Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Latest Episodes:

Episode 61: Jools Oliver Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

Jools Oliver may be well-known for being married to chef Jamie Oliver but what I wanted to talk to her most about, was being a fellow ‘mum-of-five’. We talked about how we both coped with the eponymous ‘spinning plates’ of raising our children alongside our work, about how we both ended up turning the cameras on our otherwise private families during lockdown, and how we’re always trying to talk ourselves out of having another baby!

Alongside her family life, Jools designs the 1970s-inspired Little Bird children’s clothes range which you will see as lot of in our house!

During our talk, Jools also shared her painful experience of multiple miscarriages and explained the aftercare support that she believes women going through this should receive.

Towards the end of our talk I heard about her close relationship with her wonderful mum. Also the poignant story of her dear dad who suffered a stroke when Jools was seven years old, and of their treasured café visits after school.

Spinning Plates Podcast is Produced by Claire Jones

Post-production / engineered and edited by Richard Jones

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Episode 60: Becky Unthanks Mar 14, 2022

Show notes

Becky Unthank is a folk musician best known for performing with her elder sister Rachel in The Unthanks. As well as singing and touring, she is also mum to 3 year old Wren who she says she loves hanging out with, like a little buddy. We talked about her childhood which was steeped in folk music from her musical parents to summers spent at folk festivals. She described the frankly sublime-sounding experience of harmonising, especially with her sister. We also talked about the joy of her recent move to the country, as well as her excitement about getting back on the road with her band.

I spoke to Becky a couple of months ago when she was just about to run an online version of one of her Northumberland singing weekends. But now, at time of podcast, she is just about to go back on tour (and I’m on the road at the moment, too!) x

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/05/stems-stop-motion-ainslie-henderson/

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Episode 59: Karen Gurney Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

Dr Karen Gurney is a psychosexologist who has been helping couples overcome sexual problems since 2003. I can see why. She is a reassuring presence and talks in a straightforward way about sex. She is full of wisdom about how to futureproof a long term relationship, as well as how to guide your children, especially as they get into their teens. This is an important chat I feel - as we Brits are famously buttoned up about sex. We talked about how I want to give my children the information and guidance for them to have happy sex lives in the future - and Karen admitted she feels nervous as well as excited about bringing up her own sons with the right messages. We also laughed about how my early attempts at sex education with my eldest son, backfired publicly in the park one day, when he was 4!

For more information and resources, Karen recommends https://www.bishuk.com/ (good for teens) and the book Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg for younger kids.

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Episode 58: YolanDa Brown Feb 28, 2022

Show notes

YolanDa Brown is a saxophonist and broadcaster who has a constant, dazzling smile and an air of joy, which I hope comes across during our chat.

In our house we know her best for her Cbeebies show YolanDa's Band Jam where she shows children the joys of music through singing, dancing and playing.

Mum to 8 year old Jemima and 2 year old Alelphi, YolanDa talked to me about her two very different experiences of having her girls, and takes her hat off to all other parents who have had babies during the pandemic. When she is able to tour, she likes nothing better than to take her whole family away with her, with the support of her parents.

She talked to me about how teaching herself saxophone as a teenager helped her process her emotions, how she coped when her littlest daughter was born with a cleft soft palate, and her comforting discovery that 'you can only be you'.

She has won many awards and incredibly she has TWICE won a MOBO in the Best Jazz Act category. She runs the Drake YolanDa Award to support emerging music artists in the UK. And as if all that wasn't enough, she's also worked with Mr Tumble!

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Episode 57: Nina Conti Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

This week’s guest for Spinning Plates is the wonderful comedian ventriloquist Nina Conti. I’m a huge fan of Nina, having seen her live a few times, so it’s particularly special for me that she agreed to chat. We spoke about her childhood memories of watching her actor father Tom Conti on broadway, the joy of bringing your real personality out on stage, how puppets and the conversations you have with them are good therapy and the relationship her two boys have with Nina’s main comedy companion - Monkey (a very sweary and funny puppet)

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Episode 56: Clara Francis Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

Clara Francis is an actor and businesswoman, who’s recently started her own online dress company 'O Pioneers' with a friend. Happily married to actor Jason Watkins, she has an older daughter, Bessie, and a younger son, Gilbert.

On the surface she has the perfect life.

But Clara came to speak to me about how she is surviving the death of her child. Her middle child Maud, who was 2 when she died of sepsis, would have been 13 now.

This is a difficult listen. It’s emotional, it’s painful, it’s unthinkable.

I’m very grateful to Clara for speaking so openly about the taboo subject of the death of a child, and by this story being heard, I hope it will help someone. I also hope it will help me to talk to any bereaved parents in the future.

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Episode 55: Helen Glover Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

Helen Glover is a two-time gold medal winning rower and a mum to three under threes. She is also the first mother to have qualified for the GB Olympic rowing team. We talked about how lockdown hit when her twins were 6 weeks old and how Helen found herself training at home and then qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.

She explained how she found her body was actually stronger after giving birth - a discovery which she has since shared with Olympic coaches so that more women might be channeled into Olympic training post-children. She also talked about her love of being outdoors, which she ofcourse shares with her husband Steve Backshall.

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Episode 54: Hannah Graf Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

Hannah Graf is a transgender campaigner and mum to 21 month old Millie. Hannah came out as a trans woman in 2013, while serving in the British army, and met trangender Jake in 2015. When they married in 2018 they became the highest-profile transgender couple in the UK. I recommend watching the excellent Channel 4 documentary about their journey to parenthood 'Our Baby: A Modern Miracle'

Hannah spoke to me about her wonderfully supportive parents, her deep feelings of gratitude to the surrogate mum Laura who made parenthood possible for Hannah and Jake, and the joy of watching her little girl's character emerge. We also talked about her love of watching Wales play rugby, but I'm yet to be convinced!

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Episode 53: Helena Merriman Jan 24, 2022

Show notes

Helena Merriman is a radio and podcast producer who discovered she was going deaf when her second child was 4 months old and she realised she wasn't being woken up by him crying in the night. She was working on her podcast Tunnel 29 at the time and found great solace in her work. She now has a BBC Radio 4 series 'Room 5'. It's based on her conversations with other people who have gone into an anonymous consultant's room, where they have received a shock diagnosis which has changed their lives forever.

We talked about how pregnancy fast-tracked her otosclerosis, how an operation to improve her hearing left her with extreme tinnitus, and how her children have adapted to her hearing loss. She also shared some tips about living with tinnitus, which will be very welcome in our household where my husband is also adapting to living with tinnitus.

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Episode 52: Christine McGuinness Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

Christine McGuinness is a model and TV personality and a mum of three. She has just featured in a TV documentary with husband Paddy, talking about their life with their children, all of whom have been diagnosed with autism. Christine was also diagnosed herself during the making of the documentary. We spoke about her parenting journey so far, and how, during her own tough childhood, her wonderful mum showed her what a strong independent woman is. She also talked about how she has never heard anyone in the public eye talk about autism, and how grateful she is that she and Paddy can fill that gap now and talk publicly about autism. Christine is refreshingly honest and positive: this is a good story about neurodiversity. She also gets my top award for podcast patience as this chat on zoom took quite a while to set up!

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