Gobsmacked!

You’ve Already Won – Simon Dyson (Part Two) How do you finally find your purpose after 23 years of searching? In the second and final part of this Gobsmacked! conversation, Simon Dyson takes us to the breaking point of his endurance race, and more importantly, what happened next. How the extraordinary hospitality he experienced on the hardest days of his ride helped him discover exactly what he wa...

You’ve Already Won – Simon Dyson (Part One) How does a lad from Coventry end up building a life in Detroit… and why would he choose to ride one of the toughest endurance races on the planet? In this compelling first part of a two-part Gobsmacked! conversation, Simon Dyson tells the story behind a life that could so easily have gone another way. It’s raw. It’s funny. It’s uncomfortable. It’s hopefu...

Mia Walker belongs to an exclusive club: the one per cent club. For years, blissfully unaware, she lived with a condition that wasn’t normal – aphantasia. This revelation came as a shock when she discovered she couldn’t visualise pictures. Close your eyes and try to picture your front door, your mother’s face or a sunset. Most of us can. Mia can’t. There are no mental pictures at all. As...

This episode of Gobsmacked! features Ruth Mary Chipperfield, an award-winning jeweller whose gold jewellery has sat alongside some of the most celebrated names in history. Diagnosed with narcolepsy in her early twenties whilst studying chemistry at university, Ruth found herself facing a future very different from the one she had imagined. Powerful drug regimes solved one problem whilst creating o...

This episode of Gobsmacked features Tony Deas, a very popular fellow indeed and a proper Leamington Spa legend, known for his big personality, big energy and big presence. So much so, a snap of the dear chap himself in a pink hoodie went viral. That’s Tony. But what happens in the quieter moments? This conversation gets into loneliness and vulnerability when you’re the strong one for everyone else...

There are nights in life that divide everything into two halves. Who you were before. And who you become afterwards. Greg Weston knows that feeling better than most. One evening out with friends ended in a moment that changed everything. His head struck a kerbstone. What followed was catastrophic. Greg was taken to hospital and very quickly slipped into a coma. At one point he was not expected to...

When an interview begins with a gobsmacked moment, about needing to retreat to a “breakout room” to absorb the shocking news that your best friend is missing and her estranged husband is being arrested for murder, you know you are in for a gripping listen. As Gobsmacked!, the podcast, celebrates its fourth year, nearly 60 episodes, and listeners in 128 countries, we bring you an episode that sits...

There is a saying that into each life some rain must fall. For Larissa Astara Gray, the storm came early. At just thirteen, her life was thrown off course by an experience that no child should have to carry, and what followed was not a straight line but an absolutely wiggly one. There are points in Larissa’s life where she is very lucky to be alive to tell her story, and that truth matters. This i...

So, as we power into a new year, 2026, Gobsmacked! serves up an incredibly compelling, and what will become a vintage episode to start us off. You do not forget the day you meet Nicky Pattinson. She is impossible to overlook. She is life force embodied. From that flame-red hair, to those unmistakable, inimitable, deep Yorkshire tones, this is a woman forged on the anvil of life. Nicky is a woman w...

There’s a lot in a given name. When Zelda’s mum chose that name for her little baby girl, who could have known just how completely she would go on to embody it. Zelda is often said to derive from an old Germanic name meaning battle or warrior, sometimes described as a battle maiden, so calling her a warrior princess feels anything but accidental. Zelda has been battling various forms of breast can...

At first glance this promised to be a full blown Britain’s Got Talent conversation, a look behind the scenes at what it’s like to step onto that famous stage, to meet Simon, Amanda, Alesha and Bruno, and to experience the whirlwind of television fame. But this story sits somewhere else entirely. When Mark Smutz Smith, respected artist manager, lecturer, songwriter and creative mentor, heard about...

This episode of Gobsmacked features Wendy Boast a woman who left school at 16, when the world of work beckoned brighter than the underwhelm of the classroom. Later discovering she has a remarkable IQ, and went on to build a career in the City with big jobs in complex information systems and major corporate achievements. Wendy’s journey hasn’t been without heartbreak and betrayal, but she has come...

Some of us say we’ve got anxiety the way others say they’ve got the flu - when really, it might just be a cold. But for some, that anxiety is life-shattering. Dr Jeanne Retief knows this well. A South African international human rights expert with a PhD and 15+ years of global work behind her, Jeanne collapsed under what she first thought was a stroke. It was panic disorder and it ended her law ca...

Domestic abuse. Sexual abuse. Exploitation. Serious organised crime. Trafficking. Addiction. These are not easy topics but they are real, urgent, and happening all around us. This is one of the most powerful and necessary conversations we’ve ever recorded. Javina Greene, a rap artist, music producer, and fierce truth-teller, shares her story with raw searing honesty and incredible strength. From m...

In a Better Place? The mystifying words we use to describe death — and how they can fail the grieving. Lorna Vyse missed a moment — a child in grief, and she didn’t see it. She chided herself for not being clued in, and that regret stayed with her. Add to that a chance encounter and a promise to a dying woman, and Lorna’s second life purpose was born. Now an author, grief trainer and speaker, Lorn...

The Second Innings is the journey of Andrew Patterson, known to most as Patto, former Irish cricketer, father, and fine fellow, who was diagnosed with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a rare neurological condition that gradually takes away your ability to walk. He was told he’d need a wheelchair for life. Instead, he raised £70,000, travelled to the US for pioneering surgery, and taught himself to w...

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Liz Sparkes - a psychologist who has spent years working with pain management, mindfulness, and how we heal. Liz’s story is a powerful one. After surviving a serious accident, one with haunting echoes of earlier childhood trauma and loss, she made a decision that would challenge most people: she reached out through restorative justice to the individual responsibl...

In this special episode of Gobsmacked!, I’m joined by my second cousin, Damian Le Bas, author of the acclaimed The Stopping Places and now The Drowned Places, a haunting, lyrical exploration of grief, memory, and the worlds that lie beneath the surface. Written in the wake of his father's death, the visionary artist Damian Le Bas, the book takes us on a journey through submerged landscapes an...

Kathryn Ellis was a woman who was on it—a yoga devotee, deeply into alternative health, and by all accounts, living her best life. But what happens when being the picture of wellness masks something serious? In this powerful and eye-opening episode, we hear how Kathryn’s healthy lifestyle ironically delayed a diagnosis of diabetes, allowing the condition to take hold silently. She was, quite liter...

I first met Emma Mead years ago when she was at the top of her game in a high-powered corporate role—driven, sharp, and full of energy. Life, however, had different plans. When our paths crossed again, Emma was navigating an unimaginable reality: a terminal breast cancer diagnosis. As if that weren’t enough, her husband was also living with incurable brain cancer, forcing them both to figure out h...

When pain hits hard, you have two choices: let it break you or turn it into something bigger than yourself. Rachel Ollerenshaw chose the latter. After losing her beautiful daughter, Molly, to a rare cancer, she didn’t just grieve, she built a legacy. Molly Olly’s is more than a charity; it’s a movement bringing comfort, smiles, and a little bit of magic to seriously ill children. This isn’t just a...

Like many guests on Gobsmacked!, the birth of her son, Tom, led Nicola Enoch down a completely new path. Initially thrown and disoriented by Tom’s Down syndrome diagnosis, Nicola soon realised how societal attitudes had shaped her perceptions. Determined to challenge these outdated views, she founded The Ups of Downs in 2006, a charity dedicated to supporting families and promoting inclusion. Her...

This episode of Gobsmacked! is a special one—it’s all about overcoming life’s curveballs and celebrating true grit and graft, and it just so happens to air on my 60th birthday! What better way to mark the occasion? Xander Van de Poll at just 18, had life changed forever when he broke his back in a freak accident. But instead of letting it define him, Xander has gone on to defy the odds in ways tha...

Earlier this year, Matt Gallagher recorded his first-ever podcast for Gobsmacked. Reeling from his Motor Neurone Disease (MND) diagnosis in 2023, Matt opened his heart and family life to raise awareness and offer rapid support to others facing similar challenges. Eight months on, Matt returns to the studio to introduce his dear friend, Ollie Russell, who recently attempted a world record: 48 hours...

Lianne Kirkman has openly described her life as an emotional rollercoaster, A pivotal moment occurred on a railway platform, where a miraculous event saved her life, igniting a deep well of love, generosity, and compassion that continues to guide her mission. With her formative years dogged by depression. Her personal struggles bless her with a profound compassion for marginalised individuals. Con...