Fearne Cotton is a TV presenter, podcast host and author. Fearne has been presenting live TV since the age of 15 when she was spotted by ITV’s ‘Disney Club’ Her warmth, natural interview skills and ability to make presenting live TV seem effortless and has given her the opportunity to present a variety of shows over the years.
In 2005 she joined Radio 1 where she spent 10 incredible years, initially co-hosting morning shows with Reggie Yates and then moving onto the UK Top 40 show before taking over the prestigious weekday morning slot in 2009; here she mixed big celebrity interviews with exclusive acoustic performances in the Live Lounge. The show attracted over 4 million listeners and in 2012 she won a Sony Gold Award for the show.
An enthusiastic cook, Fearne released her first cookbook in June 2016. She is also the author of Calm, Happy, Yoga Babies and Hungry Babies.
Fearne is a mother of two and continues to find time to support a range of charities with seemingly no challenge too big for her, whether it be climbing Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, or trekking the Inca Trail for Breast Cancer Care. Fearne is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and also a patron for Post Pals, Tyler’s Trust and Coppafeel!, the latter of which she curates the charity’s music festival, FESTIFEEL.
In this episode we talk about Fearne's multi-hyphenate career, being a mum, mental health, writing and how social media can help further positive conversations.
Favourite quotes from the episode:
"There are less taboo subjects these days and if there are taboos there's definitely someone out there trying to break them."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm nailing it, and other times it's all falling apart." On juggling multiple projects and being a mum.
"in my twenties [success] was purely work-based - that's all I cared about. It was about being on a big TV show and being seen. Whereas now, that really doesn't factor into what I'm doing."
"When I left Radio 1, I'd had a second child and literally had no work lined up, I was quite scared at that point."