Happy Place

Latest Episodes:

No one would hire me - so I built my own business! Brandon Hulcoop on lifting barriers for blind people Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

23 year old Brandon is the regional winner of the Enterprise category at the 2025 King's Trust Awards. In this chat with Fearne, Brandon explains how, before starting his braille business with the help of The Trust, he had applied for over a thousand jobs without any success. He always struggled to get past the interview stage either due to a lack of experience or due to his visual impairment.

Fearne and Brandon explore misconceptions about his visual impairment, the importance of supportive mentorship, and why starting a business has to come with some hilarious trial and error!

Plus, Brandon tells the story of how not being able to access shower instructions led to him setting a hotel fire alarm off, proving just how vital it is that public spaces are accessible for everyone.

...and stick around to the end of the episode because there’s a big surprise in store for Brandon!

All Things Dotty makes accessible products for visually impaired people, their families, and businesses – everything from braille menus and greetings cards, to colouring books and art work. You can visit the website here!

Find out more about The King’s Trust.

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Joel Dommett: “Pretending’s the first step!” Build confidence and quieten nerves Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

Do you find yourself running a mental list of what you’ve got to do tomorrow...next month... instead of living in the moment? Comedian and presenter Joel Dommett is getting better at appreciating the present.

In this chat, Fearne and Joel debate if it’s a good or bad thing to set career goals, and explore how to focus on the process rather than an outcome. Joel also has some advice about faking confidence in order to build it, and explains why his marathon efforts brought out his shadow side...

Plus, Joel justifies some of his more questionable tattoos, and reveals some big behind the scenes gossip from The Masked Singer!

Joel’s Happy Idiot tour has been extended into the autumn; get your tickets here.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Mo Gilligan

Julian Clary

Joanne McNally

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How to stop saying “yes” when you mean “no”, with Natalie Lue Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

Who would you choose to be if you weren’t shit scared about what other people might think about you? Writer and speaker Natalie Lue has noticed that people pleasing is often a response to anxiety.

In this chat with Fearne, Natalie explains how when you desperately people please, you’re putting your self-esteem on the chopping block. In becoming disassociated from your “no” you become disassociated from your needs, desires, opinions, and limits.

Natalie talks through the five ways people pleasing might show up in your life, including ‘efforting’ (e.g. over-achieving at school and work), and ‘saving’ through trying to fix other people’s problems. Plus, a word of warning that pushing past your mental and emotional limits can lead to physical health issues.

Natalie’s book, The Joy of Saying No, is out now.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Saying No: More Boundaries, Less People Pleasing

The Good Girl Rebellion

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Feel walked over? Mel Robbins on turning pain into personal power Jun 10, 2025

Show notes

Do you feel deep injustice at how others treat you? Mel Robbins is an award-winning podcast host and best-selling author; she says if other people want to behave in a shitty way... let them!

In this chat with Fearne, Mel explains the difference between saying “let them”, and letting people walk all over you. She talks about how “let them” doesn’t make your problems disappear, but you’ll see them differently so they’re less distressing to you. The phrase will also make you feel more confident in your authentic self-expression.

Feeling victimised? Stop hoping you can change a bully’s behaviour. Mel also explains how to use the phrase “let me”. Let me recognise what I can change about the situation or change about how I respond. Remember you have the power to leave any dinner table or any message exchange at any point.

Plus, why you should listen to your jealousy; it’s telling you a lot about your desires and ambitions...

Mel’s best-selling book, The Let Them Theory, is out now.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

The Good Girl Rebellion

Estelle Bingham

TJ Power

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Book Club Meets: Ambitious women and generational trauma, with Emily Henry Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

Two writers are competing for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a famous reclusive heiress. One of them is going to uncover the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th century. The thing is, heiress Margaret is giving each writer different tantalising little pieces of her story...

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry was May’s Happy Place Book Club read. In this chat with Fearne, Emily explains why she’s intrigued by the idea of generational trauma affecting our day to day, and why it’s important to interrogate where your sense of ambition comes from. Is your drive coming from within, or are you trying to prove something to someone?

Plus, Fearne and Emily explore why reading fiction is such a brilliant way to examine your own opinions, values, and moral tendencies through how you react to the characters.

Thank you to Penguin Audio for the use of Great Big Beautiful Life audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Listen to Book Club Meets: Lorna Tucker

Listen to Book Club Meets: Clare Leslie Hall

Listen to Book Club Meets: Holly Bourne

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Munroe Bergdorf: “I’m scared for my safety!” Bodily autonomy & femininity as armour Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

Identity has become tribal, and it’s stopping us understanding each other’s humanity. Activist, writer, and model Munroe Bergdorf explains how fear and anger for society’s issues have been misdirected towards trans people.

In this chat with Fearne, Munroe talks through what the recent UK Supreme Court ruling on biological sex and gender means for trans women, cis women, and society more widely. How, for example, are trans rights intimately connected to abortion rights?

Fearne and Munroe chat about how to practice self-acceptance, particularly around body image, and how to use your voice to create positive change. They also cover grief, and numbing out as a way of dealing with poor mental health.

Munroe’s new book, Talk To Me, is out on June 5th, and you can watch her documentary, Love and Rage, in cinemas from June 10th.

This episode also contains an exclusive first listen to a chapter of Kirsty Gallagher’s new book, Your Cosmic Purpose, which is published by Happy Place Books on June 5th.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Emma Dabiri

Olly Alexander

Kirsty Gallagher

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The Good Girl rebellion: How to stop caring if you’re likeable May 30, 2025

Show notes

Fearne’s been thinking a lot lately about how much of her life she’s spent people pleasing as a result of wanting to be liked. So today, how to break free from the ‘good girl’ your family, friends, colleagues, and society expect you to be...

In this episode –

-Louise Redknapp clarifies why being described as ‘nice’ isn’t a compliment and how she’s gone about making people see her as a multi-faceted human

-Paloma Faith pinpoints the ways women make themselves smaller in order to make others feel more comfortable

-Sophie Ellis-Bextor explains how she’s learnt to navigate mum guilt while not minimising the importance of her career

-Natasha Bedingfield talks about the powerful effects of physically speaking your truth and voicing your needs

-Afua Hirsch reflects on how colonisation in her native country Ghana has affected her notions of what it means to be good, pure woman

-Florence Given explores not letting outside opinion dictate who you are and how to stop feeling the need to defend or explain yourself

-Dawn French waxes lyrical about the joy of getting things wrong and embracing imperfection

-Emily Atack explains how online abuse almost broke her, but ultimately strengthened her resolve to be an even bolder version of herself

Listen to the full episodes here –

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Ashley Walters: Prison changed my mindset! How to reinvent yourself May 26, 2025

Show notes

How have you come back from your rock bottom? Ashley Walters has reinvented himself over and over again, through music, acting, directing, parenthood, prison, and addiction.

In this chat with Fearne, Ashley talks through the mindset that allows him to take accountability for his actions instead of falling into victimhood, and why failure shouldn’t be viewed as an end point.

He explains why you should want to be the “dumbest person in the room”, and why if you feel you want to run away from a challenge, it’s exactly the challenge you should take on.

Fearne and Ashley tackle the big topics that have come out of Netflix show Adolescence, including online misogyny and male violence. Plus, Ashley reveals what his six year old daughter said to him that broke his heart and made him stop drinking...

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Kate Silverton

Pete Doherty

Chiwetel Ejiofor

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Should I have children? Ellie Simmonds on genetic disability diagnoses May 19, 2025

Show notes

What beliefs, hopes, worries, and questions would you have if your unborn baby was given a diagnosis of a disability? It’s something retired paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds has spent a lot of time considering.

In this chat with Fearne, Ellie explains what she’s learnt from talking to both her parents and her birth mum about their experience of her dwarfism, as well as debating the pros and cons of modern genetic testing.

They also chat about Ellie’s decision to retire from swimming: how will you know when it’s time to call something quits, and how can you then cultivate new passions? Plus, how to untangle self-worth and self-esteem from achievements...

Ellie Simmonds: Should I Have Children? will be available to watch on ITV from the 27th of May.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains frank chat about baby loss and abortion, so do take care while listening.

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

Liberty Mills

Sophie Morgan

Samantha Renke

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Mo Gilligan: Why success can lead to ego and how to laugh through misery May 12, 2025

Show notes

Is there a reason so many comedians can struggle with their mental health? Mo Gilligan knows all too well that finding the funny in everything can sometimes mean having to suppress sadness.

In this chat, Fearne and Mo talk about how a single passing comment can stay with you and eat away at your self-esteem over time, and why we need to be better at celebrating our talent and achievements.

Plus, can scrolling through memes be a positive form of escapism when you’re low...?

Mo Gilligan: Beginning, Middle, and End is available to listen to now!

If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

How to Laugh When You’ve Been To Hell and Back

Fats Timbo

Zayn

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