Dimitri Doganis - she is blissfully in love with 28-year-old Tom, the father of her son, Rudy Brae, one.

"Tom's the only man I'd want to share a tent with. In fact, I'd happily share a tent with him forever," she sighs. "I'd known him for quite a long time, but we got together for a drink a couple of years back and that was it.

A bit of rain never hurt anyone, eh, Edith?

"I knew he was The One the next day. I remember the exact moment. I was standing by an ice-cream van on Hampstead Heath in London waiting for him to call. When my mobile rang and it was him, that was it. I knew I was totally in love with this man."

Brought up in her parents' hotel in Fife, Scotland, Edith was determined to make it in show business, despite suffering from epilepsy as a child. More recently, she was diagnosed with a heart murmur, which put her life at risk during the birth of her baby. Not that she has let that cloud her experience of motherhood.

Her health, it goes without saying, is a serious matter and despite being in an industry where drugs and music go hand in hand, she proudly says she's always abstained.

"I've never done drugs because I'm scared of what could happen," she explains. "I drink, but that's it. I've never felt I'm missing out. There's too much else going on.

"I'm not judgemental about what other people get up to. But I definitely tend to be in the tents where it's just a lot of drinking. It's the Winnebagos where all the drug action goes on. That's just rock 'n' roll and you go with the flow.

"Last year I had to interview the Rolling Stones and, bar Mick Jagger, they all stank of booze and were off their heads. I couldn't get a word of sense out of Ronnie Wood. The man was just talking nonsense, but they still managed to be entertaining. I was still thinking: 'Wow, the Rolling Stones.'"

Festivals have been hugely important landmarks in Edith's life (and, yes, she's had sex at a festival once, but won't elaborate).

At her first T In The Park in Glasgow, she was working as an intern for a tiny local radio station when she gatecrashed her way into the VIP area and bagged an exclusive interview with Kylie, 41 - in the ladies!

"Everyone was saying there was no way we'd get to talk to her. I saw her going for a wee and just thought: 'This is my chance'. She was really lovely and thought it was very funny and cheeky. She's such a cool girl. We became friends later on because we always saw each other around," she says.

"She also went through breast cancer at the same time as my mum, Eleanor. I remember writing to Kylie just hoping she was OK. I've got a lot of time for her. She's been through a lot and she always comes up smiling. She's a top girl."

The proud parents with baby Rudy

A few years later, Edith was the only presenter to spot Robbie Williams backstage at Glastonbury. "He was about to leave Take That, had dyed his hair, and was off his face watching Paul Weller. I saw him and ran over to talk to him. No one else recognised him. It was a massive exclusive. I love Robbie, but I worry about him. He never seems happy."

It's easy to see why stars relate to Edith, or Edi as she's known to her mates. She's funny, chatty, completely approachable and more than a little bit vulnerable.

When she talks about becoming a mum, Edith isn't bubbling over with stories of how wonderful it is. Although she is blissfully happy with Rudy, she admits that returning to work - to present Glastonbury last year, within days of having him - was slightly surreal.

"It was the weirdest event of my life," she says. "I'd had a C-section 10 days before, but I was determined to do it. I felt I was proving something, but the whole thing was a bit of a blur. All I remember is trying to pump my boobs for milk in filming breaks and feeling overwhelmed.

"I loved being at home with Rudy - Tom's an amazing dad and we're this really tight little unit - and going back to work was really hard.

"I definitely had a major crisis of confidence," she adds. "I wasn't sure who I was any more. I didn't want to go straight back on the radio talking about nappies and poo, but I also didn't feel like I was the person I was before."

Edith was hurt by the criticism this outfit received

Cue that photo of Edith taken on the red carpet at a BAFTA after-party. Wearing a long blue dress and with curled hair, Edith felt like a million dollars, but critics slated her look as a Camilla Parker Bowles-esque fashion faux pas.

"I actually felt great and it was the most high-profile thing I'd done since coming back to work as a new mum. But the press just went for me, I was mortified."

Edith gets genuinely upset as she talks. "I often get slagged off for what I wear, but I don't use a stylist except for red-carpet events. I actually like my style," she says.

"Normally, I can just take it on the chin, but that time I did cry when I read some of the remarks because they were so nasty. I guess I was feeling pretty vulnerable.

"It's taken me a good year to get my confidence back.

"Fortunately, I'm with a man who likes my style too. He told me this morning I looked beautiful. To be honest, that means a lot more to me than anything else."

EDITH'S FESTIVAL RULES
WIPE OUT "Take tons of wet wipes. Use them for everything, from going to the loo to taking off your make-up."
LOSE THE LOOS "Never queue for the ladies' again. The Shee Pee allows you to stand up and pee like a man! Weird, but strangely liberating."
STAY TOGETHER "Sort out a clear meeting point for your mates so you can find it, however drunk you are."
DRY SHAMPOO "It won't turn you into Kate Moss, but it will make you look better after days in the mud."

HAVE YOU EVER...
Checked the messages on a lover's phone? Yes, but it's always been kind of uninteresting.
Blamed something bad on someone else? I crashed my dad's car when I was 17 and blamed black ice, but it was because I was showing off to my mates. I hit one car into a ditch and spun mine right round in the road. Luckily, it was the middle of the night and there was hardly any traffic around. Everyone was OK, but my dad's car was a write-off.
Stolen something? I stole a rubber from a shop when I was eight, even though I knew the owners. Sorry, Pete and Kathy.
Gone commando? Yes. You have to be careful how you dance, though.
Said: 'Do you know who I am?' I haven't, but last week in Ibiza my friends did. We were in a totally empty bar, and I saw a set of decks so I went over and started playing. We got thrown out. My friends were saying: 'But she's a Radio 1 DJ'.
Been mistaken for another celebrity? Kevin Spacey and Jim Carrey both told me I looked like Reese Witherspoon, so when I finally got to interview her I very proudly told her this. She looked at me and gave this nervous, slightly horrified laugh. That definitely let me know my place!
Lied to your man about how much something costs? Totally, but Tom's as bad as me.

Edith will be covering Glastonbury and T In The Park for BBC3 and Radio 1.

PHOTOGRAPHY: XPOSURE, ALPHA, BIGPICTURESPHOTO.COM HAIR: GUY KREMER USING L'ORÉAL PROFESSIONNEL TECHNI.ART MAKE-UP: AIMEE ADAMS AT SOHO MANAGEMENT USING BOBBI BROWN STYLING: ANGIE SMITH (ANGIESMITH.CO.UK) EDITH WEARS (TOP PICTURE): DRESS, KATE MOSS AT TOPSHOP; BRACELETS AND FEATHER HEADBAND, FREEDOM AT TOPSHOP (MIDDLE PICTURE) WAISTCOAT, MANGO; DRESS, FROM A SELECTION AT KOHSAMUI.CO.UK

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