Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Latest Episodes:

Episode 41: Binky Felstead Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

Binky Felstead made her name on Made In Chelsea back in 2009, leaving 8 years later, just after she'd had her daughter India.

Binky told me how being a reality TV star gave her huge anxiety but how becoming a mum to India was the best thing that ever happened to her. Now she's just got married to the dad of her new - and very well-behaved - baby, Wolfie, who mostly slept through our podcast interview this week. We talked about Binky's new venture Bloss Life - a yellow pages of credible experts for parents. And she happily shared that has never been as content as she is now.

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Episode 40: Dr Catherine Green OBE Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

My guest this week has just helped save the world! Dr Catherine Green OBE is one of the team in Oxford who developed and began manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine. Together with her colleague Professor Sarah Gilbert (now a Dame) she has just written a book 'Vaxxers' which explains in a rather thrilling and readable way, just how they did this, in the hope of communicating the science behind it and reassuring those who are vaccine hesitant at the moment. I was due to speak to Dr Green in person but two of my children got covid that very week, so instead we spoke down a line. Very frustrating not to actually meet her but with scientist Catherine Green - or Cath as she is more often known - even a glitchy line can't dampen her energy, enthusiasm and humour.

We talked about how she's never felt particularly 'mumsy'; how her friends looked out for her at the height of her work on the vaccine, leaving flowers or food on her doorstep for her; and how her 10 year old daughter Ellie has insisted they install a disco ball in the kitchen of their new house. Ellie sounds fabulous - clearly a girl after my own heart!

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Episode 39: Laura Brand Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

Laura Brand is a mother of two little girls and author of the book The Joy Journal. We spoke about where you find joy after motherhood and how expectation and reality can sometimes (always?) be very different beasts but you have to be able to roll with it - especially when you have a young family. She now runs online tutorials to show people ideas for craft and fun with the children in their life and this month has been doing them inspired by Peter Rabbit. She struggled with Hyperemesis Gravidarum with both her pregnancies which caused her to end up in hospital and has made her very sympathetic to anyone going through the same thing. We also spoke about what happens when you get back together with someone you used to date, as happened with her now husband Russell Brand, and how it can work out for the best.

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Episode 38: Natalie Imbruglia Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

Natalie Imbruglia is an Australian born singer songwriter who’s got 5 albums to her name with a sixth, Firebird, coming out in September. In 2019, at the age of 44, she announced on Instagram that she I’ve given birth to a boy who had been conceived using IVF, and a sperm donor. We talked about the joy and peace that her little boy has brought her, and the new period of creativity that he has also enabled her to have. We also talked about some of the annoying aspects of pregnancy including, as two people who love their food, not being able to eat as much as you’d like because of acid reflux.

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Episode 37: Sylvia Mac Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

Sylvia Mac is a campaigner, a survivor and an award winner. Sylvia was two when she suffered horrific burns, in a scalding accident, and was given the last rites. Against the odds, she survived but it wasn't till her 40s that she learned to accept her scars and not to feel ashamed of them. Her three children have been on a difficult journey with her but there is love everywhere in her life and she says it's never too late to start believing you're beautiful. She won the Wellness Warrior award in 2020 and founded Love Disfigure to offer support to those living with burns and scarring.

Trigger warning: this podcast mentions a burning accident and suicidal thoughts.

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Episode 36: Deborah James Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Deborah James is a podcast presenter, campaigner, writer... and mum to 11 year old Eloise and 13 year old Hugo. It's nearly five years since she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer. Since then she has found a loyal band of followers on instagram as @bowelbabe, where she talks about living with the diagnosis, her ongoing treatment and is just all-round inspiring. She’s often dancing around - even when she has a chemo pump attached - and generally makes the most of every day. We talked about turning up for sports days, making memories, how much we both love Halloween.. plus the joy of throwing parties in general and what a great life skill it is. She is honest, brave and beautiful and I felt very lucky that she came to talk to me and now I can share it with you. Thank you, Deborah. Xx

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Episode 35: Sarah Willingham Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

Business woman and former Dragon's Den dragon Sarah Willingham surprised everyone some years back, by taking her 4 children out of school and setting off for a round the world adventure. She and her husband rented their house out, put all their possessions into storage and were only allowed 23 kilos of luggage each, which she found hugely liberating. Now back in the UK with the children back in school, she is a fan of talking to her children about everything, including money, as she wants them to grow up earning and knowing the value of money, just as she has done since her childhood in Stoke-on-Trent.

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Episode 34: Emma Barnett Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

Journalist Emma Barnett is a regular presenter of Newsnight and

has recently become the main presenter of Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.

She's good at asking questions and bringing people to account but says

she's had to learn patience because as a mum, 'losing your shit' gets

you nowhere! Emma struggled to get pregnant, which after two and half

years she realised was because of endometriosis. She had her baby

through IVF but she says she will always have one foot in the camp of

those who would like to be mothers but have not managed it. We talked

about childcare, we talked about periods a lot, and if you stay listening till

the end you will hear us sharing our most embarrassing stories with each other.

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Episode 33: Kath Gillespie Sells Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

This week’s episode is very close to my heart as it’s a friend. Meet Kath Gillespie-Sells MBE. She talks with kindness, honesty and humour about making brave

decisions and following her path as a mother who was also a lesbian, back when that was acheivement in itself. But she didn’t stop there - she was awarded an MBE for her work founding REGARD, campaigning for LGBTQ+ disabled rights. She has 3 sons, one of which, Dan, is in a band (The Feeling) with my husband Richard which is how I’m lucky enough to know her.

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Episode 32: Helle Thorning-Schmidt Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

Helle Thorning-Schmidt was the Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to

2015. She was the first female leader of the Danish Social Democrats

and the first female PM. I think she should wear that as a slogan on

a T-shirt! She lives in London with her husband, MP Stephen Kinnock,

while their two daughters, now in their early 20s, live in Copenhagen.

We talked about how Helle managed to juggle work and home-life, first

as a busy MEP with small children, and then as the mum of teenagers

when she was Prime Minister. Over the course of our conversation we

uncovered her obsessions with jigsaws and transport. We talked about